Today marks 10 years that analog TV has been off the air - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 06-12-2019, 08:40 PM

Can you believe it? Does it feel like that long? Are you people used to it? Were there really any advantages of analog TV over digital?

Heenan Fan · 06-12-2019, 08:49 PM

The day the music, err, television...died.

Zoneboy · 06-12-2019, 08:54 PM

Link

The “D” word. Today in our industry, D stands for “Disruption.” Ten years ago, “the D word” meant something else to U.S. television broadcasters.

TVT438_06_2019-62
No, I’m not talking about “Digital”—I’m talking about “Dread.”

On June 12, 2009, broadcasters took the big step that had caused so much consternation and fear since it had been proposed several decades before—the industry shut down its analog signals after more than 60 years of broadcasting in the U.S. Digital was now the norm.

I think I can speak for my other fellow journalists when I say that, despite all the angst, we loved covering the DTV transition because it created so much of another “D” word: Drama.

The original shutoff date was Dec. 31, 2006. I remember it well because of a warning from one Congressman who feared the worst when viewers realized that they would lose TV the way it always was.

“If we impose a strict, hard return of spectrum of December 31, 2006, one can be sure that we will all be impeached on January 1, 2007,” said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY).

Clearly the industry wasn’t ready by then and it’s hard to say whose feet got colder: broadcasters or the government, (and more specifically the FCC).

Realizing this, in 2005, Congress moved the deadline to February 2009. A number of problems were still unresolved, in particular, issues over how the controversial converter box program was being handled, so the deadline was moved to June, (when it was more likely that Congress would be on break, natch).

So as the industry held its collective breath and at midnight on the evening of Friday, June 12, 2009, the end came for analog TV in the U.S.

The transition went better than expected. Yes, stations, particularly along the urban areas on the east coast lost viewers as they moved from UHF to VHF and a number of consumers still hadn’t gotten the word despite millions of dollars in public education campaigns.

The total cost of the government’s share of the transition ended up nearly $3 billion. During the first week after the shutoff, the FCC logged nearly 900,000 calls to a DTV hotline it had set up to respond to complaints and concerns. A month later, Nielsen reported that 98.9% of U.S. homes were able to receive a digital signal.

Was it worth the expense? There was very little debate that the industry had to go digital—with increasing pressure from the wireless industry over spectrum availability, broadcasters’ hands were forced to make the transition.

Rick Ducey, managing director at BIA Advisory Services, had the unique perspective of looking at the transition from several sides—first as the senior vice president of research and info group at the NAB and then as an advisor to broadcast stations when he moved to BIA nearly 20 years ago.

Ducey helped establish Spectra Rep two decades ago to take advantage of the datacasting capabilities of digital television.

“We wanted to see if there was a way to monetize the new capabilities of the digital infrastructure,” he said. Based in Chantilly, Spectra Rep today works with public broadcasters to use datacasting enabled by DTV for public safety operations.

As a long-time contributor to TV Technology, Doug Lung had a front seat to the transition, chronicling the progress of the transition from when the first DTV station went on air in 1996 to today.

Lung’s assessment of how the industry has fared in the decade since can probably be described as a “glass half-full” approach.

“Once TV stations boosted their power [many had minimal facilities prior to the cut-over] and the quality of TV sets tuners improved, interest in over the air TV rose,” he said.

Lung commented that some of the transmitters used for increased power after analog was shut down were converted analog transmitters, but that the work surrounding the current channel realignment, prompted by the 2017 spectrum auctions provides new upgrade opportunities.

“The repack is giving us the opportunity to replace these ancient transmitters with more modern transmitters with solid state amplifiers and a relatively easy conversion to ATSC 3.0,” he said.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is at the forefront of the transition to ATSC 3.0, was a prominent opponent of the 8-VSB modulation standard and spent numerous hours on Capitol Hill and in the halls of the FCC pressing their case for using COFDM, which they said was better at handling mobile reception.

Now with ATSC 3.0 adopting the OFDM scheme, Mark Aitken, vice president of advanced technology for Sinclair and president of ONE Media, couldn’t help but feel vindicated.

“We actually hate having to be the folks that were right,” he said, adding that the “lessons learned” about the transition include the importance of mobility, IP and maximizing broadcasters’ use of their spectrum.

Today, ATSC is focused on what is perhaps even a bigger transition to 3.0 and an IP and mobile future designed to compete with telcos. Madeleine Noland, the new president of the association hailed the benefits of ATSC 1.0, including enhanced HD picture quality, improved sound and advanced closed captioning features, to name a few.

“The 10 year anniversary of the analog shutoff shines a light on one of the major milestones in the history of terrestrial broadcasting, and we look forward to many more with the bright future of ATSC 3.0 ahead of us.”

