Monday August 18, 2008 – Myra Moore
Some consumer ads regarding the DTV transition imply that digital-to-analog converter boxes will deliver a dramatically-improved TV viewing experience over that of receiving over-the-air analog signals. Fair enough if all reception conditions are near perfect, but like most things, perfection is seldom achieved.
Granted, my analog over-the-air reception with a pair of rabbit ears is pretty poor, but that’s no surprise. But if I had bought into the implied promises communicated through some of the DTV transition ads, I would have been pretty disappointed in the converter box I hooked up to my analog TV a couple of weeks ago.
The message prominently highlighted in some of the spots is that digital equates to a better picture, better sound, and more channels. And it does, if you get strong, uninterrupted reception of all digital signals available in the area. But my analog TV, which is a secondary set stashed in the spare bedroom, and new converter box are hooked up to rabbit ears. Out of all the digital terrestrial channels available in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, only one came in clear and without frequent pixelation. The rest displayed more pixelation than clear picture or no signal at all. Some consumers will hook their converter boxes to an outdoor antenna and will likely get much better results than I did. But I’m betting that there will be plenty of people who will take the “easy” rabbit ear route that I did. Maybe they’ll get better results than I did, but it’s a crap shoot.
It wasn’t a big disappointment. My expectations were pretty low going in, but then I’ve followed the digital terrestrial TV business as a market analyst since its inception and knew about potential reception problems before hooking up the rabbit ears. But most people have no frame of reference or experience with digital terrestrial TV and don’t have any reason to take the messages of ”improved quality and more channels” at anything but face value.
It’s a foregone conclusion that some consumers will be frustrated and confused with the converter-box program. The temptation to paint the transition as a wholesale improvement over the existing system is hard to resist – it helps sell converter boxes and to convince over-the-air only households to prepare early.
Maybe introducing some expectation-management messages into the transition process is a good idea. The inclusion of an asterisk to the message that the magic of digital will result in receiving more channels and great pictures* may be in order.
*Magical results may vary according to antenna type and reception conditions
