Marlan in Cockeysville writes:
Why is digital tv being mandated by law?
The final requirements for the DTV transition and the converter box coupon program were included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
One could debate whether the change is needed, but once it’s decided that we need to switch to digital, it has to be mandated by law since the format TV stations use must be uniform so all TV’s on the market are equipped to receive the signals.
Some reasons for the switch include improved picture quality, and the ability to compress more signals into less broadcasting space, allowing the transmission of multiple video streams on what was a single TV channel. This also allows some TV channels to be decommissioned altogether, with their highly desirable spectrum space auctioned off for use by wireless internet services.
Hope that answers some of your question at least!
Thanks for watching.
John