So do we.

Zoneboy · 06-12-2019, 08:56 PM

Link

Many consumers are under the impression that since the analog to DTV Transition took place in 2009, analog TVs can no longer be used. However, that is not necessarily the case.

Analog TV Broadcasting - A Quick Refresher
Analog TVs were designed to receive and display broadcast TV signals transmitted in a similar manner used for AM/FM radio transmissions - the video was transmitted in AM, while audio was transmitted in FM.

Analog TV transmissions were subject to interference, such as ghosting and snow, depending on the distance and geographical location of the TV receiving the signal. Analog transmissions were also severely limited in terms of video resolution and color range.

Full power analog TV broadcasts officially ended on June 12, 2009. There may be cases were low-power, analog TV broadcasts could still be available in some communities. However, as of September 1, 2015, these should have also been discontinued, unless special permission to continue was given to a specific station licensee by the FCC.

With the transition from analog to digital TV broadcasting, to continue receiving TV broadcasts, consumers either have to purchase a new TV or implement a workaround to continue using an analog TV.

The transition not only affected analog TVs but VCRs and pre-2009 DVD recorders that had built-in tuners designed to receive programming via an over-the-air antenna. Cable or satellite TV subscribers may, or may not, be affected (more on this below).

Ways to Connect an Analog TV in Today's Digital World
If you still have an analog TV and are currently not using it, you can breathe new life into it with one of the following options:

If you receive TV programming via antenna, external DTV converter boxes are available that enable older TVs to still be used. The DTV converter box is placed between the antenna and the TV and converts in incoming DTV/HDTV signal to an analog TV signal that is compatible with any analog TV. You won't get any of the increased resolutions of DTV or HDTV and all widescreen programming will show up as letterboxed (black bars on the to top and bottom of the image) on your analog set.
If you subscribe to a cable/satellite service, and the cable/satellite box provides an analog RF output with supporting analog signal service, you may be able to access programming. However, if you have been receiving basic cable without a box using a "cable-ready" analog TV, many cable/satellite services no longer provide analog TV signal output via this connection option. This means that even if your old analog TV is "cable-ready", you may now be required to rent a box from your provider that will covert digital cable signals back to analog. Contact your cable service or satellite provider for more details.
If the analog TV also includes, in addition to an antenna/cable connection, a set(s) of RCA style AV inputs (red, white, and yellow), you can connect an external DTV converter box or a cable/satellite box that has that connection option.
The DTV Transition also affects VCRs and DVD recorders (DVD recorders made before 2009) that may have a built-in tuner to receive programming via an over-the-air antenna as well as DVD recorders that do not include a built-in tuner. In these cases, the VCR and/or DVD recorder needs to be connected to an external DTV converter box or cable/satellite box in order to receive TV programming for recording purposes. However, there are some extra restrictions.
You may be able to connect some media streamers to an analog TV that has a set of AV inputs, provided the media streamer has a set of analog AV outputs. This is rare, but one example is the Roku Express Plus. This option allows access to streaming services, such as Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu on your old analog TV.
With all the above options, keep in mind that an analog TV can only display images in standard definition resolution (480i) - so even if the program source is originally in HD or 4K Ultra HD, you will only see it as a standard resolution image.

Additional Note For Owners Of Pre-2007 HDTVs
Another thing to point out is that until 2007, even HDTVs were not required to have digital or HD tuners. In other words, if you have an early HDTV, it may only have an analog TV tuner. In that case, the above connection options will also work, but since you are inputting a standard definition signal, you will have to depend on your TV's upscaling capability to provide a better quality image for viewing.

Also, an older HDTV may have DVI inputs, instead of HDMI inputs for accessing HD resolution signals. If so, you will have to use an HDMI-to-DVI converter cable, as well as make a second connection for Audio. These connection options can be used with compatible OTA HD-DVRs or HD cable/satellite boxes for receiving HD TV programming.

The Bottom Line
If you have an older analog TV that is still working, you may still be able to use it, keeping mind its more limited capabilities and need for an add-on DTV converter box for receiving TV programming.

HDTVs and Ultra HD TVs definitely provide a much better TV viewing experience, but if you have an analog TV, you may still be able to use it in the "digital age". Although not really suitable as your main TV (especially in a home theater setup), an analog TV may be perfectly suitable as a second, or a third TV.

As the years' pass and the last analog TVs are finally disposed of (hopefully recycled) the analog-or-digital TV issue will be put to rest.

Zoneboy · 06-12-2019, 08:58 PM

Link

The transition from analog to digital TV (DTV) broadcasting in the U.S. on June 12, 2009 changed the way consumers receive and watch TV, as well as what TVs were available to purchase.

