Since it is finally here, sort of, here is a concise description of the digital television transition. Many have asked what do I need, how do I do it and 'what does it really mean to me'. There are MANY answers, them most obvious of which is, "it depends". It depends on what television and/or VCR type hardware you have and how it receives what you watch.

Rather than spending a lot of time on ALL the various options, the article below lays out some of the rules, definitions and other information, tips, and other sources that will help you to evaluate what you need and what questions to ask related to the digital television transition.

ANY device which depends on an analog tuner today will require a digital to analog converter to support its continued use. As of this article the date for that switchover is June 12th, 2009. However, television stations can elect to switch to all digital before that date. Just to make it even more confusing, television stations can elect to run digital and analog broadcasts in tandem.

The inverse of this "rule" is that if you currently get your television via cable or satellite, then basically, nothing changes. You should continue to receive television without interruption

To help with understanding the components, Analog tuner devices can be defined as:
- televisions with non digital tuner (NTSC)
- video tape recorders (VCR) with non digital tuner (NTSC)
- these devices will only tune to channels 2-82 in antenna mode (not cable mode)

There are many different interfaces (connections between the device and the television) which are used in multimedia environments. A basic hierarchy of video interfaces (best to worst):
HDMI - high definition multimedia interface. Includes audio.
Component - red, green, blue connectors for video. Separate red and white RCA type connector for audio.
S-video - circular black connection with for metal pins. Separate red and white RCA type connector for audio.
Composite - usually yellow core single RCA type connecto connector. Separate red and white core RCA type connector for audio.

Everyone talks about televisions, but if a VCR has other outputs to the television than coaxial cable, then changing its connection to the television and adding a digital to analog converter box will extend its use. Typically, these connections are composite or S-video with the complimentary audio connections. Some combination VCR/DVD units may provide component (RGB) for video.

Antenna evaluation and use
There are many sites for information, but one of the best, which is also presented by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), seems to be:
http://www.antennaweb.org

Converter box information
One of the best sites for a comparison of the converter boxes is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units - keep in mind that the wikipedia information is user contributed.
The nice thing about this site is that the features list uses the minus (-) sign to indicate real negatives in the feature set of a given unit.

General Audio Video Information
A great site for all things related to multimedia, home theater and related technologies:
http://www.avsforum.com

Of course, one other option is to --- Read a book.