Now Hear This Newsletter, June 19, 2008 Posted by Bob at 06/18/08 06:23 PM

For months now we have been hearing from readers asking when the technical gurus over at our sister organization Consumer Reports would be providing ratings and reviews on digital TV converter boxes.

We are happy to announce that the wait is over and, in even happier news, it looks like some of the cheaper DTV converter boxes now on the market work just as well – or even better – than more expensive models.

Currently, there are only about 25 models of digital converter boxes available, all of which cost more than $50. Consumers can apply for two $40 government coupons towards the purchase of these devices.

The 14 models Consumer Reports tested are available for purchase either online or at stores including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Radio Shack and have been approved for the government’s converter box coupon program.

But there is a very big problem – those coupons expire 90 days after they are issued. Since the government began issuing the coupons in March, many have already expired, despite the fact that there is still only a limited number of models and units available to consumers. Many more coupons will expire soon.

CU policy analyst Joel Kelsey sums up the situation well.

“This is a consumer Catch-22,” says Kelsey. “Those who acted early in requesting coupons face limited or expensive choices in converter boxes, but can’t wait for more options because their coupons are expiring.”

Consumers who do not have a digital TV and currently rely on over-the-air-broadcasts for news and entertainment will have to purchase a digital converter box in order to receive digital signals from U.S. television stations.

CR's recommendations, ratings and shopping tips

CR found there were differences in performance among the 14 models tested, though not dramatic, with price not necessarily an indicator of quality. In fact, some of the less expensive models offered better picture quality than higher-priced models.

For those considering a DTV converter, CR advises first choosing models with better picture quality, and then narrowing choices down to those that have desired features. The Tivax STB-T9, $50, was among those with the best picture quality. The Microgem MG200, $65, also stood out in CR tests for its picture quality.

When judging picture quality at home, however, consumers should also consider other variables that can affect picture quality – the quality of the video transmitted by stations and the quality of the television set, either of which can often be the weak link in the picture quality chain.

Another characteristic to consider is tuner sensitivity, the ability to receive channels when signal strength is weak. CR found that the tuners in all boxes performed comparably in tests of their ability to pull in digital stations.

The tests were conducted at CR’s headquarters in Yonkers, NY using a standard residential rooftop antenna. Though the results are a rough indicator, it suggests that any of these boxes should be able to detect a similar number of channels. However, reception can vary for each user, depending on location, local terrain, signal strength, and the type of antenna being used, as well as the number of stations broadcast in the area and their signal strength.

CR recommends choosing a digital converter box that allows for individual channels to be easily added. This feature eliminates the need for consumers to perform the more time consuming “scan-for-all-channels.”

Additionally, if no signal is found on a particular channel, some boxes have on-screen signal meters that allow viewers to monitor signal strength while optimizing the antenna position. Signal strength meters are available on all boxes but are typically active only on channels that have already been found.

Also consider the electronic programming guide. These guides range from very basic to more comprehensive.

Analog-pass-through will allow the TV to continue receiving available analog, as well as digital, signals, including those from lower-power TV stations, which may continue to broadcast in analog after the February 2009 deadline.

One final note: Unlike the boxes themselves, CR’s ratings and recommendations on the DTV converters are available free-of-charge online.

Click here for more information on the digital television conversion and CR’s ratings and shopping tips on digital converter boxes.

comments (40)

1 Posted by Glenn at 07/24/08 12:43 PM

This is going to place a huge financial burden on low income folks. I bought a converter box from Radio Shack for $20. with coupon. Then found out I needed something called an ab switch for my VHS/DVD player- another $20.+ to Radio Shack and a nightmare to hook up. Then I found out I needed a powered indoor antenna (I just have "rabbit ears")-$32. and even with it I can only get two channels! So now I have to upgrade to a more powerful powered indoor antenna $50. to $130. with no guarantee it will pull in any more stations.
I can't afford cable or sattelite and I'm sure I'm not alone. I have seen a lot of older Americans at Radio Shack each time I had to go back for something more. I suspect retired seniors on fixed incomes and the working poor will get priced right out of the ability to watch television. Wait 'till the deadline draws nearer and procrastinators realize realize they've been sold out by the FCC to make the airwaves available for cell phones or whatever. Disgusting!

2 Posted by Bill at 07/24/08 12:52 PM

Will one have to use the converter box to change channels? I have several/many vhs and dvd players/recorders media ready computers that all are analoge, will these have to be digital or connected individually to this converter box. My home is wired from a central location/antenna to the Family/Bed/Living Rooms. My question is will one box convert the signal and send it to all devices and areas or do I need separate converter boxes for all the many different devices.

3 Posted by Patty at 07/24/08 01:45 PM

My brother just bought a digital TV & now gets extra channels than I do & we both have the exact same plan with the cable co. If I buy a converter box, will I get more channels, like my brother does?

