Don't change that channel: Digital TV woes still abound

NEW YORK — Think the digital TV transition is over? Not quite.

Many viewers have found that they can't pick up certain stations after the switch, even with the right TVs or converter boxes. The stations are still trying to figure out ways to help them tune in.

The main problem is that when the last major stations turned off their analog TV on June 12 to broadcast entirely in digital, some of them moved their digital signals from the UHF frequency band (channels 14 to 69) to VHF (channels 2 to 13). To most viewers, these channels are just different numbers on the remote. But as signals in the airwaves, they have very different characteristics.

VHF hadn't been used much for digital signals, and there were indications that there would be problems with the switch, partly because viewers had inadequate indoor antennas. Still, the switch went ahead.

Since then, at least 20 VHF stations have asked the Federal Communications Commission to move their digital signals back to UHF, and more would like to do so. However, the government has sold off some of the UHF band to cell phone carriers, leaving less space for TV channels. Another portion is planned to be used for emergency services, which was another reason for the digital TV transition.

TV consultant Peter Putman said a lot of reception problems for digital VHF channels can be attributed to the fact that VHF antennas need to be large. The long rods on an outdoor antenna are for VHF reception, and it's difficult to make a compact indoor antenna with good VHF performance.

TV watchers with indoor antennas had the same problem with VHF stations when they were analog but often suffered through it. They would get a poor, snowy picture and decent sound, and considered that good enough. But because digital is an "all-or-nothing" technology, the weak signal they get on digital isn't enough to produce a picture at all.

FCC spokeswoman Janice Wise noted that relatively few stations out of the more than 1,800 in the country have reported reception problems after the transition, and said the agency is working closely with them to resolve their issues.