Digital televisions getting cheaper, but apparently causing more trouble.
Starting out by saying that something looks really sharp is a good thing: saying except for when it comes up with a blue "signal unavailable" message, is not. The old-fashioned cathode-ray style televisions will be in abundant supply if congress passes a bill that requires analog tv broadcasts to end in February 2009. The government will try to make money by auctioning off spectrum used by analog channels today. When and/if this happens, the people who watch over-the-air will need either a converter box, or a set with a built-in tuner. The RCA model in the article will retail for $359. However, it isn't a large one, or flat-panel. It is a regular television, and it weighs 130lbs. in its box, is 27" wide, and takes a good ten seconds to turn on. When there's a strong enough signal, digital channels come in perfectly. ABC, CBS, and NBC offer multiple digital channels, and PBS offers three. If however, the antenna isn't positioned correcty, or the signal wavers, then the image becomes blotchy, and the ominous "signal unavailable" screen could appear. If you use and old satellite or antenna, then your chances of a clear picture are better. Chances are that the government's intervention will cause demand to go down and prices to go up, but we'll just have to see. The bill might not even pass.
1 comment:
I'm not sure I understand your analysis that government intervention will "cause demand to go down and prices to go up". If demand goes down, won't this put downward pressure on price? Perhaps what you mean is that the government mandated switch to digital raises the costs of production for TV manufacturers. This will have the effect of shifting supply to the left, thereby raising price. On the other hand, it sounds like you're implying that the digital sets are not of high quality and, therefore, the demand for such sets will fall. I'm not sure what you're actually arguing now.
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