Digital Television
from howstuffworks If you've looked at television sets at any of the big electronics retailers in the United States lately, you know that digital TV, or DTV, is a big deal right now. Most stores have whole areas devoted to digital TV sets. You're also hearing a lot about four other topics: * HDTV and HDTV broadcasts * Digital satellite services * Digital cable * DVDs and DVD players Unless you are among the people in the United States who have purchased a DTV set, what you have in your living room is a normal analog TV that seems to be working just fine despite all the hype. Most people, faced with this level of product proliferation, can only ask, "What the heck is going on here?!" On June 12, 2009, television stations in the United States completed the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. Consumers receiving local television signals over analog antennas now must use converter boxes to receive programming on their TVs. This deadline was push