Canadian Digital TV Conversion FAQ
Posted by Lamespotting on 06 Sep 2010 at 04:00 am | Tagged as: tech
Remember those ads from the US last year that talked about the conversion of TV signals to digital? It’s going to happen here too, however, what you have to do depends on your situation:
I have Satellite or IPTV
You won’t have to do a thing, you are already 100% digital. Really, you’re fine. Really. Stop worrying.
I have Cable TV
All my TVs already have digital cable boxes attached to them
You won’t need to do anything
My cable goes right into the back of my TV
You will need to get a digital cable box. All cable companies will have different timelines on forcing it onto you, but will probably be in 2013. Some parts of Nova Scotia already require digital boxes. You will get plenty of letters and phone calls from them before they do the cutover and they will help you hook everything up (but probably not for free). Newer HDTVs have a built-in digital tuner, but they don’t work when the cable company encrypts the channels. As of now, all cable companies are encrypting all their channels.
I have a VCR
Sorry, but this is really going to complicate your life. You’ll have to program your VCR to record at the time you want, then program your digital cable box to set the channel to auto-tune. Some cable companies offer boxes that have the ability to tell your VCR to record. The cable company will be able to offer you a PVR, which would be a lot less complicated, but can cost as much as $25/month.
I have split the line to many TVs but I’m only paying for one outlet
This will be the end of the line for moochers like you. You’ll be forced to pay for all your outlets now.
I have an antenna (rabbit ears)
I have an HDTV
You should be OK unless your HDTV is really old (from before 2007). You’ll just have to do a channel scan and the digital channels will show up. You may need to get a different antenna because they are removing channels 2-6 and moving them to UHF (just like they did to channels 1 and 70-83).
I have an older TV
You have until August 2011 (or 2012 if the broadcasters get their way) to get a digital converter box. You may also need to get a different antenna because they are removing channels 2-6 and moving them to UHF (just like they did to channels 1 and 70-83).
I have a VCR
Sorry, but this is really going to complicate your life. You’ll have to program your VCR to record at the time you want, then program your digital converter box to set the channel to auto-tune. Some higher-end digital converter boxes may have the ability to tell your VCR to record. Some low-end digital converter boxes may not have the ability to change channels on their own.