(NAPSA)—Regardless of your favorite TV show, odds are you'll want to tune in to the details of a federal law that is soon to take effect. At midnight on Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power television broadcast stations are required to stop broadcasting in analog format (a transmission that can be picked up for free by older-model analog TVs with antennae) and broadcast only in digital. Congress called for the switch to all-digital television (DTV) broadcasting in an effort to free up frequencies for police, fire and other public safety communi- cations, amongother things. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), people who have analog televi- sions will need to purchasea digi- tal-to-analog set-top converter box to be able to view over-the-air broadcasts once the switch occurs. Consumers who havedigital tele- visions but don’t subscribe to a cable or satellite service will not need converter boxes to continue to view local broadcast stations. Consumers who receive their local broadcast channels through a cable or satellite television service, such as DirecTV (which has been delivering 100 percent digital sig- nals since its inception in 1994), will not be affected by the transition. Consumers should know that the digital transition does not mean they will automatically get HD. They must have an HDTVset and an HD receiver and subscribe to an HD programmingpackage. DirecTV, for example, offers more than 130 HD channels and provides both HD and digital videorecording technology in one settop box. The digital transition will open the door for many consumers to the latest advances in TV technology, like digital video recording. DirecTV’s DVR, for example, includes an easy-to-use search function that allows viewers to locate exactly what they want to People who have analog televisionswill need to purchasea dig- ital-to-analog set-top converter box to be able to view over-theair broadcasts once the switch occurs. watch and record, and record one show while watching another. There’s even a series link feature that enables the viewer to record every episode of a show and an interactive feature that provides access to personalized information such as horoscopes, local weatherandlottery results. As a final tip, keep in mind that any TV set sold after May 25, 2007 should have contained a dig- ital tuner—meaning it would likely not need modification to accommodate the broadcasting switch—or should have been iden- tified at the store as not having one. Be sure to look for this label if youre in the market for a new TV. For more information, visit www.directv.com.
