Television stations on way to digital

| Sunday, December 08, 2002

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Television stations in Sioux Falls are responding to a federal mandate to convert to a digital format.

The move will give viewers with high-definition televisions or converters a much clearer picture.

KELO and KSFY, which share a tower in Rowena, expect to have their digital signals ready by February.

"The difference is they'll see a picture that is far superior than the one we're receiving right now," Mark Antonitis, president and general manager of KELO, the Sioux Falls CBS affiliate, said. "If they're watching a football game, for instance, it will be quite literally like they're in the stands."

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 required that stations upgrade to a digital format.

The change from an analog signal, which stations are currently using, to a crisper digital signal should be complete by 2006 or when 85 percent of viewers have televisions or convertors that can pick up digital transmissions, Michelle Russo, spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Commission, said. In the meantime, the government has given stations an extra channel to provide digital service as well as analog.

A digital signal doubles the lines of resolution, which creates a sharper picture, Antonitis said.

A typical television picture has 330 to 480 lines of resolution. But the digital signal will give KELO 1,080 lines of resolution. KSFY will offer 720 lines of resolution, Eugene Schultz, chief engineer for KSFY, Sioux Falls ABC affiliate, said.

In addition to a clearer picture, high-definition television also offers a wider screen, Schultz said.

"It will give the effect of being in a movie theater," Schultz said.

KDLT, the Sioux Falls NBC affiliate, also plans to begin making the switch next year, Don Sturzenbecher, chief engineer for the station, said.

"We plan on starting digital broadcasting next spring but not high definition," Sturzenbecher said. "It's just too

expensive to provide local broadcasting on HDTV."

A spokesman for PAX said no decision had been made as to when that station would start offering digital television.

While digital and HDTV service will be provided for free, consumers will have to upgrade, too, by buying a television that can receive a digital signal, Schultz said.

Prices are expected to come down, but currently, a high- definition television costs about $2,000, while a tuner costs about $400, Antonitis said.