Is the change to digital tv and the use of the digital converters international? or just the USA?

Just the United States. If you have cable you are set. The only people that need to worry are folks with rabbit ears.

johnpowell – you mean like Steve Martin circa 1979?

The switchover to digital TV is happening across the world not just the US.

Infact some countries have managed it already. Luxembourg and the Netherlands completeed the transition in 2006. Finland, Andorra, Sweden, Switzerland completed the switch in 2007. Austria switched earlier this year.

The following countries are in the process of (or planning)to switchover to digital TV – Australia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia. South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

i never even realized we did, we’ve always had cable since i can remember, but then again, we’re not that big right ? we also have digital tv (you know, with a card and a decoder) but the problem with that is that it’s not hi-res., i mean, decoders with SCART cables, etc etc

My Mum lives in a town in the UK that was one of the first to “switch”. The process was so complicated she got a satelite dish instead(seiously, they switched off half the analogue signal and switched on half the digital signal meaning for a week or so inorder to see all the chanels you had to switch between analogue and digital. I mean really).

If the FCC is mandating it (hint: Federal-Communications-Committee) then it is just in the US. Other countries may be switching, but the requirements/specs/dates probably aren’t the same.