Why your TV Will Die on February 17, 2009 (and What you Should Do About It!)
July 8, 2010 by hometheaterplus
Filed under Home Theater Receiver
It’s coming!
It’s coming on February 17, 2009! It’s about to cut off the signal to your TV, and most likely you’re not prepared for it!
It’s almost as big a shift in home entertainment as happened sixty years ago when television replaced radio in America’s living rooms!
It’s DTV! Digital Television is going to change the way you watch television, and how you interact with your TV set. You’re finally going to get movie theater quality picture and sound at home!
• Digital TV is also going to reach into your pocketbook! All U.S. broadcast stations will stop sending analog TV signals, the kind your regular TV reads, on February 17, 2009. Without a new converter box, your TV will not work!
• Many stations are broadcasting a digital DTV signal right now along side their analog signal, but after 2009 they’ll only transmit in DTV.
• This digital signal can only be properly viewed on a new Plasma, DLP or LCD TV. If you don’t own one, you’ll need a converter box to watch digital signals “dumbed down” to show on your analog TV. In addition to the new Big Screen TV, you’ll also need a Dolby Surround Sound amplifier and speakers to get the DTV Dolby sound.
• All new TVs sold must have a digital tuner built-in as of March 1, 2007. Your old analog TV will need a set top converter box to receive television broadcasts after February 2009.
• Your cable provider may be able to send you digital cable or digital satellite signals right now, but that doesn’t mean that you can see High Definition programs on your television. If you have an old style picture tube television, a converter in your cable box can take the digital signal and “dumb it down” to analog so that you can see it. You’re still not seeing the super sharp DTV picture, or hearing the crystal clear digital sound.
• Digital Pictures will be free from the flicker, ghosts and snow seen on analog transmissions. More than twice as sharp as Standard TV, DTV signals allow crystal clear images with higher resolution and picture quality than is possible with old style TV.
• DTV will provide programming in wide screen “movie format”. The digital picture is so sharp you’ll be able to read the small text from your computer hooked up to the TV screen.
• DTV allows multicasting: broadcasters can provide a super sharp High Definition (HDTV) program or several Standard Definition programs at the same time. Sending several program streams on one channel is called “multicasting”. The number of programs a station can send on one digital channel depends on the sharpness (resolution) of each program. DTV can provide interactive video and data services that are not possible with the old analog technology.
• DTV features Dolby Surround Sound to give you that full movie theater sound in your home instead of the old, tinny TV sound you grew up with. With a Surround Sound tuner and speakers installed, you’ll get roaring, sparkling sound assaulting your family from all directions: front, sides and rear!
• If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, you’ll need a Plasma or LCD TV with a DTV tuner, or a digital-to-analog converter box to see digital signals on your analog TV. Converter boxes will be available in retail stores during the transition.
• The National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce will issue two $40.00 coupons per household that can be applied toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. Coupons will be issued starting January 1, 2008.
• An Integrated DTV set is a digital TV with a built-in digital decoder or DTV receiver. If you have an Integrated DTV and live in an area with a DTV broadcast station, you won’t need anything else. You may need an antenna (an outdoor antenna is best) to receive over-the-air DTV broadcast programming. Integrated TVs can receive and display current analog signals.
Television is about to leap out of the Stone Age into the future! Make sure you’re ready for it!
It’s as easy as 123!
Ike Ridley
http://www.articlesbase.com/electronics-articles/why-your-tv-will-die-on-february-17-2009-and-what-you-should-do-about-it-151056.html
Are any of you aware of what is going on and how your lives may soon be effected by Feb. 10, 2009?
Please read this blog as well as visit http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14953
this website has another article that shows the potential threats to crafters, small business’, charites, liability to resalers, E-bay sales, and on and on the list goes in some twisted reponse by our legislatures to response to toys with lead in them from China!!!!
Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008
Earlier this week, news reports began circulating about the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which would require third-party testing on consumer goods (including apparel) used by children. The purpose of the act is to keep lead-filled products away from children. It is directed at lead-based paint and phthalates (chemicals used to keep plastics pliable) in products that children might chew, suck on, or otherwise ingest. Beginning February 10, 2009 (the date the law goes into effect) clothing retailers and thrift stores will be throwing out children’s clothing because they do not meet new federal regulations.
This is the Consumer Product Safety Council web page that links to the actual legislation and their legal counsel’s interpretation on how the law should be applied http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTML
According to some reports, testing for lead and phthalates could cost as much as $30,000 per tested sample.
We contacted the office of more than one U.S. Representative and were told that the law has been enacted, but the regulations have not yet been released. There is a chance the law would apply only to producers and importers, not retailers (including thrift stores). The law could also affect initial retailers, but not resellers. These are some of the details that are yet to be determined.
Since we don’t know exactly who will be affected by the new law, and to what extent the law will impact our ministries, here are some things that missions can do:
Contact the Consumer Products Safety Commission at 800-638-2772. This is the agency that is writing the regulations. Ask them for a clarification on what types of outlets will be impacted by the regulations. Voice your concern as to how this will impact services for people in need.
Call your member of Congress or Senator. Explain how their constituents might be impacted if the product testing is extended to thrift stores and free clothing distribution.
Low income families who currently receive free donated clothing, or purchase them at a thrift store, will be forced to pay retail in a tough economic market.
Social services to the poor will be reduced as income from clothing sales at the mission thrift store will decline, resulting in the inability to fund much needed assistance.
It will cost jobs. Thrift stores provide employment to individuals; lower revenue means cutbacks.
It will have a negative environmental impact as tons of serviceable clothing goes into landfills, rather than aiding needy families.
The legislation dramatically impacts helping agencies (rescue missions, Salvation Army, Goodwill, Volunteers of America, churches and other community organizations with clothes closets) during a slow economy, when their assistance is most needed by the community.
Ask your legislators for help in exempting missions and other non-profits that serve people in need.
Write letters to the editor; include the amount of free clothing given to the community and the numbers of families served. Ask for support in seeing that the regulations not impact the most vulnerable members of the community (you may use many of the points from item #2 above). Voice your concern about lead and phthalates, but ask that the new legislation not place additional hardships on the youngest and poorest citizens.
Remember that legislation can be changed and improved. Keep the lines of communication open with members of Congress and Senators for input into future laws of this sort.
Don’t panic, let the legislative process run its course, then be ready to respond when the full details are known.
If you want more information regarding the act, these sites have a lot of good information.
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/new-product-safety-regulations-that-affect-all-manufacturers/
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/national-bankruptcy-day/
Ronald K. Fox, Executive Director
Rochester, NY, United States
The CPSB has announced that these rules will affect only new products, not resale products.
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Brian L- and that’d kill off so many businesses! It’s stupid.
Thanks for passing this on to more people, I hope people see.
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