FCC Pushing Digital TV Tuners
Fri, 06/10/2005 - 08:36
Consumer Applications
It's nice to see the FCC is still pushing the switch to digital. A recent news article detailed the fact that the FCC has moved up the deadline for digital tuners in mid-sized TVs to March of next year, four months earlier than originally planned. This is a nice thought, but the reality is that it doesn't make that much difference in terms of the capabilities of the sets.
Digital tuners are very important for terrestrial broadcast reception, but that market is hardly the mainstream of America. The vast majority (especially of high-end users) get their TV signals from cable operators, and those digital signals pass through a STB first. The closest thing to a direct-to-TV connections there is through CableCard, which has hardly been popular among cable companies. They reluctantly offer it because they are required to do so, but they really would prefer you use a full box because it gives them more control of the viewer.
One way or another, digital tuners are a transitional technology. Either the TV will become a dumb display monitor or it will subsume the STB, DVR, etc. and become the uber appliance. Either way, a digital tuner is pretty much irrelevant.
Digital tuners are very important for terrestrial broadcast reception, but that market is hardly the mainstream of America. The vast majority (especially of high-end users) get their TV signals from cable operators, and those digital signals pass through a STB first. The closest thing to a direct-to-TV connections there is through CableCard, which has hardly been popular among cable companies. They reluctantly offer it because they are required to do so, but they really would prefer you use a full box because it gives them more control of the viewer.
One way or another, digital tuners are a transitional technology. Either the TV will become a dumb display monitor or it will subsume the STB, DVR, etc. and become the uber appliance. Either way, a digital tuner is pretty much irrelevant.
