I believe the essential element there is that to be classified as a monitor, it cannot contain a tuner at all. If it does contain an NTSC tuner, then it's a TV and specifically covered under the FCC decree. I don;t see a point in manufacturers trying to evade the ATSC tuner at this point. There are plenty of low cost TVs with ATSC built-in. Apparently including the one that started this thread. So far, the only example anyone has come up with of a TV in the normal retail channel being sold that doesn't have an ATSC tuner is the 13" at Target.