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Approaching end of analog TV still has many confused

The federal government, in their usual slapstick fashion with just a dash of ironic humor, has decreed that television broadcasters go digital by February 17, 2009 -- less than a year.

The reality of this is, if you've bought a television in recent years, perhaps one of those fancy, flat-screen beauties complete with a TV wall mount that keeps it hanging in the middle of your biggest wall, you probably have nothing at all to worry about. It's my understanding that ALL televisions in recent years have been made so they are digital ready.

If you're not sure, you can probably find out from your local television stations -- or contact the manufacturer of your television set and ask.

Should you have a very old television set you don't wish to replace, you will need to sign up for cable service, one of the satellite television services, or at worst purchase a $40-$60 converter box that will make your set digital ready.

One very important note: Digital television is NOT the same as High Definition Television -- the so-called "HDTV." Although HDTV is always digital, not all digital television is HDTV. You only need digital to receive television beyond February 2009. If you choose to get the higher-definition, sharper picture digital sold at a higher price as HDTV, you certainly can do that. But you do NOT need to purchase anything labeled "HDTV" just to get normal digital programming either now or after the deadline.
[tags]digital television, conversion from analog to digital, digital or HDTV, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]