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posted by martyb on Monday July 19 2021, @06:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the Never-Twice-the-Same-Color dept.

A long while back, the FCC set a hard deadline of July 13th, 2021, for shutting down the last NTSC television transmitters and transitioning channels to being digital fully. The other day, the last of the NTSC transmitters were shut down with hardly anyone commenting, except Hackaday which noted:

A significant event in the history of technology happened yesterday, and it passed so quietly that we almost missed it. The last few remaining NTSC transmitters in the USA finally came off air, marking the end of over seven decades of continuous 525-line American analogue TV broadcasts. We've previously reported on the output of these channels, largely the so-called "FrankenFM" stations left over after the 2009 digital switchover whose sound carrier lay at the bottom of the FM dial as radio stations, and noted their impending demise. We've even reported on some of the intricacies of the NTSC system, but we've never taken a look at what will replace these last few FrankenFM stations.

NTSC has been the analog protocol used in the US for television since 1941, initially for black and white and then by 1953 / 1951 for color. NTSC was sent at a 3:4 aspect ratio with 525 lines per frame at 30 frames per second. PAL and SECAM were the other two analog standards and used in other parts of the world. Four competing standards for digital signals are in use so far. They are DVB-T, ATSC, ISDB-T, and DTMB. The US uses ATSC.

The US has been among the last countries to switch over to digital television transmissions. The FCC gave stations lots of lead time, several extensions, and multiple exit strategies, including the choice of shutting down the channel and ceasing operations permanently.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Monday July 19 2021, @05:25PM (4 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Monday July 19 2021, @05:25PM (#1157951) Journal

    It's precisely because people will reject change if it is merely equally good that a new standard always has to be better, sometimes a lot better, than the old standard. The more efficient 32W T8 fluorescent tube isn't merely as bright as the older 40W T12 tube, it's noticeably brighter. Digital reception works quite a bit better than analog. Less susceptible to interference.

    My Apple II+ always degraded analog TV reception when it was on, despite being as far away as possible, at the opposite corner of the house from the TV. Added a band of snow to the signal. When the house next door was vacant for a year, our TV reception was the best it'd ever been. Every time the neighbors vacuumed or ran a hair dryer, or a fan, or some other appliance, it added snow to the TV signal. Digital is much more resistant to such interference.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by fustakrakich on Monday July 19 2021, @05:32PM (1 child)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday July 19 2021, @05:32PM (#1157955) Journal

    The digital signal degrades poorly. It either works or it doesn't. I prefer the snow over the constant cutting in and out. Interference is relatively easy to filter.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Reziac on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:05AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @03:05AM (#1158141) Homepage

      I used to live where the analog signal for the weaker channels was almost absent, even with a giant antenna. One day my sister comes in and wants to know why I'm watching snow. I say, I'm watching baseball. Sister peers at the TV and says, I don't see anything. So I point out that this shadow is the pitcher, and that shadow is the batter... I'd become sufficiently accustomed to it that I knew everyone in both leagues by stance and delivery, but none of 'em by their faces... and apparently it was better than nothing.

      I never did get a digital convertor... by the time that became mandatory, there was no longer anything on any available over-the-air that interested me (and nowhere near enough of interest to justify the cost of satellite). And now there's not enough hours in the day for all the stuff available by internet, so why bother with TV?

      Oh, and I've got two baseball games going as we speak. Seeing their faces is still a novelty. :)

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Magic Oddball on Monday July 19 2021, @08:00PM (1 child)

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Monday July 19 2021, @08:00PM (#1158006) Journal

    Digital reception works quite a bit better than analog. Less susceptible to interference.

    That's only the case if the signal can travel relatively unimpeded from source to destination. At my part in the SF Bay Area, we used to be able to get a bunch of analog channels in good quality, even from way down in the South Bay; when the signals switched to digital, they all immediately became completely inaccessible here due to the hilly terrain.

    • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:25AM

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:25AM (#1158170) Journal

      This reminds me that cell phones were originally analog signal. When they switched to digital, providers all claimed that it was an improvement, but actually it was a mixed bag. Reception and range became worse. The good part is that with digital signals, it's possible to cram a whole lot more separate conversations into the spectrum, and that's what the telecoms were really interested in doing, so they could serve a lot more customers.

      Another major change has muddied the distinction: antennas are much better. You don't see phones sporting stubby antennas poking up from one corner any more. Also, lots of range wasn't always good. Used to be signal piracy, in which your call might be handled by some slimy telecom hundreds of miles away, because they could get your signal, and then charge you exorbitant rates for roaming and long distance fees, for what should have been a local call. Tended to happen at night, when signal can travel a very long ways. They burned my mother that way once. $12 for a 3 minute local call.