MADISON -- WISC-DT (Digital Television Station) is on the air and broadcasting from its final home on top of the Madison Community Tower. WISC-DT is now broadcasting 24 hours a day, everyday.

How To Get WISC-DT

A viewer cannot receive a digital television station on an analog TV set, a cable tuner box, or a direct satellite system.

A digital television station is only available using a reliable off-air antenna into a digital television or digital set top box.

A viewer within the local Madison metropolitan area can usually receive the digital signal using an indoor antenna. A viewer located outside the immediate Madison area will likely need an outdoor rooftop antenna to pickup the digital signal.

In extreme cases, the outdoor antenna will need to be erected on a tower higher than the rooftop to pickup the signal.

Generally speaking, the farther away from Madison the viewer is located, the higher the receiving antenna will need to be. The receiving antenna will also need to be carefully installed so that it points in the direction of the WISC-DT transmitting antenna located on the west edge of Madison.

WISC-DT Technical Information

WISC's digital transmission is on Channel 50. A viewer will need a reliable UHF antenna capable of receiving the higher UHF channels.

Unlike an analog TV channel where the picture and sound gets "fuzzy" when the signal is weak, a viewer will receive no digital transmission at all if the antenna is not properly installed and pointed. As an aid to correctly pointing a receive antenna it is fortunate to have analog channel 47 on the air from the same tower as WISC DT digital channel 50.

By connecting the antenna to an analog TV and tuning it to analog channel 47, the antenna can be positioned to get the best picture and sound on channel 47. Once this is accomplished the antenna can be connected to a digital tuner and WISC DT on channel 50 should be received with no further antenna adjustments.

When the standards were written for digital television, virtual channel capability was included so that stations would not lose the effect of past marketing and promotion efforts for their analog channel number.

Without Digital Television's virtual channels, WISC would have to start from scratch to build a reputation for channel 50 to equal years of marketing for channel 3.

By using virtual channels, WISC can continue to promote itself as channel 3 but with additional Digital services like 3-1 and 3-2.

In the future, analog TV channels will go away completely. WISC could move its Digital Television station from channel 50 back to channel 3. Only the antenna and receiver need to know whether WISC-DT transmits on channel 50 or channel 3.

By using the Digital Television virtual channels the viewer will always find the WISC-DT digital services at 3-1 and 3-2 on the digital receiver's program guide.

On some receivers, a menu option has to be activated to enable the tuner to extract program information from the off-air digital television transmissions. Without this setting active, WISC DT's digital services will appear as 50-1 and 50-2 on a digital tuner.

Digital Programming

WISC-DT provides two program services on its digital television station. Channel 3-1 contains high definition programming whenever the CBS network provides a program in high definition.

Most of the CBS prime time schedule from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. is available in High Definition. The CBS high definition schedule is available online. All other times, Channel 3-1 sends a simulcast version of analog channel 3 so that it can be received and viewed on a digital television receiver.

The second program service is Channel 3-2 and is called UPN14, a United Paramount Network Affliate, now also available over the air with a digital receiver.

High Definition Television (HDTV)

Digital Television (DTV) and High Definition Television (HDTV) are two different things. It's important to understand the difference. Digital Television is a transmission method. Once a Digital Television station is on the air it can send many different program formats to a digital receiver. The quality of these formats range from the standard quality that has long been received on analog TV all the way up to the highest quality referred to as HDTV. Prior to Digital Television, program quality in the resolution of HDTV was not possible. The good news is that the Digital Television station and the receiver communicate so that the transmitted format is properly displayed on the set automatically when a channel is selected.

Buying A Digital Television

When purchasing a digital television, it is important to understand the different configurations that are available.

The choices can be reduced to two different systems. One is an all-in-one HDTV set which incorporates the digital tuner into the set. The second is an HDTV "ready" set which requires a separate digital tuner be connected to it before a Digital Television station can be received and viewed.

Select the display device that looks the best to you when viewing a high definition source. All true HDTV programming is produced in the "wide screen" format commonly referred to as a 16 by 9 aspect ratio. Some HDTV sets, however, have a viewing screen that is still the old 4 by 3 aspect ratio. When an HDTV program is viewed on these sets there will either be a black bar at the top and bottom of the screen or the picture will be otherwise distorted to fill the entire viewing area. Generally the true 16 by 9 "wide screen" sets are more expensive.

Select the display that is the overall size you need to fit into your viewing room. The minimum viewing distance for high definition programming is three times the picture height. In other words, if the height of the screen is 3 feet, the closest you should be sitting to it is 9 feet for optimum viewing.

Using this example, if your room size only allows your viewing position to be 7 feet from the screen, the 3-foot high screen is too big.

Once you decide on the size and quality of the display, then decide whether you want the digital tuner built into that display device or not. Sometimes the display device you like best is not available with a built in digital tuner and you'll have no choice but to purchase that device separately.

There are advantages and disadvantages with either configuration. If the tuner is built into the digital television, there will be only one remote control. If the digital receiver is a separate unit, two remotes will be necessary.

Future upgrades to the digital receiver may be easier if it is separate unit.

If your configuration has a separate digital tuner, you will need a special connecting cable that does not usually come with the display or tuner. The type of cable will vary depending on the manufacturer of the tuner and the display. You will need the help of your salesperson in determining the proper connecting cable for your combination.

Upgrading Your Sound System

When purchasing a digital television, you should be aware that high definition digital television has the capability of six-channel surround sound.

In order to experience the full audio and visual effect of that program, you will need a surround-sound audio system.

These systems usually need to be purchased separately and include an amplifier, five surround speakers, a low frequency sub woofer and a remote control. For very large rooms a seven speaker surround system is available.

A surround sound system is not required to view a Digital Television program but will enhance the experience when the program audio is offered in surround sound.

If you do purchase a surround audio system, you will likely need an audio optical cable to connect it to your digital television set or tuner. Again, your salesperson should be able to help you determine whether you need to purchase the optical cable.