As millions of people prepare for their televisions to receive broadcasters’ new digital transmissions—which could take place as early as Feb. 17 or as late as June 12 depending upon legislation now being debated by Congress, Temple University Electrical Engineering Professor Dennis

Silage will give a demonstration and answer questions on how older analog TVs can receive the over-the-air digital transmissions.

The demonstration will take place 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, in Room 309 in Temple’s College of Engineering Building, 1947 N. 12th Street (at Norris).

An expert in digital and analog communications, Silage will have a 14-inch color television and 5-inch black-and-white television, along with two digital converter boxes at the demonstration.  After a brief explanation of the analog-to-digital television conversion and why it is taking place, Silage will demonstrate how the TV sets receive the new digital transmissions and what those transmissions will look like on the older analog TVs.  Silage will also be available to answer questions about the conversion.

The federally mandated digital TV conversion was originally scheduled to take effect in 2005.  Analog is a 60-plus-year-old technology that doesn’t allow more advanced services, such as additional channels and information using the existing the broadcast spectrum, and is not as versatile as a digital TV transmission, provided you can get a good signal into your receiver.

Until 1998, most television sets were analog only — and many of them are still being used today. After 1992 manufacturers began to offer ‘cable-ready’ television sets, which are actually merely analog TVs that work with analog cable. In order for those analog TVs to receive the new over-the-air digital transmissions, they will require a digital converter box like the ones Silage will be demonstrating.