Digital TV in Japan
July 2011 is the year when all analog TV signals cease to broadcast and will be replaced by the current digital signal thats being broadcasted in parallel for a while now.
Many Japanese folks (especially elderly folks) are slow at adopting the new standard - from their point of view, why should they go out and buy a new TV so that they can watch what they've already been watching?
The government is trying hard to get everybody to prep themselves for the analog to digital switch. There is now the word "Analog" [アナログ] which is displayed in the top right hand of TV broadcasts which seems to be getting bigger!
The word for digital broadcasts is Chideji [地デジ].
We still have an analog plasma which we got back in about 2003-ish - been looking for a digital tuner of late.
The government are quite desperate to get everybody to switch and according to Nikkei are even considering giving each household 20,000 yen just to buy a digital TV ^^;
Our TV does come with a tuner to watch the digital BS channels - the quality is incredible and switching from digital back to analog to watch the standard channels is quite noticeable.
There are currently 8 standard channels depending on the area you live and 8-ish digital BS channels. Folks in Japan can catch up with the TV guide at Yahoo.
Has TV broadcasts gone all digital in your area?
Some Chideji ads below.
