GAINESVILLE, FL, March 17, 2009. It is estimated that 4.5 million Americans are still unprepared for the switch to only digital broadcasting on June 12th, 2009, even though the scheduled deadline was originally February 17th. The FCC recently set down a few new rules for broadcasting companies across the United States, including the fact that they have to provide reminders for their audiences that the transition is on its way and how they can be prepared for it.

Those who have cable TV will not have to worry about the conversion, but low-power local stations, class A stations, and TV translator stations will be able to continue broadcasting in analog even after the over-the-air cutoff until 2012. They will eventually be forced to switch over, although no deadline has been set. Almost no pay TV customer will have to be concerned about purchasing a converter box, either, since the equipment that they lease from their television provider is typically already DTV compatible.

Anyone who lives outside the city limits and receives television signals over the air will not only need to purchase a converter box for their televisions, but will also need to purchase a DTV compatible antenna if their current antenna is not up to date. The better antenna they have, the better DTV and HD reception they will be able to get.

Not only that, but HDTV antennas are capable of giving the highest quality HD possible, whereas cable and satellite companies are unable to provide true HD due to bandwidth limitations.

As the United States and the rest of the world slowly begin the transition to digital-only broadcasting and entertainment, private homeowners in rural areas are not the only ones having trouble with the transition. Many theaters across the United States are also falling behind in the switch for a number of reasons: even though the equipment is much more efficient to operate, it is also a much more expensive initial investment.

Either way, it's clear that someone will have to pay the price to upgrade and with the failing economy, a theater's mis-step in one direction or the other could cause their own credits to roll instead of their films'. Small bars and restaurants with televisions available for their customers to watch are also being forced to make the switch.

Source: http://24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/dtv-transitionmill~.php

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If you have home theater questions you need answered, send an email to HDanswers gmail.com. ADVERTISEMENT If you've already sent a question and don't see it answered yet, please be patient as we work our way through them. To browse through previously answered questions, visit the main HD Advisor page. Answers by Joshua Zyber 1080i p Content on a 720p HDTV Q: I have a Toshiba Regza 720p HDTV.

I've read in the Instruction Manual and have noticed myself that the HDMI inputs accept 1080i and 1080p signals. Currently I have my Ps3 setup for 1080p, and my cable box and HD DVD player setup for 1080i.

Essentially, what does it mean in terms of picture quality and is it better to have my equipment set up for 1080i p respectively or should I have them set for 720p? A: A digital HDTV has one and only one native resolution. A 720p model will display all content at 720p.

Even if the set will accept input signals from higher or lower resolutions, it automatically scales everything to its native resolution before anything shows up on your screen. If you want to watch a 1080i HD broadcast or a 1080p Blu-ray on your TV, those signals will need to be scaled to 720p first. Your decision will depend on which component has the better scaling circuitry built in. A bad scaler will introduce artifacts such as shimmer, aliasing, or pixelation.

The best way to make this decision is simply to try it both ways and see if you can notice any difference. If one method is visibly inferior to the other, use the better-looking option. If you can't tell the difference, set everything to whichever method is most convenient for you and try not to worry about it. HD Audio â " PCM vs. Bitstream Q: Just want to make sure myself and others understand how PCM vs.

Bitstream audio streams work for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. I have a Denon AVR-3808 and the "Dolby TrueHD" and "DTS-HD MA" indicator lights do not light up when utilizing my PS3 or BDP-S350 for Blu-ray playback. This is because neither player supports the high-end audio codes in bitstream format, correct? They support PCM which is basically a file unzipped by my receiver which is equivalent to TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.

Will there be possible upgrades which allow the PS3 to output the high-end audio codecs via bitstream, or would I need to purchase another Blu-ray player to make this happen? A: There are two ways to get high-resolution audio out of your Blu-ray player to your receiver in full quality. The first is to transmit the native audio bitstream over HDMI and let your receiver do the decoding.

In that instance, your receiver's front panel should light up with an indication of which codec it has received. In order to do this, you'll need a Blu-ray player capable of transmitting the native bitstream. Unfortunately, the Playstation 3 won't do that. From what I understand, this is a hardware limitation in the HDMI transmitter used in the console, and cannot be changed with a software update.

However, according to the specs I looked up, the Sony BDP-S350 will "bitstream" the high-res audio formats. Go into the player's Setup menu and make sure all audio options are set to Bitstream. You may also need to turn off Secondary Audio if that's an option. The other method to get full high-res sound quality is to let the player decode the audio internally. The PS3 is fully loaded with all the decoders you'll need.

After decoding, the player will transmit the audio as multi-channel PCM. Although you won't see a "TrueHD" or "DTS-HD" indicator light up on your receiver, there should be no loss in quality from decoding the audio in the disc player rather than in the receiver. Dynamic Range Compression Q: I live in an apartment with rather thin walls.

