Digital TV and HDTV

Since 2005, I've been watching digital broadcast television using a rooftop antenna. As a result, I've gotten interested in the issues surrounding the impending shutdown of analog TV broadcasts in the USA in February 2009, and in the development of digital and high-definition TV technology.

Resources

A Powerpoint presentation about the digital TV transition that I gave at a Presbyterian College faculty forum in September 2007
AV Science Forum, a collection of discussion forums from which I've gained much information on this subject

HDTV Primer, with lots of information about antennas, especially.
Two sites that provide information about broadcast TV signals available at your location:
- AntennaWeb, whose estimates are usually rather conservative; click the "options" link and enter an antenna height of 200 feet to get a more comprehensive list
- TV Fool, which provides much more detailed information including numerical signal strength estimates; also has TV station coverage maps in the form of Google Earth overlays
The U.S. government's TV Converter Program Website, with information about the digital TV transition. You can apply here for up to two free subsidy coupons (worth $40 each) for digital-to-analog converter boxes for old TVs. Applications opened on 1 January 2008. As of noon the next day, about a half million out of the 22 million coupons in the first round had been spoken for.