AFN’s planned move to high definition will mean costlier decoders

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AFN’s planned move to high definition will mean costlier decoders
By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, December 12, 2009

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — American Forces Network decoders will soon go high definition and increase in price.

The move to high definition follows the recent conversion from analog television to digital television in the States, which provides the capability for high-definition decoders, said Scott Stover, plans and policy officer for American Forces Radio and Television Service headquarters.

Production of the older Cisco model D9835 satellite receiver/decoder was recently discontinued by the manufacturer to make way for the high-definition D9865, Stover said.

And once the older model is gone from Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Navy Exchange Service stocks, anyone who wants a decoder will have to shell out $379. The discontinued model costs $289.

AFN has funding to switch over to high definition in fiscal 2012, and it is safe to say the transition will begin then, Stover said. The switch to digital and high definition is a lengthy and complicated process and involves replacing nearly 150,000 standard-definition-only receiver/decoders worldwide, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66622