I've spent about $700 on 2 DTV over-the-air tuners, so I know full well what they cost and they are worth every penny. But I've been wondering how much the mandatory phase-in will add to the existing TV market. What will happen to a 27" set that costs $249.99 ??!!! Can anybody speculate if prices will go up? Is it feasible that manufacturers will lose money on this??

This has been an endlessly debated topic. My thoughts:

1. It is pointless to debate this since the FCC is not going to change its mind.
2. The true manufacturing cost is very small, probably smaller than the royalty payment. Zenith holds most of the tuner patents. What Zenith is charging for the use of these patents is not usually made public. So most of the people debating this topic don’t know what they are talking about.
3. The mandate only applies to units that have an NTSC tuner, not to monitors.
4. The CEA lawsuit will probably fail. It doesn’t make much sense to me.

The point of the mandate was to further the DTV transition, not the HDTV transition. There was the possibility that the manufacturers would stall introducing tuners, and then in 2006 file suit to halt the transition. Since the mandate, nobody doubts the transition any more, and everybody is charging ahead with DTV. People who debate this topic usually put forward arguments that fail to make distinctions between DTV and HDTV, TVs and monitors, and the different ways of evaluating cost.

Don't forget the cost of an item that is intergrated into a chassis as opposed to being a stand alone product.
Use the cost of internal and external computor deveices as an example.
And the mass production of items should also lower the cost.

Presently, integration will cost you about a $700 more. You are stuck with that tuner. Any changes or improvements in technology and that integrated tuner may have to be replaced by an outboard one anyway.

Presently, you can get a Samsung 351 for about $350 - $400.

There is no reason once mass produced that ATSC tuners will be no more expensive than their NTSC counterparts. That has not happened yet.

Richard F. Fisher
Mastertech Repair Corporation, Lawrenceville, GA
770-513-3987 E-Mail - help@mastertechtv.com
Have you been calibrated? ISF and HAA Trained
Factory Authorized
Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Toshiba, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, NAD

In response to Ken, he says it's pointless to discuss due to the mandate - However, I think the reverse is true! It's BECAUSE of the mandate that it is very relevant to discuss. Somebody started another topic today that indicates $250, but time will tell...

This whole issue is one of my personal pet peeves in the entire HDTV transition. The TV makers were perfectly happy to jump on the success of DVDs and crank out "HD ready" sets that would show off DVDs.

Had they made any real committment to HDTV 5 years ago, the transition would have been much farther along the timeline than it is today. I've installed an HDTV tuner in one of my computers and it cost $150.

If the manufacturers had gotten off their collective, uh, wallets, they could have integrated every digital tv made in that time for less than $100 per set. IMHO, HD ready sets should have never been allowed on the market!!!

Then, nobody would have been suckered into buying standalone tuners at $700-$800 each. What a fraud! Those things, even at the prototype stage, shouldn't have cost more than a few hundred bucks. Those manufacturers have not only retarded the advancement of HDTV, they have screwed the early adopters out of millions of unnecessary dollars.

Any manufacturer who's busy patting themselves on the back for sponsoring any network shows, should check their involvement over the past 10 years. And, that includes Sony, RCA, Panasonic, Toshiba, and any others who think they "have done so much for High Definition".

Personally I am against the mandated tuner. This industry is moving so fast it might be wise to think more like a computer. The DTV tuner is like a modem. I definitely want mine outboard so it can be changed to keep up with current technology. Joe Kane just signed off on WM9 compression for HD signals I believe.

Now, please think about all those folks who are struggling to get consistent reception. We will have two new receiving technologies being implemented in about a year. It only comes in a new box. You can't upgrade your old receiver and more importantly your integrated tuner. You either buy a new TV or a box if you want this new design.

It just hits me that the timing is sweet based on the legislation and these new designs. I would not have wanted 6 million TVs with crappy tuners. Those of you who receive decent analog yet struggle with digital know exactly what I am talking about!

Richard F. Fisher
Mastertech Repair Corporation, Lawrenceville, GA
770-513-3987 E-Mail - help@mastertechtv.com
Have you been calibrated? ISF and HAA Trained
Factory Authorized
Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Toshiba, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, NAD

I agree with Richard about the preference of outboard tuners with the everchanging technology we have today I would really hate to be stuck with a possibly bad design (on board tuner), give me the option to purchase my own or if I am forced to buy it allow me to bypass it if neccessary.

I understand what everyone is saying about upgrades, choosing what they want, etc. But I haven't found an easier way to just sit down and watch TV than those with integrated tuners. I'm not talking home theater experience here though. And I've never seen an external tuner with PIP and all the other nice goodies that come with the curent generation NTSC tv tuners (I don't have satelite so I don't know what they can do though). I would hope that ATSC tuners would quickly catch up.

I brought my Mits 55711 home and just plugged it in and it worked. You have to say something about that. And it keeps the wife happy. She only has to deal with one remote. My only gripe is that it can't PIP when watching DTV.

Thanks,
Brian

While I agree that an outboard DTV tuner has advantages over an integrated one, my DTC-100 that's built into my RCA set has served me quite well for some time now. I get every HD channel that is available, either OTA or DirecTV. If a better tuner comes along, I can always port it into my component input.

But to have not had that "old relic" of a tuner already built in, I may not have been enjoying HDTV all this time. IMHO, having that tuner built in should be mandatory. The cost, by now, would be so low cost that nobody would be "paying" for the standard DTV tuner that came with their set originally. We're paying thousands of dollars for the set itself. Do you think the manufacturers couldn't put in a basic tuner that would cost them virtually nothing, relative to the cost of the TV?

Like several other options that come with your set, the tuner as well could be upgraded as necessary. I don't use the speakers that came with my TV because I upgraded to something better. Same with the remote.
People act like having a DTV tuner in their TVs locks them into obsolescence from the beginning.