Digital Television

IT'S 2 O'CLOCK on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, circa 2003.Four-year-old Sally is watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on Maryland Public Television-1. Elsewhere, Jane, 34, is earning credits toward a sociology degree on MPTV-2. Frank, 14, is in school watching MPTV-3; he's learning about the social and economic factors that led to World War I. And 64-year-old Bill, a retiree, is at home watching a debate live from the City Council chambers on MPTV-4.Now it's 2 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, January 1999.

Claiming that the nation's conversion to digital television may be in danger, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it has filed a petition calling on federal regulators to adopt a new technical standard for digital broadcasting.The petition marks the latest round in Sinclair's battle to change the way digital television is developed in the United States. The Cockeysville-based company has waged an aggressive public relations campaign, inviting broadcasting executives from around the country to Baltimore to lobby them.

"The Simpsons," "The X-Files" and "ER" are among the television shows that Dan Vayda and his brother Tom love to watch.But they say neither they -- nor their parents -- would want to shell out tons of money to watch the shows on digital television.The two Baltimore County residents, and others at Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s over-the-air demonstration yesterday, were skeptical about the initial costs of digital technology.It will cost between $4,000 and $12,000 to buy all the equipment needed for a basic digital TV."

More than 40 television broadcasters might feel a bit like a mighty oak crashing down in an empty forest today.The broadcasters, mostly in the nation's 10 largest markets, will start transmitting programs in digital formats today. The change marks the introduction of stunningly clear pictures and the beginning of multi-industry battles for billions of consumer dollars.But almost no one will notice.Crystal-clear digital broadcasts, starting with ABC's broadcast tonight of the 1996 remake of "101 Dalmatians," require high-definition television sets, costing $5,000 or more, that few people own. Virtually all the movie's viewers will watch on sets that receive analog broadcasts.

Digital television arrives tonight on PBS.While you won't be able to experience it if you don't own a digital set -- and who does? -- several PBS programs this week have information that may help you decide if you want to buy one.WETA (Channel 26), in Washington, is one of seven PBS stations that will actually start transmitting a digital signal tonight. Maryland Public Television (MPT, Channels 22 and 67) will begin digital broadcasting in 2000.PBS' first digital showpiece, "Chihuly Over Venice," airs at 9. It looks at a project by glass artist Dale Chihuly to create spectacular chandeliers to hang over the canals of Venice.

From its seventh-floor studio in a Greenbelt high-rise, tiny WRAV-TV Channel 58 airs a multicultural smorgasbord -- Chinese news, Philippine talk shows, Haitian music, programs 24-hours-a-day for a faithful audience that also includes Indians, Iranians and Vietnamese.But its studio light could go dark one day soon. The signals of hundreds of small community stations across the country may be snuffed out by an economic and technological steamroller: digital television.TV regulators say the move is necessary for technical progress and the larger good.

LAS VEGAS -- High-definition television will hit the airwaves in Baltimore and many other cities next fall. The question is who will be watching it -- and what they'll be using to watch.With sets priced at $4,000 and up, HDTV is beyond the reach of the average couch potato, and few TV industry analysts believe the technology will take off quickly among consumers.But several high-technology companies displaying their wares here at the annual Comdex computer show are betting that they deliver on the promise of crisper pictures and better sound with inexpensive circuit boards that transform home computers into HDTV sets.

WASHINGTON -- Here are answers to some questions about digital television:Q. How is digital television different from existing television?A. The digital signals can carry more information, capable of producing more detailed pictures, clearer images, brighter colors and sharper sound on the same amount of broadcast bandwidth.Q. Will I have to buy a new television set?A. Not for several years. The Federal Communications Commission expects traditional broadcasts to continue along with digital service until about 2006.

WASHINGTON -- Here are answers to some questions about digital television:Q. How is digital television different from existing television?A. The digital signals can carry more information, capable of producing more detailed pictures, clearer images, brighter colors and sharper sound on the same amount of broadcast bandwidth.Q. Will I have to buy a new television set?A. Not for several years. The Federal Communications Commission expects traditional broadcasts to continue along with digital service until about 2006.

Ending years of squabbling, the broadcasting, consumer electronics and computer industries will announce an agreement today on a technical standard for the next generation of television.The accord, which is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission, opens the door for the crystal-clear pictures and expanded services promised by digital television. It also sets up a titanic battle for the nation's living rooms between computer companies and TV set manufacturers, both of which want to build the digital device that will display these images.

