March 1 is D Day

D is for Digital. As of Thursday, March 1, 2007, all NEW TV sets must be equipped with digital tuners. It's all part of a much delayed plan to bring broadcasting into the "Age of Videography", a place of confluence for computer, telecom and radio & television technologies.

The switchover from analog to digital is long overdue, in large part because of the lobbying of broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers, who lobbied for a decade to delay the switchover. The Chicago Times does a pretty good job of sorting through the HDTV state-of-the-art.

For those who have already made the leap and bought a HD digital TV tuner and hooked it up to their old TV antenna the results are nothing but spectacular. At least from our antenna.

Unlike the old analog signals, which had ghosting and noise and other artifacts, the new HD signals are crystal clear or they don't show up at all. The lab here at http://www.vidiots.us/ receives 9 HD channels, including the major broadcast networks and PBS. One channel of surprise and delight is called "THE TUBE". All this wonderful channel plays is continuous music videos, similiar to MTV before it sold out to reality programs, quiz shows and general junk.

We recommend that all vidiots make sure that their TV antenna is in good working order and take a few days to develop the HD antenna viewing pattern. What you may find is that a wonderful array of news, sports, music and entertainment are available to YOU FOR FREE. It's almost tempting to consider disconnecting our cable and saving a bunch of money every month.

Our decision will be based on the ability to receive broadband internet through telecom and the continued development of IP TV programming so we can watch CNN Pipeline and Comedy Central Motherload to keep abreast of the laughable news of the day.