[NCLUG] MythTV Questions

[Brian Wood]

Chad Perrin wrote:

>>
>> Supposedly analog broadcasting will stop on Feb. 2009, but the industry 
>> has asked for and received extensions before, and I suspect a lot of 
>> cable operators will still be transmitting analog.
> 
> If that happens, one of three other things will have to happen:
> 
>   1. Cable and satellite TV providers will have to provide access devices
>   (the cable box, et cetera) that translate from HD to analog.

Any HD sat receiver I've seen has SD outputs as well. I suspect that is 
true of mist digital cable boxes, but I've not checked.
> 
>   2. Someone will have to allow one-for-one trade-ins of TVs so that
>   everyone can upgrade to HD televisions.

I assume you are aware of the certificates the gov't is giving away. 
They are allowing everyone up to 2 - $40 certificates for the purchase 
of a digital-to-analog converter to allow analog sets to receive digital 
signals (degraded to SD of course).

> 
>   3. Millions of people will no longer be able to watch TV.

The gov't claims otherwise, don't you believe them ???

> 
> This asinine mandatory HD upgrade legislation will not make everybody
> have several hundred dollars above and beyond what they need to pay for
> everything that's *more important than a television*.  I, for one, am
> more likely to stop watching TV than get an HD television before February
> 2009, unless a specific project comes my way that is currently still in
> the "not sure it's going to happen at all" stage.
> 

  I agree with your assessment of the upgrade. It's all about money, not 
"better" TV, and *certainly* not for "public safety" reasons, which is a 
gov't claim (a couple percent of the spectrum made available by the move 
will be made available for PS radios, A "cover story" if I ever heard 
one). The majority of the spectrum will be sold to the highest bidder, 
another case of the gov't trying to reduce the deficit by conducting a 
garage sale of the people's resources.

beww