[opendtv] Re: Incentives for buying integrated DTVs

John Shutt wrote:
The US is doing it with $40 STB coupons, presumably from 'money' received selling off the spectrum.
Pity that the US is so narrow minded that they only allow the subsidy to be used for a government approved STB, not to offset the added cost of an ATSC tuner in an integrated set. 

John


Exactly.
The only set top boxes covered by these coupons decode ATSC but just down convert it to NTSC and output analog stereo sound, composite and S-Video only. *No Y, R-Y, B-Y, no 480p, 720p or 1080i, and no 5.1 Ch, SPDIF or TOSLINK.* The specs are here: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv...ufacturers.pdf <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/DTVmanufacturers.pdf>
I have yet to see any of these 'coupon offer' set top boxes for sale /anywhere/, and from what I have read none are being manufactured yet. They seem to be vaporware at this point.
Also, there is NO legal requirement for any broadcaster to transmit HDTV signals. The only broadcast required by law is a digital version of the same standard definition signal that the broadcaster is currently sending out in analog NTSC.
Further, the cable and satellite companies do not want the general public to know about free over the air digital broadcasting because it cuts into their income. Some cable companies have even threatened broadcasters with pulling their ads from the station if they promote their free OTA channel number in their broadcasts.
Do any stations anywhere promote their digital TV channels? Not in the Philly area. Most people have no idea what's coming in 2009. 

I am saddened by the current state of affairs in broadcasting.
~From my post to Audiokarma, May 2006, and still true today so far as I know.

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