What will you do with your SDTV 2009.

[jayelem]

It was only a couple years ago but I remember when I was working at a video store and a 12 yr old boy walked in with a big grin because he found a working 25 inch color TV in the alley that was tossed out .

I often wonder what causes folks to depart with older electronic technology that can still be used today , is it lack of space or brains .

I'm the last person who would want to see standard definition TV's ending up in Landfills , it might be much easier to put an older TV set in an alley but it would serve the public to donate working items to a second hand store or non-profit charitable organizations like Salvation Army and Goodwill.

I realize digital converter boxes will be used and be pretty common in the next couple of years but many people will also ignore the converter boxes regardless of a voucher and still toss out their SDTV.

I can think of plenty of Latin American countries that will not be embracing HDTV for a very long time , if it was easy I would send my not being used SDTV to a low income family in a 3rd world country.

 

[Ilya]

Since so many people have their TV sets connected to cable and satellite boxes, they won't have to do anything. Analog TV sets will continue to work just fine, unless they use OTA antennas.

As for donating TV sets to other countries, this might be problematic: old sets are very heavy and it may cost too much to ship them there. Also, keep in mind that even in Americas not all countries use NTSC or the same voltage, power plug type, etc. So there might be compatibility issues too.

 

[Andrewwski]

How many people seriously use OTA vs the amount that use satellite/cable/fios? I wouldn't think too many.

 

[mdonnelly]

What SD TV? I got rid of the last one two years ago.

 

[ShinNYC]

I still have one that I use in the bedroom, I'll probably get rid of it in 2008 for a LCD HDTV(speaking of that I need advice on buying a 37-40" LCD HDTV for under $800).

 

[Peter Parker]

I will either hook it up to cable or to a STB---or both.

 

[mrparrott]

I'll be giving my old 27 inch sd to my neighbour for his kid to hook up video games to.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I think my 70 year old mother is the only person I know that has an SD tv with no STB.! This is nothing to even get worried about. Its for the best. This is a good thing! One step closer to the HD only signal. Maybe by 2015. I hope!

 

[SatelliteGAL]

Since so many people have their TV sets connected to cable and satellite boxes, they won't have to do anything. Analog TV sets will continue to work just fine, unless they use OTA antennas.

As for donating TV sets to other countries, this might be problematic: old sets are very heavy and it may cost too much to ship them there. Also, keep in mind that even in Americas not all countries use NTSC or the same voltage, power plug type, etc. So there might be compatibility issues too.

I guess I havent been following this enough because it doesn't concern me. I didnt give a thought to the fact that the digital boxes for cable/satellite would allow people to watch their old tv. My inlaws have only OTA. They will not get anything else because they are "thrifty". They have old tv sets as well. Sooner or later I am going to have to explain it all to them and I guess they could go with cable.

 

[Andrewwski]

I have 6 SDTV's, I don't plan on doing a thing with them until they break. Which I don't forsee happening too soon.

 

[VinceT3]

i have 3 hd tvs and I have 2 sd tv's left, but I don't use the sd ones anymore..

 

[giraffejumper]

I have one that I am keeping around for the older - non 16:9 - video game systems.
I still have a lot of ps2 and xbox games that look better on an sd than they do on the hdtv.
Sure you can use a component cable for the first xbox and get 16:9 480p.
But there are an awful lot off jaggies and it just looks smoother and better on the good old reliable CRT.
-phil

 

[Tyralak]

It was only a couple years ago but I remember when I was working at a video store and a 12 yr old boy walked in with a big grin because he found a working 25 inch color TV in the alley that was tossed out .

I often wonder what causes folks to depart with older electronic technology that can still be used today , is it lack of space or brains .

I'm the last person who would want to see standard definition TV's ending up in Landfills , it might be much easier to put an older TV set in an alley but it would serve the public to donate working items to a second hand store or non-profit charitable organizations like Salvation Army and Goodwill.

I realize digital converter boxes will be used and be pretty common in the next couple of years but many people will also ignore the converter boxes regardless of a voucher and still toss out their SDTV.

I can think of plenty of Latin American countries that will not be embracing HDTV for a very long time , if it was easy I would send my not being used SDTV to a low income family in a 3rd world country.

One of the largest misconceptions about this entire situation. SDTV isn't gong away. Only analog transmission. The 2009 deadline does not mean that all broadcasts have to be HD it just means that all channels broadcasting over the air (NOT cable or satellite) must be broadcast in digital form. It has nothing whatsoever to do with HDTV. HD is a quality standard, not a transmission standard. TV stations can broadcast whatever they want, in whatever resolution they want, but it has to be in digital format. That's all it means.

 

[Tyralak]

I think my 70 year old mother is the only person I know that has an SD tv with no STB.! This is nothing to even get worried about. Its for the best. This is a good thing! One step closer to the HD only signal. Maybe by 2015. I hope!

There never will be a mandate for "HD only" if there was, then anything other than shows made in the last few years ould be off limits for broadcast. This is only related to the transmission spectrum used in terrestrial broadcasts.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

There never will be a mandate for "HD only" if there was, then anything other than shows made in the last few years ould be off limits for broadcast. This is only related to the transmission spectrum used in terrestrial broadcasts.

Oh ,so I guess the "Breakfast Club" was shot in HD ,back in 1984. And the Wizord of OZ ,back in 1939. They are played in HD Right? I'd say they are more then a few years old.

 

[digiblur]

If they still power up they will continue to be watched in the bedrooms.

 

[tigerfan33]

Mine is staying put in my workout room. I will see how many mile I can get on it.

 

[Tyralak]

Oh ,so I guess the "Breakfast Club" was shot in HD ,back in 1984. And the Wizord of OZ ,back in 1939. They are played in HD Right? I'd say they are more then a few years old.

Show me where there is a mandate that says everything has to be HD by 2009. There isn't.

 

[AllieVi]

My dozen or so SD TV's scattered around the house will continue to be used for many, many years.

 

[Weezknight]

For those that are "thrifty" as another poster said, aren't there going to be free STBs available to the public? I thought I had read that somewhere.