Perhaps you’ve already seen the boxes on the store shelves with stickers and labels proudly proclaiming that they are eligible for the $40 coupon program... and you’re wondering just what makes one box eligible while another box isn’t?

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA... part of the US Department of Commerce) created the coupon program as a low-cost way to keep older televisions working after analog transmitters are shut down.  You can plow through a rather long list of their requirements and how they decided on them here, but these are the high points:

To be eligible for coupons, a converter must:

• Receive and decode all ATSC DTV formats – including high definition
• Create a standard definition output
• Provide an RF feed to plug into an analog TV’s antenna input
• Provide analog audio and composite video to plug into an analog monitor
• Come complete with a remote control, batteries, and an antenna cable
• Meet FCC requirements for features like closed captioning, V-chip parental controls, and Emergency Alert System compatibility
• Automatically power itself down after a few hours (you can disable this “feature”, but the manufacturer must ship it enabled)
• Include a light to let you know the unit is on
• Produce a signal quality display to help you adjust the antenna
• Display the electronic program guide information that stations transmit

Eligible converters may, optionally:

• Include an S-Video output
• Pass analog signals through to the TV when the converter is shut off (so you can still watch low-power stations, which aren’t required to shut off yet)
• Include extra cables, for example RCA cables for audio and video
• Provide support for “smart” antennas that automatically aim for the best signal

Coupon eligible converters must not:

• Produce a high definition output
• Include any other kind of output... no HDMI, no component, no VGA
• Do anything other than convert DTV signals to analog (for instance, the box cannot include a recorder)
• Be bundled as part of a package (converter plus antenna, say)

Some of you must be asking, “That sounds like a recipe for a really cruddy little box – why would anyone want one?  Why don’t they let me apply the forty bucks to a true high definition receiver?”

The NTIA’s main interest is public safety: making sure that people can afford to keep their existing TV sets going so they can get emergency information.  Limiting the box's features holds the cost down and forces manufacturers to create a workable entry-level product.

The funny thing is, I’ve been testing four of these boxes for several weeks and they definitely aren’t cruddy.  Some are better than others, but even the worst gives me pictures and sound so good that I would be hard pressed to tell them from a direct studio feed.  No ghosting... no buzz... no snow.  It might not be high def, but it’s the best picture I’ve ever had in my living room – and the priciest box still cost me less than $20 after the coupon.

What do these converters look like, and how do they compare?  That’s the stuff for the next week or two.  Stay tuned!

-- Jeff