With the switch to all-digital television exactly a year away, vouchers to defray the cost of converter boxes necessary to keep older sets working will begin hitting the mail this week - and officials are urging people to request them early, as they are going fast. The federal government is offering each family up to two $40 vouchers to purchase the boxes, which will translate digital broadcast signals so they can be viewed on analog TVs. But the number of requests for the vouchers has been higher than predicted, raising concerns that the $1.5 billion set aside by the government might not be enough to meet consumer demand.

In the minutes of our retirement community town meeting, I find that the property management committee is concerned about our having to change to HDTV in 2009. I'm pretty sure I've read in your column that HDTV and digital TV are two different things. Am I correct? - Anne Townes All HDTV is digital, but not all digital is HDTV. Here's how to think of it. Draw a big circle and label it digital. Then draw a smaller circle inside it and label it HDTV. HDTV is a subset, a part, of digital TV. Digital just means the signal is sent out in the language of computers into tiny hunks of information that are assembled at the other end. That conversion to digital means cleaner signals.

A recent column ... on the advent of digi- tal television made me wonder what the switch to digital radio will mean to me. As I understand it, this will become a reality in the coming months. Does it mean that the old AM/FM radio I have had for years is kaput? - S. Beckner There's a big difference between the approach of digital television and the move toward digital radio. In the case of television, the switch to digital transmissions in 2009 is required by the Federal Communications Commission.

ONE DAY in the not-too-distant future, all the TV sets in your home that aren't hooked to cable boxes will turn into pumpkins. If you want to receive over-the-air broadcasts, you'll have to replace them with sets that cost at least twice as much, or pay a $100 "digital TV tax" for each set. That's what I call the estimated cost of a converter that will enable your set to do what it did for free the day before - receive TV broadcasts. You can thank Congress for this opportunity. Back in 1996, our lawmakers, the nation's broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission and the folks who make consumer electronics hatched a scheme that will cost households hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each for something they have demonstrated only a marginal appetite for so far - high definition digital television (HDTV)

LAS VEGAS - If the Consumer Electronics Show reveals future trends, then the world is poised for a huge television-buying spree. The show features computers, phones and stereos in all shapes and sizes, but the 1.5 million square feet of exhibits are dominated by thousands of TVs, from tiny ones in cell phones to a 102-inch monster that Samsung calls the world's largest plasma television. All the keynote speeches this week have focused heavily on TV. Technology companies such as Microsoft Corp.

WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell expects to postpone until early next year a vote on his plan to convert the U.S. television system to digital technology by January 2009, a Powell aide said yesterday. Broadcasters such as the Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network have lobbied against the plan, saying consumers aren't prepared to switch to digital television sets. Police and fire-safety groups have pushed the transition because it would free airwaves for emergency services.

Cable companies, which have been weighed down for years by heavy investments and sagging subscriber growth, are starting to turn the corner. Comcast Corp. said yesterday that it earned $262 million in the second quarter, after losing $22 million in the quarter last year, thanks to an increase in the number of customers signing up for high-speed Internet and digital video services. Comcast said it earned 12 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $22 million, or a penny a share, in the second quarter last year.

Stay tuned: The switch to digital television may be a rocky one. One year alter the first U.S. television stations were required to begin beaming a digital signal, the future of the medium looks fuzzy. Digital sets remain pricey, programming is scarce, and surveys show consumers are baffled by digital television's avalanche of techie terminology. Meanwhile, the industries that have the biggest financial stake in digital television - broadcasters, cable companies and electronics manufacturers - aren't helping matters.

Claiming that the nation's conversion to digital television may be in danger, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it has filed a petition calling on federal regulators to adopt a new technical standard for digital broadcasting.The petition marks the latest round in Sinclair's battle to change the way digital television is developed in the United States. The Cockeysville-based company has waged an aggressive public relations campaign, inviting broadcasting executives from around the country to Baltimore to lobby them.

IT'S 2 O'CLOCK on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, circa 2003.Four-year-old Sally is watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on Maryland Public Television-1. Elsewhere, Jane, 34, is earning credits toward a sociology degree on MPTV-2. Frank, 14, is in school watching MPTV-3; he's learning about the social and economic factors that led to World War I. And 64-year-old Bill, a retiree, is at home watching a debate live from the City Council chambers on MPTV-4.Now it's 2 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, January 1999.