IS YOUR TV SET OBSOLETE? ACTUALLY, IT'S READY FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

There is some good news coming for every television set in your home. In three to five years, your TVs will produce a sharper, clearer, picture than they do now from cable or off-the-air broadcast television sources. No snow, no ghosting nor other undesirable picture artifacts.

The press has treated this good news with the care and sensitivity of a wounded leopard, speaking openly of "obsolescence" and advising the public to restrain from purchasing a quality television set because it will become virtually worthless in just a few, short years. Remember the hit movie "True Lies?" The truth is that digital broadcasts (and cable) are coming. And about 25 percent of you out there may need a converter box to take full advantage of the digital broadcasts. The obsolescenc' factor is a ridiculous, simplistic, overstated claim that contains absolutely no truth whatsoever.

The following will serve to prove why your TV will not become obsolete and, on the contrary, why buying a new TV set right now is actually a smart thing to do.

-- Digital television is already here -- right now.

RCA, Sony, Hitachi and others have been in the digital satellite business for at least two years, and selling digital satellite systems by the millions. I can attest to the fact that, in Southeast Missouri, the response to digital television has been outstanding. (Thank you very much.) All those little 18-inch dishes you're seeing around town are, in fact, digital systems. DishNetwork, Primestar and others offer similar technology. It is estimated that in a couple of years 25 percent of all homes in America will own a DSS or other digital system.

The system includes the dish and a satellite receiver. The receiver is actually a digital converter. It takes the digital information and translates it into signals that your current television(s) can understand, whether it is 30 days or 30 years old. The system can send a high-quality picture to every TV in your home.

-- Your current television is actually a multipurpose video display (not just a TV).

When consumer television was first introduced way back when, it was limited to one -- and only one -- function: receive television broadcasts across the terrain from a local television station. Then, in 1974, came the videocassette recorder -- the VCR. Consumers could time shift programs. Record them now, watch them later, or go out and rent a movie, take it home and watch it at their convenience on their TV. A few years later, home video movies became a reality. Your TV could then show off-the-air programming, videotaped programs and home movies. A product called the LaserDisc was later introduced, and high-fidelity audio and video were available for the first time to consumers. LaserDisc offered a picture 60 percent sharper than VHS tape and better sound. Consumers could not display four different devices on their TV. Later, video games got connected to our TVs, and security and surveillance cameras were installed and connected.

And then -- wham! -- came digital satellite systems. Overnight, your old television(s) entered the digital age with a picture sharper than broadcast or cable, with no ghosting or static -- and, digital sound: 31 digital music channels, multichannel HBO, Cinemax and Showtime, sports packages and more -- 175-plus channels of information for your video display. Now we have web servers -- little boxes that connect you to the Internet and work on any TV you have at home. Digital video discs offer full-length movies on a CD-sized disc with twice the picture quality of VHS tape. New digital camcorders are here as well. And they all work with your present television. Only better.

Your television is a video display that can display a lot of information from a lot of difference sources. Compromising your television now affects a lot of different sources of entertainment and information that you use today or in the very near future. Three of these current sources are, in fact, digital sources. The forthcoming digital off-the-air broadcasting is only one of the many uses for your television and will have little or no impact on the way you use your current television.

-- Question: If an $11,000 high-definition digital television were available today, would you buy one?

About 10 grand will be the price of admission for a state-of-the-art digital television with twice the picture quality of today's sets and wider movie theatrer-shaped screens. So what about less than state-of-the-art -- the TV for the rest of us? The majority (98 percent) of the new-generation digital televisions will be very similar to what you already own, except they will have a digital tuner built in. They'll be called standard-definition television.

So, what's the big deal? You might recall a while back that the cable providers had a lot of programs to offer but not enough channels. So they had to create more channels. They solved the problem with a converter box that sits on top of your TV and talks to your VCR and TV. Some cable companies, even today, still require the box for premium channels. The cable box did not become a deterrent to cable television. And the DSS receiver (converter) has not become a deterrent to DSS sales. Just ask a few million or so DSS owners. At the end of March, there were 2,470,000 DSS subscribers, not to mention the 1,770,000 Primestar subscribers and 480,000 EchoStar subscribers (source: Wideband magazine, May l5, 1997).

-- Dollar$ and $ense: Or why broadcasters and cable companies can't afford to aave your set become obsolete.

Broadcasters are not in business because they are richly rewarded by the joy of bringing cartoons to your kids on Saturday mornings. They are a very large business enterprise with investors and stockholders. Broadcast executives aren't going to wake up one morning, flip a switch and turn off every television viewer in America. With no viewers, there are no advertising revenues. With no advertising revenues, there are no television stations.

This is where the great American entrepreneurial spirit will win out over technology. The broadcasters want you to be able to watch local weather in the kitchen on your current television and local news in the den. If you can't receive broadcasts on every set in your home, you'll switch to another provider who can -- such as DSS or cable. So the broadcasters will offer converters at a reasonable price so that every television in your home can stay connected. They can't afford not to. Various manufacturers will see a huge market for these aftermarket converters, so the converter business will be very competitive. In short, converters will be inexpensive and accessible.

Are you currently receiving (or do you plan to receive) local TV signals off the air by way of an antenna or rabbit ears? If not, the entire discussion and debate about digital broadcasting doesn't pertain to you anyway.

If you are a current cable customer, you will not need any additional hardware when the switch to digital occurs. Your cable provider will do that for you. Why? They want to keep your cable business. So they'll convert digital broadcasts to the cable input going to your home. All you'll have to do is switch channels exactly like you do now.

DSS owners? You're there. You already have all the digital equipment you need. Nice going.

-- Analog broadcasts are going to be around for awhile: Can you say 2006?

It doesn't sound too bad for your old TV so far, does it? Every statement I've made to this point is under the assumption that when digital broadcasts begin you're local stations will stop broadcasting all the analog signals that you know and love.

The case gets even better for your old TV. Most stations will be broadcasting digital and analog for awhile. Some industry experts predict that analog broadcasts will be around until 2006, and maybe longer. It is quite possible that your old TV will work exactly as it does now for the next nine years or so.

-- Conclusion: The TV you buy (or already own) today will serve you well for many years to come.

Any quality TV you buy today will provide outstanding performance from today's analog and digital sources. Crisp, clear pictures from DSS, movie-like quality from digital video discs, impressive images off the Internet and better-than-broadcast-quality digital home movies can be reality right now and for decades to come from a current high-performance television.

Wait for digital television? Go ahead. But you'll sure be missing out on a lot of entertainment value from a larger or higher-quality video display while you're waiting. Can you really imagine watching five more Super Bowls on that fading 27-inch console TV in the family room? And the set you buy in 2002 may not perform any better than the one you can buy today.

Advice? Take all the articles you've seen about the horrors of digital television and put them to good use -- like housebreaking a puppy. When the news gurus on television are speaking about TV obsolescence, switch to something far more informative -- like reruns of "The Brady Bunch." Go ahead and have that new color TV or big-screen TV delivered. And while you're at it, hook up some of the new electronic toys to it. There are a lot of things you'll be able to do with the set that will take full advantage of the features and picture quality of today's high performance video sources.

Then go out and rent a DVD movie, get comfortable, switch on the digital surround sound, turn up the volume and enjoy your new set. But don't forget the popcorn.

John Selby of Cape Girardeau the president of Stereo One Inc.