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Pepster
01-19-09, 10:13 PM
This question is with regards to February 17th and what I can expect to see not DirectV wise, but OTA wise. My market is N.Y.C. I'll use NBC for my scenario.

NBC is Channel 4. Right now via OTA, I see on Channel 4 the normal analog signal (which I expecct to disappear that day). Next I see 4-1 (1080i). Next I see 4-2 (24/7 weather @ 480i digital). Next I see 4-4 (old sports, community public interests, etc @ 480i digital). As of right now, my OTA and DirecTV guide are in sync in the sense that there's no 480i digital signal for what would be considered normal Channel 4.

Skipping over 4-3 seems to be curious. Is 4-1 what Channel 4 will be & the TV will simply defer to what ever maximum resolution that it has or will 4-3 magically appear that day as the 480i digital signal? Currently, none of the full power VHF stations in N.Y.C. (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, & 13) have 480i digital signals on the normal stations being picked up by my OTA. This question has more to do with my 2 TV's that are still standard def that I have no plans nor need to update as long as they work. I have ordered coupons already just in case my economics change.

BattleZone
01-20-09, 12:13 PM
The digital signal for NBC will be 4.1, exactly like it is today. The only thing that will change is that the analog ch 4 will disappear. They will not be broadcasting a 480i version of the HD channel; it will be up to the digital tuner to down-convert as necessary.

None of the coupon-eligible tuners can output in HD anyway, so everything that isn't already 480 is down-converted.

Stuart Sweet
01-20-09, 12:15 PM
I'm moving this to the Broadcast/HDTV forum.