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WASHINGTON -- Who's to blame for the slow pace of the digital television transition in the United States? Broadcast industry officials, consumer electronics vendors, and consumer groups blamed each other at a recent HDTV conference here.

It's been about nine years since the Federal Communications Commission mandated the transition from analog to digital television, a move that would improve both picture and sound quality across the board. The FCC's timetable called for analog broadcasts to stop on December 31, 2006, but with the digital transition taking longer than anticipated, that date is likely to change.

So what's holding things up? According to industry experts at the HDTV Summit there's a lot of industry resistance to the change.

Currently, about 1491 stations around the country broadcast a digital signal, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. But only about 15 percent of U.S. households own a digital-ready television, Sean Wargo, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says. And of that number, only 4 percent actually own a digital tuner, which is required to view the digital signal on a digital-ready set.

Why do so many consumers own a digital-ready TV, but lack the tuner needed to view digital broadcasts? The reason may be that consumers are confused about their digital television options. Many do not know that a tuner, a device that unscrambles the digital signal, is necessary to view a digital signal--so they purchase the digital set, but not the tuner, and think they are watching a digital broadcast.

Blame the Broadcasters

Consumer confusion was just one of the possible reasons mentioned at the HDTV Summit when experts were asked to pinpoint the major stumbling blocks to the digital transition. Still, most experts seemed unwilling to blame viewers.

"I don't actually ever remember the consumer being part of any transition," says Gigi Sohn, president and cofounder of the public interest group Public Knowledge. "I do think that broadcasters are the biggest hurdle."

"It's broadcaster opposition," agrees Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CEA. However, he says, broadcasters have legitimate concerns about the cost of the transition.

More content will drive the consumer transition, says the CEA's Wargo. He notes that many people currently in the market for new televisions are purchasing sets without digital capabilities because their favorite programming is not transmitted digitally, so they don't see the need to spend more for a digital-ready set. According to the FCC, by July 1, 2007, all televisions sold in the U.S. will have to be digital-ready.

The broadcasters, however, don't believe that they are standing in the way of the transition.

"That's just not correct," says Dave Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, an advocacy group for the broadcasting industry. "You have over 2500 hours of [digital] broadcasting in most parts of the country. We're ready to go. The real issue is the consumers."

Donovan believes, like many critics and supporters of the transition, that many consumers simply don't understand that a switch to digital in on the way.

Consumers Are Uneducated

Consumers haven't been sufficiently educated about DTV and what the coming change means to them, says Rick Chessen, associate chief and chairman of the Digital Television task force for the Federal Communications Commission. He adds that people need to realize their "analog sets will have limited capabilities in their future."

Phil Swan, CEO of TV Predictions, a Web site dedicated to television news and analysis, says the industry itself is partly to blame for the lack of consumer education.

The industry, he says, should be "selling the experience rather than selling the technology." Swan says he believes consumers are having trouble understanding the industry's jargon, and the resulting confusion has hampered a prompt and smooth transition to digital television.

"There's a huge amount of ignorance" about the necessary equipment for consumers to transition to digital television, says Josh Bernoff, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research.

Set the Date!

Asked the best way to nudge broadcasters to begin offering more content and educate consumers about the transition almost everyone agreed: Congress should set a definitive date for the transition to be complete--that is, for analog transmissions to end. Right now, the FCC's regulations say that will happen only when 85 percent of people in a given market are able to receive DTV, which could be later than the December 31, 2006, target date.

"Nothing focuses the mind like a hanger's noose or a date certain," says Rett Dawson, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council. Dawson says he believes everyone will benefit from a hard-and-fast date for the digital transition.

A deadline may not be far away. Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Technology and a member of the High Tech Task Force says. "If there's a date certain, a lot of people like me will take the step [to DTV]. I also know that we're not going to allow the broadcasters to stay on this [analog spectrum] forever."

Get Informed

If you'd like to learn more about the DTV transition, read our HDTV Answer Guide. In the meantime, here's some info to get you started and to help you learn the terminology.

Digital TV (DTV): Digital TV is a general term for the digital signal sent over the airwaves that will eventually replace today's analog broadcasts. In the U.S., DTV is based on the Advanced Television Standards Committee's standards, which allow for 18 formats with different combinations of screen resolution, aspect ratio, scanning types (interlaced or progressive), and frames per second.

Standard Definition Television (SDTV), Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV), and High-Definition Television (HDTV): These terms all denote different ATSC formats. SDTV refers to interlaced images with 480 lines of horizontal definition (480i)--the closest format to that of today's analog broadcasts. EDTV refers to progressive-scan images with 480 lines of horizontal definition (480p), the format of a commercial DVD. EDTV sets are not considered HDTVs. HDTVs must support at least 720 lines of progressive-scan horizontal resolution (720p). Today's HDTV broadcasts are either in 720p or 1080i format (the latter is scaled down and de-interlaced to display on a 720p set). While most sets sold today have native resolutions of 720p, a growing number of high-end sets support 1080p.

Integrated HDTV: This refers to a set with a built-in HDTV tuner. If you purchase a television with integrated HDTV you will not need to purchase a separate set-top box to decode the HD signal.

Plug-and-Play or Digital Cable Ready: Some newer televisions come equipped with electronics that enable them to function without a separate digital cable box--you simply plug in your digital cable. If you purchase this type of television you need to get a CableCard from your provider to unscramble the signal.

An HTDV set isn't enough. If you have purchased an HDTV set and hooked it up to your standard cable box you are not watching high-definition television, even if the program guide shows that you're tuned to a high-definition channel. You need to contact your satellite or cable provider and get a digital receiver (also known as an HDTV tuner, decoder, or set-top box).

You can get DTV with an antenna. If you have a set with an integrated ATSC tuner, or a digital-ready set with an HDTV set-top box, you can watch the digital television that local broadcasters are sending over the airwaves for free by purchasing an antenna. Go to the Consumer Electronics Association's AntennaWeb.org site for information on choosing the right antenna to get your local stations.

Not all channels are high-definition. Right now, the only channels and broadcast networks that are available in high-def format are Discovery, Universal, HDNet, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, HBO, Encore, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime, The Movie Channel, ESPN, ESPN 2, and Fox Sports. All but the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and NBC) require cable or satellite service, and depending on your provider, they may not all be available to you.