DTV Converter Box Test Program -- Results and Lessons Learned

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology has released a report on tests of digital-to-analog TV (DTV) converter boxes. The report describes methodologies, results and lessons learned in over 50,000 individual engineering tests that were performed on 136 DTV converter boxes that were submitted for certification as "coupon eligible" by various manufacturers in the period August 2007 to January 2009 and on 17 converter box samples that were purchased from retail outlets through February 2009. The tests were completed in March 2009. Most of the tests were performed for the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and served as one step in the NTIA's approval process of converter boxes under the Government's TV Converter Box Coupon Program and were intended to ensure that all of the boxes certified as coupon eligible passed NTIA's conservative performance specifications before going on the market. The report indicates that 116 of the 136 converter box models tested by the FCC Laboratory eventually passed all tests to satisfy the NTIA requirements and were offered to the public as coupon-eligible converter boxes. The report is intended to inform engineers involved in designing DTV receivers, TV broadcasters, measurement technicians, standards developers and the technical community of engineering data on the performance of the converter boxes and of functional and performance issues that might apply to other DTV receiver products as well.