Television technology as we know it today has evolved tremendously from its inception in the late 1800s. Inspired by the success of the inventions of Bell and Edison in bridging wide distances, scientists became more and more intrigued by the possibility of ‘distance vision’ or the ability to simultaneously see someone in another part of the world moving and talking while one is in another location.
With their relentless efforts, it wasn’t long before American scientist Charles Jenkins and Scotsman John Baird were able to put on air in England and the U.S their first television programming of silhouettes and stick figures. This was followed by several major breakthroughs which eventually led to the development of television technology as we know it today.
• 1927 — Bell Laboratories transmitted the first live picture with voice broadcast.
• 1939 — RCA unveiled its first line of television receivers in its World’s Fair.
• 1943 — The National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) technological standards for black and white TV were established.
• 1957 — Robert Adler invented the first practical remote control called the ‘Space Commander’.
• 1960s — Color television programming was launched.
• 1962 — Television signal via satellite was launched for the first time
• 1970s to 1980s — The highly efficient fiber optic cable was introduced significantly improving delivery of television programming and paving the way for the entry of digital television technology.
• 1990 — Closed-caption television was created for the hearing-impaired.
• 1994 — High Definition Television (HDTV) standards were established along with a plan for the eventual phasing out of analog television and the conversion to the digital format
• 1998 — The first HDTV sets were sold in the market.
What is HDTV?
High Definition TV or HDTV is a digital broadcast standard that insures the viewer the ultimate in viewing quality and sound. It is one of 18 voluntary standards for digital television set by the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC), which provides guidelines on the levels of quality to be followed for sound and video encoding and transmission. Of these 18 standards, which are all superiors to the analog technology commonly used in television today, HDTV holds the highest rank. The HDTV broadcast format, therefore, is the most superior. However, purchasing an HDTV-ready TV set does not mean that one automatically gets to enjoy the benefits of this technology. To be able to enjoy HDTV, one must also be viewing a program that has been digitally prepared. In some cases, one needs a set-top converter to convert the broadcasts from analog to digital.
Whatever it is, one cannot escape the fact that the digital age is upon us and, whether or not we are ready, it will just be a matter of time before the analog broadcasts we have grown so used to is phased out and digital TV becomes the standard.
For an avowed TV addict who knows nothing about digital TV, the prospect is daunting. The need to understand DTV and HDTV therefore is now.
By: minakshi
Posts Tagged ‘John Baird’
Defining TV Moments with High Definition Television (HDTV)
November 11th, 2009The future’s here with HDTV
November 10th, 2009John Logie Baird is guaranteed his place in history, given his pioneering work to make television a reality for billions of households across the world.
Indeed, whilst the advancement of television technology was due to the collective endeavours of numerous boffins, Baird made perhaps the biggest contributions to the field and progressed it far quicker than it otherwise would have done and, as if to cement his place as ‘inventor of television’, he was also instrumental in the first ever colour TV transmission in the 1920s.
At the time, nobody could’ve predicted the extent to which TV would change the world. Major global news that would once have taken days or even weeks to spread around the globe, was not only arriving the same day, but live pictures as the event was happening was beamed into millions of households across the world.
Of course, TV wasn’t just limited to events on this humble planet of ours. When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon in 1969, the whole world watched in wide-eyed wonder as one of the greatest ever feats of science unfolded in front of their very eyes.
Today, television is everywhere. In fact, it is so ubiquitous that it’s more meaningful to look at figures relating to ‘TVs per household’ rather than how many there are across the country. Indeed, the average home in the UK has three TV sets, which really helps to illustrate the importance of television in the 21st century.
From a technology standpoint, today’s silky, elegant, streamlined plasma sets with 30-inch plus screens are unrecognisable from the cumbersome cuboids of only a few decades ago. But that’s not all that’s changed.
For those who have been locked in a darkened room for the past few years, the traditional analogue broadcasting system is being phased out for a digital broadcasting system, with millions of people already converted to the new and improved system.
The switch to digital broadcasting has also seen high-definition TV (HDTV) come to the fore, and it is the most advanced, best quality form of digital television. With a 16:9 aspect ratio, it is of a similar ilk to a cinema screen and is thus perfect for those wishing to watch TV at home via a projector and large screen. The widescreen format is more suited to human eyes, as people ‘see’ better from left to right, rather than up and down and it is also well suited to movies and sports, as there is move visible screen.
Of course, all TVs must be ‘HD ready’ to get the full benefits of HD broadcasting, and most modern TVs will indeed be HD ready, which means all that’s really needed then is a Sky HD offer to be able to enjoy everything from movies and sports, to dramas and documentaries. The future, it would seem, is well and truly here with HDTV.
By: Jonathan Wallace
