The conversion of America's television sets to digital signals has been touted as the biggest development since the arrival of color. And early adopters of the technology may wonder if there are enough innovative programs and services to make their investments worthwhile.
Digital programming takes up far less room on the airwaves than current analog shows.
187 stations currently broadcast in digital, serving nearly two-thirds of U.S. TV households, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. Most of them are major network stations in large markets. By May 2002, smaller stations in big markets and small market stations are supposed to be on the air sending out digital signals. Noncommercial stations come on board in 2003. Electronics companies sold more than 648,000 digital TV integrated sets and monitors to retailers in 2000, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.