by B. L. Babb

Created on: July 20, 2008

With all the hype regarding the conversion of our TV signals from analog to digital, many commercials airing are misleading. Some commercials blatantly state that after the switch to digital "your analog TV will no longer work."

What is the truth? Do you really need a new TV?

The short answer is NO. If your TV was sold after May 25, 2007, it is supposed to be equipped with a digital tuner or specifically state it does NOT have one. It should be labeled with ATSC, DTV, or HDTV; it can also state digital tuner or integrated digital tuner. If your new TV has these words, it should be able to receive and display digital signals.

If your TV was purchased before May 25, 2007, check to see if it can support digital signals. The owner's manual should be able to provide this information. If you cannot locate yours, check online, many manufacturers have their manuals available for free download or viewing on line.

If it contains the words "digital ready, HDTV ready, digital monitor, and HDTV monitor your TV most likely does NOT contain a digital tuner and will not display the new signals without extra equipment.

If you find yourself with a TV that will not display digital, you have several options to get the digital signal in your home.

You can go with cable or satellite service; they provide a set top converter which will also handle the digital signals for your TV.

You can purchase a converter box, it will also allow for the display of the new digital channels.

However, if either of those two options are not appealing, there is a third, little known alternative.

To avoid an extra "box" on your TV and to avoid high prices of cable and satellite, you can opt to purchase a VCR with a digital tuner. In many cases these are packaged with a DVD recorder. They are typically priced at $150 - $200 and contain a VHS player and a DVD player/recorder as well as a digital tuner. Check the packaging before purchasing to ensure it has a digital tuner if you go this route.

You should not need any special antennas to display the digital signal, only the digital tuner, whether it be inside your TV, a converter box, or a VCR, one of these with a standard TV antenna is sufficient, in most cases, for your TV to display the digital signals.

Now, other things to consider; do you own a karaoke wireless microphone; or other wireless microphone system? Many of the manufacturer's of these made these devices to use frequencies between TV channels (analog).

Some of the old analog signals are going to be assigned

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