4 Posted by paul at 07/24/08 02:34 PM

We foolishly requested our coupons right away,not knowing about the 90 days. There were very few boxes available, but I thought "at least I have until July 30, so by then there may be better selection, and cheaper." Except...it wasn't July 30 but July 3rd! Went to buy the boxes....sorry, expired.

5 Posted by Charles Etheridge at 07/24/08 04:33 PM

Here in Atlanta Comcast digital Cable is the same price as conventional and one digital/analog converter is free; extras are $5.00/month. At the same time I upgraded to digital cable I got a Pinnacle digital Hi Def tuner for my computer and got a HD station selector box to go with it. That combination works quite well with a coax connection from the box to the tuner. The output to the tuner is on channel 3 only and channel selection is with a Comcast remote to the box. With a 24" monitor this gives very high resolution pictures and with the tuner costing about $70 is much cheaper than buying a digital or HD TV. As little as I watch TV I would not consider using an Over the Air system. We also have two analog TVs and their reception is very satisfactory with the converter boxes. Just for the record the computer is a Gateway FX530XV with a HDCP rated monitor running Vista Ultimate. Incidentally, I also have WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-Ray along with a Toshiba SD-H802A drive for HD DVD and a Sony BWU-200S for Blu-Ray, all of which, as I already had the computer, was very much less expensive than an HD TV along with external DVD players. This is the sort of arrangement that I would highly suggest to others.

6 Posted by Sanford Jaffe at 07/24/08 05:01 PM

We used one of our $40 coupons to purchse a Zenith DTT900 from the local Circuit City. I am told the same unit is being sold by Best Buy under their house brand name.The price was $59.00. This was a $19 out of pocket added cost.
I had an opportunity to try the Magnavox unit sold by Wal-Mart for $49. Both units worked well with the exception that one unit picked up local channal 31 but not channel 51. The other did the reverse. Neither unit picked up both channels. We live in an Eastern suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The Zenith is worth the extra money because it has a learning capable remote the Magnovox does not have the learning feature. With this feature it is possible to control not only the box but the ON/OFF switch on the volume control on the TV. A considerable convenience.

We have a 27 inch Hitachi which is some 18 years old but provides an excellent analog picture. In the digital mode the picture appears even sharper and more vivid. Also we can pick up a PBS station channel 49 which is some 35 miles away with moderate sogma; strength where we live with excellent sound and picture. In analog mode the station is unwatchable a good deal of the time and the picture is never very good.

7 Posted by C. Gunderson at 07/24/08 05:52 PM

We got our converter and it works fine,but can't hook it up til next year as it scrambles all stations. A friend had to return his to Wal-mart as it didn't work and they would NOT return the coupon so he could shop in another place. Avoid them.

8 Posted by Tom at 07/24/08 06:11 PM

Come on people. This is easy. Get your teenage grandchild to hook it up if you are electronically challenged. HDTV is the future. You can buy a cheap HDTV. The transition will go smoothly for most of us who have a clue and don't live in a cave somewhere.

9 Posted by Steve Markowitz at 07/24/08 06:58 PM

Why is it any of the government's business what kind of TV I watch? I don't believe that the government should be forcing people to convert to HD. The coupons are just a way for the government to give money to the electronics industry. If people want to stay with "rabbit ears," roof antennas or just pieces of wire, they should be able to. In particular, the government should not be financing this. I can think of many better ways the money could be spent.

10 Posted by lin jaynes at 07/24/08 09:35 PM

i remember my folks bought a green screen magnavox in the early 50s when i was 5 or so. It had three channels & a knob to turn it on & one to turn the sound up or down & as i recall only a couple stations were on & went off very early. And the rabbit ears [remember those] looked real strange, but now i realize how fortunate we really were then, before the idiots we now have that are running this country,let's just throw the tv out & go to the drive in again,bet they will think twice about idiotic boxe's then.

11 Posted by Demetria at 07/25/08 09:53 AM

HD is a big rip-off and no improvement unless you had no TV at all before. Nicer picture and sound - ONLY if you buy into a signal provider.

HD is only an improvement for adding channels, most of them duplicates of themselves or re-runs from earlier that day, etc.

The signal is a higher frequency and very choppy - you still need an antenna (my way) or to join the cable/satellite sets. The VHF and UHF are better for broadcast frequency that you can pick up at home. I'd rather have a snowy VHF picture and be able to hear the show, than to get a picture that 'freezes' or disappears if someone walks into the room, or if the cell phone rings, or if the Wi-Fi router signal is 'pulled' through the room to a computer - anything and everything interrupts the pictures and sound, sometimes both at the same time.

