On June 12, 2009, full power broadcast television stations in the United States were required by law to switch from an analog to a digital signal for their broadcasts. Since many television sets were not digital-ready, electronics companies began manufacturing digital converter boxes so that consumers would be able to use their old sets to watch TV as opposed to buying new TVs. At the time of the switch--and in the months leading up to it--many consumers were confused as to if they needed a box and hook one up if they did.
Determine Your Needs
The first step in the process is determining whether or not you need to purchase a digital converter box. If your TV was manufactured in the last four or five years, you will likely not need a converter box since most sets produced since 2004 have had digital tuners built directly into them. You will also not need a converter box for any TV hooked up to a cable or satellite service, regardless of whether or not the TV has a digital tuner built in. You will, however, need a converter box for any older TV that you do not have hooked up to your cable or satellite. You will also need a converter box if you have a set without the digital tuner and you use an antenna to pull in over the air broadcast channels.
Choosing Your Converter Box
Generally speaking, there are very few differences between converter boxes. Some have more options to them, but the basic operation and set up on them are the same.
Hooking It Up
If you can hook up a VCR, you should be able to hook up a digital converter box. It is as simple as plugging your antenna into the "antenna in" jack on the back of the box with a coaxial cable, plugging another coaxial cable from the "antenna out" jack on the box to "antenna in" jack on the back of your TV and plugging the converter box's power cord into the wall. Just like you do with a VCR, you must tune your TV to Channel 3 or 4 and set the output on the converter box to the same channel. The final step to receiving digital broadcast channels is to scan for channels. The step-by-step instructions for this can be found in the owner's manual that accompanies your converter box.
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