Man, I totally apologize to all the nameless multitudes I looked down on for not "getting" the digital TV transition. February is going to be hell.
For Christmas, everyone pitched in and got my grandmother (94 years old) a new digital TV. She had been bummed that her little TV in the dining room wouldn't work after February. I set up the new TV, which was easy enough. What wasn't easy was explaining how to use it. Eventually, I made it work for her, but in the meantime, I learned a lot about the realities of digital TV.
The biggest difference between digital TV and analog TV is that you have to do a "channel scan" to program the digital channels into the TV. If you don't do a channel scan, your TV will not be able to find any digital channels. This is because, unlike analog TV, where "channel 3" refers to a specific frequency in the VHF band, in digital TV, a given channel can have any frequency. I can't just punch in "25" and expect the TV to find digital channel 25, because the TV has no idea where "channel 25" is until a channel scan is done.
To do a channel scan usually means navigating through a bunch of on-screen menus (my more expensive TV has a button on the remote). This intimidates the older generations that are not comfortable with computers, who were used to TVs that you just plugged in and entered the number on the remote. There was no way grandma was going to do that on her own.
Better yet, doing a channel scan doesn't guarantee you'll program all the channels that are available. I was a little surprised that the digital signals of two prominent Cleveland stations didn't show up in the list. I tried moving the antenna a little ways away from the TV and did the scan again. This time the channels showed up. Not everybody is good at that kind of trial-and-error tinkering. A lot of people are going to try once and wonder why their TV doesn't get channel 43. I mean, the old one did, right?
The problem is that the "old one" didn't really get the channel, it just "kinda sorta" did. Oh sure, the picture was ghosty and snowy, but you could see what was going on. Problem is, on a digital signal, that's not good enough -- you probably won't get the station at all. If Cleveland's NBC affiliate doesn't fix their signal by February, she won't be watching it on that TV. (Thankfully, she has basic cable in the den.)
And when the signal is fading in and out, say when someone walks by the antenna, you don't just get a slightly snowy picture. No, the picture breaks into chunky squares and freezes. You can watch an analog signal that's not coming in perfectly. Digital signals are unwatchable at the same strength.
One of the coolest things about digital TV is the concept of "subchannels". There's actually enough bandwidth on a digital TV signal to carry multiple channels. So, for example, Cleveland's channel 19 has 19-1 that carries the HD version of the primary channel, and 19-2 which has 24-hour weather and news. Our PBS station has four subchannels, one audio channel, plus their old analog channel, which shows programming slightly different from the digital channel.
There's just one problem. Try explaining the concept of subchannels to anyone over 65. "You see, channel 25 has five channels in it now. No, no, you want the other 25. 25-3. No, not 253..."
The remote has number buttons on it, but they're only marginally useful. You can't enter subchannels directly. The best way to select a channel is from a list of channels that the TV has programmed. Again, try to teach an elderly person how to navigate an on-screen menu.
I might add that Grandma may be 94, but she's still sharp as a tack, drives herself to the grocery store and church, and cooks her own meals. She just doesn't "get" technological devices. Digital TV takes one of the simplest electronic devices ever invented and makes it as complicated as the average VCR was. And you remember how much fun it was teaching that one to older people. (Grandma never got the hang of it.)
Eventually, I found a way to make it work for her. I added the small number of channels I knew she'd watch into her "favorites" list, then marked the "FAV CH." button on the remote with masking tape. I told her, just push this button over and over until the channel you want comes up. But not everyone making the transition has a patient grandson to set up the TV in ultra-simple mode.
So, come February, I'm expecting that there will be a huge number of people who just can't get their TVs working. It's not going to be fun. All technologically-minded people should take it upon themselves to help their techno-clumsy relatives through this mess.