The video industry is making a monumental transition from analog broadcasting to digital data delivery, and the effects will be wide reaching socially as well as technically. Led by satellite service operators—with cable operators, terrestrial broadcasters, and wireline and wireless telco carriers following hot on their heels—there is a stampede to be first to market with digital service bouquets. But the path to this new technology is full of pitfalls. In this paper we will examine techniques for avoiding some of those pitfalls. We'll look at the measurements and tests that can be used to develop, install, maintain, and troubleshoot these new digital video (DV) systems.