<s>
A	O
digital	B-Device
television	I-Device
adapter	I-Device
(	O
DTA	O
)	O
,	O
commonly	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
or	O
decoder	O
box	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
television	O
tuner	O
that	O
receives	O
a	O
digital	B-Application
television	I-Application
(	O
DTV	O
)	O
transmission	O
,	O
and	O
converts	O
the	O
digital	O
signal	O
into	O
an	O
analog	O
signal	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
received	O
and	O
displayed	O
on	O
an	O
analog	O
television	O
set	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
also	O
have	O
an	O
HDMI	B-Protocol
output	O
since	O
some	O
TVs	O
with	O
HDMI	B-Protocol
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
digital	B-Device
tuner	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
input	O
digital	O
signal	O
may	O
be	O
over-the-air	O
terrestrial	O
television	O
signals	O
received	O
by	O
a	O
television	O
antenna	O
,	O
or	O
signals	O
from	O
a	O
digital	B-Device
cable	I-Device
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
North	O
America	O
and	O
South	O
Korea	O
,	O
these	O
ATSC	B-Device
tuner	I-Device
boxes	O
convert	O
from	O
ATSC	B-Device
to	O
NTSC	O
,	O
while	O
in	O
most	O
of	O
Europe	O
and	O
other	O
places	O
such	O
as	O
Australia	O
and	O
most	O
Asian	O
countries	O
,	O
they	O
convert	O
from	O
Digital	B-Application
Video	I-Application
Broadcasting	I-Application
(	O
DVB	B-Application
)	O
to	O
PAL	B-Language
,	O
and	O
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
the	O
Philippines	O
and	O
most	O
countries	O
in	O
South	O
America	O
,	O
they	O
convert	O
from	O
ISDB-T	B-Application
to	O
either	O
NTSC	O
or	O
PAL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
DTV	O
transition	O
did	O
nothing	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
broadcast	O
television	O
system	O
standards	O
(	O
and	O
in	O
fact	O
further	O
complicated	O
them	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
due	O
to	O
varying	O
frequency	B-Algorithm
allocations	I-Algorithm
and	O
bandplans	B-Algorithm
,	O
there	O
are	O
many	O
other	O
combinations	O
specific	O
to	O
other	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Viewers	O
who	O
watch	O
broadcast	O
television	O
on	O
older	O
analog	O
TV	O
sets	O
must	O
use	O
a	O
digital	B-Device
converter	I-Device
box	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Viewers	O
who	O
receive	O
their	O
television	O
signals	O
through	O
cable	O
or	O
satellite	O
were	O
not	O
affected	O
by	O
this	O
change	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
need	O
a	O
digital	B-Device
television	I-Device
adapter	I-Device
(	O
however	O
,	O
see	O
the	O
cable	O
TV	O
exception	O
below	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
viewers	O
who	O
have	O
newer	O
televisions	O
with	O
built-in	O
digital	O
ATSC	B-Device
tuners	I-Device
will	O
not	O
need	O
an	O
external	O
digital	B-Device
television	I-Device
adapter	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
United	O
States	O
government	O
had	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
program	O
to	O
offer	O
consumers	O
a	O
$40	O
"	O
coupon	O
"	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
toward	O
the	O
purchase	O
of	O
a	O
coupon-eligible	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
;	O
that	O
program	O
ended	O
in	O
July	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
he	O
said	O
,	O
too	O
many	O
people	O
were	O
still	O
buying	O
analog	O
TV	O
sets	O
,	O
meaning	O
more	O
demand	O
for	O
converter	B-Device
boxes	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
And	O
even	O
if	O
people	O
found	O
out	O
what	O
they	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
do	O
,	O
converter	B-Device
boxes	I-Device
might	O
not	O
do	O
the	O
job	O
adequately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tribune	O
Broadcasting	O
chief	O
technology	O
officer	O
Ira	O
Goldstone	O
said	O
just	O
buying	O
a	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
did	O
not	O
necessarily	O
mean	O
getting	O
the	O
latest	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Circuit	O
City	O
Chairman	O
Alan	O
McCollough	O
opposed	O
converter	B-Device
boxes	I-Device
,	O
saying	O
people	O
should	O
just	O
buy	O
digital	B-Application
TVs	I-Application
,	O
and	O
television	O
networks	O
should	O
offer	O
only	O
widescreen-format	O
television	O
programming	O
as	O
an	O
incentive	O
to	O
do	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prototypes	B-Application
of	O
the	O
first	O
converter	B-Device
boxes	I-Device
appeared	O
at	O
the	O
NAB	O