Nevertheless, the audio on most movies seems mercilessly loud when it comes to bullets and car chases, then I have turn up the volume to even hear the dialogue. So I'm sitting with my remote on a hair trigger the entire time, and that kind of robs from the viewing experience. I've tried tricks like turning up the center speaker, since that's where a lot of the dialogue comes from. Nothing's noticeably helped. Any advice you could give me would be very much appreciated. In your case, it's actually a detriment.

I'm going to start with some suggestions that shouldn't negatively affect your audio quality, and may even improve it. If those don't work, you'll have to move on to more invasive methods. Since you live in an apartment, I'll assume that major renovations and full-blown soundproofing are not an option. Still, there are things you can do to reduce the vibrations that carry through your walls and disturb your neighbors. The first thing you should try is to move your speakers away from the walls and elevate them off the floor with isolation feet.

You want to reduce or avoid hard contact with surfaces that connect throughout the building. Next, you should break up sound reflections in your room with rugs and wall treatments. You don't necessarily need to buy expensive audiophile acoustic treatments. Shelves and artwork can also break up reflections. Try to eliminate large, flat expanses of empty wall or floor. In extreme cases, attaching fabric to the ceiling may help.

Reducing reflections will improve audibility of subtle details more clearly, which will reduce your need to crank up a soundtrack's volume. Likewise, you should also try to eliminate other sources of noise that may be muddying your sound. Turn off your computer, air conditioning, and other noisy appliances if possible. If none of that is enough, you'll need to be more aggressive.

You've already taken a few of the steps I'll recommend. Keep in mind that you should make these settings in whichever device is performing the audio decoding. If your disc player is doing the decoding, you'll want to turn on Dynamic Range Compression there, not in the receiver.

If you're sending a native audio bitstream and letting the receiver decode, that's where you'll turn on DRC. The low-end of the audio is the part that creates the greatest feeling of loudness, and also the part that carries most through walls to your neighbors. If DRC and turning up the center channel aren't enough, set your crossover to filter out frequencies below 120 Hz, then turn your subwoofer way down or disconnect it entirely.

My thanks to reader Chase for a few of these tips.) 5.1 vs. 7.1 Audio Q: I currently have a Blu-ray player and a 5.1 receiver and speaker system. If I upgrade the receiver to a 7.1 receiver capable of playing back Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, but donâ t add the two more rear speakers, will I still be able to notice a difference in sound quality?

Or do I really need to add the two speakers as well before the difference becomes noticeable? A: The most important thing to note here is that you won't lose any parts of a movie's soundtrack by playing a Blu-ray disc with a 7.1 audio track on a 5.1 sound system. If you only have five speakers, you receiver will automatically redirect any sounds designated for the center rear speakers out to the other left and right surround channels instead.

Everything will still be there, just spread out to the sides a little more. The difference between a 5.1 and a 7.1 audio configuration shouldn't have any effect on overall audio fidelity. All you're doing is adding two more speakers that will help to fill in the rear soundstage and give you a couple more discrete points for directional audio cues.

This is mostly beneficial in large listening spaces with a significant gap between the left and right surrounds, but is a lot less useful in smaller rooms, where the surround channels are probably already close enough together to create a convincing rear soundfield.

Depending on how your room is laid out, you may be just as well off sticking with 5.1 rather than trying to cram in a couple extra speakers that might only serve to muddy the back soundstage. Replacement Remotes Q: Our house was broken into three weeks ago. Besides our TV being stolen, they stole all the remotes for our Blu-Ray Disc Player and Sound System.

Source: http://highdefdigest.com/news/show/joshua_zyber/hd_advisor/h~

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With the current trend toward switching to high definition television in our homes, Channel Master antennas such as the 4228 model are able to offer you something that cable and satellite providers can't: real HDTV. Cable and satellite providers cannot offer you true HD in your home because of the massive amount of data that needs to be transferred to your cable box or satellite, so the data is compressed.

Why pay monthly for fake HD when you can purchase a real HD antenna and only have to pay for it once? The 4228 Channel Master is digital converter box and HDTV ready and is very easy to install. All you have to do is unfold it, mount it, and connect it to the viewing device of your choice. Mounting can be done in different areas on the outside of your home, including your roof, outside wall, or one of your eaves. With its small, transparent design, you don't have to worry about it being your typical big and ugly antenna, either.

The 4228 Channel Master is also constructed of durable aluminum elements and UV stabilized plastics, which means that it will be affected very little by the UV rays that we are all so worried about these days. The footprint of the antenna is fairly small: the dimensions are 5.5L x 41W x 33H and features a 20.5 inch turning radius. It will pick up signals from 45 to 60 miles away and is perfect if you live in a suburban community of a major city.

If you are replacing an older antenna that you have mounted on a traditional antenna mast, the 4228 model is very easy to attach to it, which means no need to drill anymore holes in the exterior of your home to mount it. If you're living in the suburbs and you're searching for a real HDTV solution, look no further than the 4228 Channel Master. It has the range, the quality, and the aesthetics you need to make your HD experience the best it can be.

Source: http://pr-usa.net/index.php

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