TV Digital Converter Box

[charlesrshell]

I am not sure if this thread belongs here so feel free to move it to the proper topic section if needed. I have a question concerning the requirement of might needing a TV digital converter box next year. Does anyone know of a quick way to tell if a TV has a NTSC, ATSC, or QAM tuner? Surely there is way to tell what it has without connecting a OTA antenna and then testing it or having to look it up in the manual, etc, etc? I think a lot of people don't know what they have and need to before the conversion to digital in 2009.

 

[lakebum431]

Well, you can look for stickers or badges on the tv or you can just check the manual (best option).

 

[charlesrshell]

Well, you can look for stickers or badges on the tv or you can just check the manual (best option).

About when did ATSC tuners start to hit the market?

 

[DishSubLA]

Just about every manufacturer lists the tuners the TV has on its brochure material, in the descriptions on its website, in its user guides, and even some retailers have it listed next to the product's price on the showroom floor.

My advice is not to trust what the retailer lists next to the price, as this info is often wrong. Instead get the model of the TV you are interested in and download the user guide from the internet and see for yourself what tuners are provided for that set. Sometimes, even the manufacturer website description is incorrect. The user guide is almost always accurate.

 

[charlesrshell]

Just about every manufacturer lists the tuners the TV has on its brochure material, in the descriptions on its website, in its user guides, and even some retailers have it listed next to the product's price on the showroom floor.

My advice is not to trust what the retailer lists next to the price, as this info is often wrong. Instead get the model of the TV you are interested in and download the user guide from the Internet and see for yourself what tuners are provided for that set. Sometimes, even the manufacturer website description is incorrect. The user guide is almost always accurate.

OK, thanks for the info DishSubLA. My concern is for some folks that aren't TV knowledgeable, don't know what they have, bought the TV five or six years ago, don't have the brochure, don't have a clue, etc, etc. I guess they will find out for sure when the time comes or have someone check it out for them. I was just wondering if there was a quicker way to tell.

 

[oljim]

If you do not want to hook it to a ant. why do you care if it has ATSC tuner???

 

[charlesrshell]

If you do not want to hook it to a ant. why do you care if it has ATSC tuner???

I myself will not need to worry about it. I have all my older NTSC TVs using modulated signal from three DVRs. I have friends and relatives that use OTA antennas or they are thinking of switching to OTA wondering if there is a way to tell which tuner they have without having to research it.

 

[harshness]

About when did ATSC tuners start to hit the market?

ATSC tuner delivery was based on a sequenced roll-out in order of decreasing screen size. TVs of all sizes weren't covered until March 1, 2007 (manufacture date) and even at that, some retailers continued to offer models without ATSC tuners with a special disclaimer until their inventories were depleted.

If you set up your TV and don't remember menu options for scanning digital channels, you probably don't have an ATSC tuner.

 

[harshness]

I have friends and relatives that use OTA antennas or they are thinking of switching to OTA wondering if there is a way to tell which tuner they have without having to research it.

Not that wouldn't require research to interpret.

 

[charlesrshell]

ATSC tuner delivery was based on a sequenced roll-out in order of decreasing screen size. TVs of all sizes weren't covered until March 1, 2007 (manufacture date) and even at that, some retailers continued to offer models without ATSC tuners with a special disclaimer until their inventories were depleted.

If you set up your TV and don't remember menu options for scanning digital channels, you probably don't have an ATSC tuner.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Bradtothebone]

If the TV is more than 5 years old, the chances approach zero that it has either ATSC or QAM. Since then, the bigger the TV, the better the chance of having ATSC, but not necessarily QAM. As harshness said, anything built after March '07 should have ATSC built-in (most would have QAM also). As he also said, go to the setup menu and look for a digital channel scan. If you don't have a setup menu, forget it!

Brad

 

[charlesrshell]

If the TV is more than 5 years old, the chances approach zero that it has either ATSC or QAM. Since then, the bigger the TV, the better the chance of having ATSC, but not necessarily QAM. As harshness said, anything built after March '07 should have ATSC built-in (most would have QAM also). As he also said, go to the setup menu and look for a digital channel scan. If you don't have a setup menu, forget it!

Brad

OK, thanks Bradtothebone. That clears it up much better for me.