Also, I found most digital stations broadcasting on multiple channels - another potential advantage of the system. But other than MPT, which is aggressively pumping out multichannel educational programming, most broadcasters are using the new capability to add all-weather channels or reruns. We'll see if programming gets better when the whole market goes digital.
Even more caveats: today's over-the-air digital experience is likely to change after the transition. To save money, some stations aren't broadcasting digitally at full power now. So a poor signal may improve later.
Many, if not most stations, will also be switching frequencies - another wild card. Most VHF stations (channels 2-13) are broadcasting digitally on temporary UHF frequencies. On Feb. 17, 2009, some will move their digital transmissions to their current VHF frequencies, but others will stay in UHF territory.
Meanwhile, stations in the upper UHF band (above 51) will switch to lower channels to free up spectrum for the wireless phone carriers who instigated this whole mess by convincing the government to give them more spectrum.
Got all that? Don't worry. Your digital tuner should negotiate these changes automatically. But digital signals propagate differently than analog transmissions, and no one knows how the switch will affect real-world broadcast quality in a market as geographically diverse as Baltimore. Worse, there's no good way to test the new system without disrupting current broadcasts.
Clearly worried by the prospect of disaster as the election approaches, the Federal Communications Commission has been asking broadcasters in smaller markets to volunteer for an early conversion, just to see what happens. Since no one in his right mind wants to be the canary in this government's coal mine, there haven't been any takers.
But you can give it a try - there are still 285 days till the switch-over. For information on the converter program, visit www.dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-388-2009.
mike.himowitz@baltsun.com
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