The higher frequency is interfered with easily. I can disrupt my neighbor's signal if i use a radio signal remote or hold my cell phone next to their window. There is a lot of medical research that has been done on the effects of higher frequency radio(TV) waves causing disruptions in our soft tissues and our brains. This is you, the consumer, bringing these high frequency devices into your home willingly, and you py for the 'privilege' of it. The waves are still an electro-magnetic field you are setting up in your homes to bombard your bodies with. Remember that the companies who manufacture these devices pay for the safety tests too. Tobacco was 'proven' safe or not unhealthy for about decades, as was DDT, etc. Health complaints later? Good luck getting any dampening of the fields for safety - that would interfere with signal reception. It is your high frequency choice, my fellow consumers.

12 Posted by John at 07/25/08 10:47 AM

to DAVID: I wonder if the cable goes out, could the box be of benefit.

to PATTY: I suspect your brother may be getting "illegal" channels due to cable technician error...he'll probably want to 'fess up to be legal again.

13 Posted by Nick Mongello at 07/25/08 10:55 AM

I purchased the GE converter box a Target Stores
and it was listed as $50.00 not the $80.00 you
quoted. With my $40.00 coupon it cost $10.00 plus tax. I'm glad it was rated the best.
Nick

14 Posted by Janet at 07/25/08 11:27 AM

There's a tremendous amount of misinformation going around. First of all, if you have a TV with a DIGITAL tuner and you receive signals via antenna - you DO NOT need a converter box. But if you have a TV with an ANALOG tuner and receive signals via antenna you WILL need a converter box. If you have cable or satellite to receive your signals it doesn't matter whether your TV has a DIGITAL or ANALOG tuner. I was born in 1943 and I was weaned on TV. My father worked for RCA and his life was all about TV. I wonder what he would think of all this if he were alive today. Somehow, I don't think he would be in favor of all of this.

15 Posted by ellyn musser at 07/25/08 01:25 PM

We have a second home--an apartment where we use a VCR for our tapes and rabbit ears to get one local station for "emergency" news when we are there, getting us fine pictures from the tapes on a large old analog TV. My daughter has a full time similar situation on a limited budget. I plan to get 2 converter boxes but can find no good info on using rabbit ears in apartments. She cannot afford all the upgrade items people talk about.
anybody know the answers?

16 Posted by Connie613 at 07/25/08 01:57 PM

To MSS regarding not be able to get one because of P.O. Box. Ask a friend or neighbor who has cable and doesn't need a converter box, to order one and they can give the coupon to you. There is no name and/or address, etc. on the coupon. If you have good friends, I'm sure they would do this for you. Good luck.

17 Posted by Nick Pasquine at 07/27/08 01:37 PM

One of the first to get a coupon but limited availablity of boxes except for the walmart crap which I won't touch. And now of course the coupon has expired. What a joke. We will just skip TV in rooms that do not have cable. Less commercials to put up with.

18 Posted by Rich at 07/27/08 08:23 PM

What gets me is tht when this whole thing was considered no one mentioned that VCRs won't work anymore, since they are analog. So now I have to buy a DVR or VCR with a digital tuner. Moreover, I hooked up the converter and found that the DVD player doesn't show up on the TV with the converter. There should have been coupons for all the electronics we have to buy for this change. Another example of a government of, by and for the industries, rather than the people.

19 Posted by Linda A. at 08/01/08 11:18 AM

"Come on people. This is easy. Get your teenage grandchild to hook it up if you are electronically challenged. HDTV is the future. You can buy a cheap HDTV. The transition will go smoothly for most of us who have a clue and don't live in a cave somewhere."

Why so rude, Tom? Not everyone HAS a "teenage grandchild," you know, so that was a dumb thing for you to say.

Anyway, I picked up my Insignia (Best Buy's store brand of the Zenith DTT-900) converter box at Best Buy over the weekend. (My coupons expired July 31.) Fortunately, I am NOT "electronically challenged" and hooked it up to my VCR myself, but I won't know for sure until the transition happens whether or not I hooked it up correctly. My TV and VCR are working just fine, right now, so I assume I did. (I have basic cable with no cable box.) I've gotten used to having the flexibility of being able to tape off one channel while watching another, and I understand that when the transition goes through, the converter box will be needed to be able to do this. (By the way, whatever gave anyone the idea that you can't get the coupons if you have a P.O. box. Yes, you can! I did.)

I wholeheartedly agree with you Jerry, but whether it's a "scam" or not (and I, like you, believe it is), the transition IS going to happen. Everyone without cable or satellite just needs to be ready by getting their box(es).

20 Posted by Rafael Block at 10/05/08 12:39 PM

Well, far from being a 'scam' this is long overdue: The television we have in the US is nearly unchanged since before Kennedy was president...the rest of the planet has updated and upgraded their television at least once since the 1950s.

Do not succumb to fear, uncertainty and doubt: For almost everyone, there will be no need for these devices as nearly every household is using cable or satellite, including Linda A. If your TV works using your cable, you will be able to use it, and your VCR, after the changeover. You don't need a converter, or a teenage grandchild to hook it up.