show	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
boxes	O
shown	O
used	O
electronic	B-Device
program	I-Device
guides	I-Device
using	O
Program	B-Device
and	I-Device
System	I-Device
Information	I-Device
Protocol	I-Device
(	O
PSIP	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cable	O
TV	O
systems	O
are	O
under	O
no	O
deadline	O
to	O
convert	O
to	O
digital	B-Application
TV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
many	O
Comcast	O
(	O
and	O
some	O
other	O
cable	O
TV	O
)	O
customers	O
are	O
finding	O
all	O
of	O
their	O
non-local	O
and	O
non-shopping	O
networks	O
eliminated	O
on	O
various	O
dates	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
are	O
needed	O
for	O
additional	O
digital	B-Device
cable	I-Device
channels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CECBs	O
(	O
Coupon-eligible	O
converter	B-Device
boxes	I-Device
)	O
will	O
not	O
work	O
on	O
these	O
systems	O
because	O
cable	O
ATSC	B-Device
uses	O
256QAM	B-Device
modulation	B-Application
instead	O
of	O
8VSB	B-Device
,	O
and	O
so	O
a	O
separate	O
but	O
similar	O
DTA	O
with	O
a	O
QAM	B-Device
tuner	I-Device
is	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
that	O
,	O
taking	O
away	O
analog	O
channels	O
allowed	O
faster	O
Internet	O
and	O
more	O
HD	B-Device
channels	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
adapter	O
from	O
the	O
cable	O
provider	O
was	O
needed	O
even	O
for	O
digital	B-Application
TVs	I-Application
if	O
the	O
company	O
scrambled	O
its	O
digital	O
signals	O
to	O
prevent	O
piracy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
will	O
also	O
not	O
allow	O
video	B-Application
on	I-Application
demand	I-Application
or	O
pay-per-view	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
DTA	O
(	O
including	O
with	O
an	O
HDMI	B-Protocol
output	O
)	O
are	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pace	O
plc	O
developed	O
the	O
XiD-P	O
digital	O
transport	O
adapter	O
for	O
Comcast	O
,	O
allowing	O
4K	B-Device
service	O
and	O
offering	O
the	O
potential	O
to	O
expand	O
the	O
DTA	O
from	O
one-way	O
to	O
two-way	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
involve	O
adding	O
IP	B-Protocol
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
countries	O
that	O
have	O
switched	O
to	O
digital	B-Application
TV	I-Application
use	O
DVB-T	O
broadcasting	O
with	O
MPEG-2	B-Algorithm
MP	O
@ML	O
or	O
H.264	O
encoding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
some	O
have	O
considered	O
switching	O
to	O
DVB-T2	B-Protocol
such	O
as	O
the	O
UK	O
,	O
being	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
test	O
DVB-T2	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
results	O
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
combinations	O
for	O
external	O
digital	O
receivers	O
with	O
the	O
MPEG-2s	B-Algorithm
sold	O
at	O
about	O
€15	O
to	O
€35	O
and	O
the	O
MPEG-4	O
ones	O
reaching	O
€25	O
to	O
€150	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Russia	O
has	O
also	O
introduced	O
digital	B-Application
TV	I-Application
and	O
is	O
now	O
(	O
03.12.2018	O
–	O
03.06.2019	O
)	O
ending	O
analog	O
over-the-air	O
transmission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
new	O
TVs	O
feature	O
a	O
DVB-T2	B-Protocol
tuner	O
which	O
allows	O
reception	O
of	O
digital	O
over-the-air	O
TV	O
without	O
need	O
of	O
an	O
external	O
device	O
such	O
a	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
using	O
a	O
TV	O
set	O
without	O
a	O
DVB-T2	B-Protocol
tuner	O
,	O
an	O
external	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
must	O
be	O
purchased	O
and	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
takes	O
the	O
digital	O
signal	O
from	O
the	O
antenna	O
and	O
outputs	O
composite	O
video	O
(	O
for	O
SD	O
TVs	O
)	O
or	O
HDMI	B-Protocol
(	O
for	O
HD	B-Device
TVs	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
RF/antenna	O
output	O
,	O
if	O
present	O
on	O
the	O
box	O
,	O
is	O
usually	O
just	O
a	O
passthrough	O
(	O
"	O
LOOP	O
OUT	O
"	O
which	O
does	O
not	O
provide	O
the	O
box	O
's	O
output	O
signal	O
,	O
but	O
only	O
provides	O
the	O
raw	O
antenna	O
input	O
signal	O
–	O
to	O
watch	O
analog	O
channels	O
via	O
the	O
TV	O
's	O
tuner	O
if	O
analog	O
broadcast	O
has	O
not	O
ended	O
yet	O
or	O
to	O
connect	O
another	O
DVB-T2	B-Protocol
capable	O
device	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
antenna	O
feed	O
)	O
because	O
even	O
older	O
TVs	O
usually	O
have	O
at	O
least	O
composite	O
input	O
;	O
this	O
removes	O
a	O
need	O
for	O
an	O
RF	O
modulator	B-Application
in	O
the	O
converter	B-Device
box	I-Device
.	O
</s>