Although TV transmission switched from analog to digital, some consumers may still be watching remaining low-power analog TV stations, subscribe to analog cable TV, and/or continue to watch analog video sources, such as VHS, on an analog, digital, or HDTV. As a result, understanding analog TV is still important.

Analog TV Basics
Before the DTV Transition, analog TV signals were transmitted in a manner similar to radio. Analog TV video signals were transmitted in AM, while audio was transmitted in FM.

As a result, analog TV transmission was subject to interference, such as ghosting and snow, depending on the distance and geographical location of the TV receiving the signal.

In addition, the amount of bandwidth assigned to an analog TV channel restricted the resolution and overall quality of the image.

The U.S. analog TV transmission standard was referred to as NTSC.

NTSC was adopted in 1941 and came into popular use after World War II. NTSC is based on a 525-line, 60 field/30 frames-per-second at 60 Hz system for transmission and display of video images. This is an interlaced system in which each frame is scanned in two fields of 262 lines, which is then combined to display a frame of video with 525 scan lines.

NTSC works, but one drawback is that color was not included when the system was initially approved and implemented – It wasn't added until 1953. As a result, the addition of color into NTSC has always been a weakness of the system.

NTSC became known by many professionals as "Never Twice The Same Color". This was due to the observation that color consistency often varied between programs and stations.

Digital TV Basics
Digital TV, or DTV, is transmitted as data bits of information, just as computer data is written or the way music or video is written on a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc.

The DTV transmission system is referred to as ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee). Most DTV and HDTVs made after 2007 have ATSC tuners built-in.

A digital signal is composed of 1's and 0's. This means it is either "on" or "off". The quality of the signal does not vary within a specific distance related to the power output of the transmitter. The viewer sees a full quality image or nothing at all.

Unlike analog TV transmission, there is no gradual signal loss as the distance from the transmitter increases. If the viewer is too far from the transmitter or is in an undesirable location, the station is not accessible.

Also, unlike analog TV, digital TV transmission has been designed from the ground up to take all the main factors of the signal into consideration: B/W, color, audio (including surround sound), and text. Video can be transmitted as an interlaced (lines scanned in alternate fields) or progressive (lines scanned in sequence) signal.

Digital TV signals can be transmitted in up to 18 different resolution formats. However, the most commonly used are 480p (SD), 720p and 1080i (HD). 1080p (FHD) is not used for over-the-air TV transmission.

Although all HDTVs are Digital TVs, not all Digital TV broadcasts are HD, and not all Digital TVs are HDTVs.

Analog and Digital TV Differences
Since the DTV signal is made up of "bits", the same bandwidth size that takes up a current analog TV signal, can accommodate not only a high definition (HDTV) images in digital form, but there is extra space can be used for transmitting:

One or more digital secondary (aka sub) channels in addition to the main channel.
Surround sound.
Multiple language audio.
Text services.
Another difference between Digital and Analog TV is that DTV transmission supports the widescreen (16x9) aspect ratio format. This matches the aspect ratio of most Digital and HDTVs which more closely resembles the shape of a movie screen. This enables viewers to watch a movie as the filmmaker intended. In Sports, you can get more of the action in one camera shot, such as viewing the entire length of a football field without making look like it is a long distance away from the camera.

A 16x9 aspect ratio TV can display widescreen images without a large amount of picture space taken up by black bars on the top and bottom of a widescreen image, which is what you see if such images are shown on a standard TV. Even non-HDTV sources, such as DVD can take advantage of a 16x9 aspect ratio TV.

From DTV To HDTV and Beyond...
The transition from Analog to Digital and HDTV TV is only one step. There is another transition slowly being implemented.

This transition (referred to as ATSC 3.0 or NextGen TV Broadcasting) adds 4K resolution, enhanced picture and sound quality, over-the-air broadband and other capabilities to the TV transmission mix. Just as with the transition from analog to digital TV, ATSC 3.0 requires new tuners (add-on or built-in to TVs) to receive the signals, but support for the current DTV/HDTV system will remain in place for some time.

06-12-2019, 08:40 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,621	Today marks 10 years that analog TV has been off the air Can you believe it? Does it feel like that long? Are you people used to it? Were there really any advantages of analog TV over digital?

06-12-2019, 08:54 PM	#3
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,365	A Decade Later Ten years ago, broadcasters went all digital. Link The “D” word. Today in our industry, D stands for “Disruption.” Ten years ago, “the D word” meant something else to U.S. television broadcasters. TVT438_06_2019-62 No, I’m not talking about “Digital”—I’m talking about “Dread.” On June 12, 2009, broadcasters took the big step that had caused so much consternation and fear since it had been proposed several decades before—the industry shut down its analog signals after more than 60 years of broadcasting in the U.S. Digital was now the norm. I think I can speak for my other fellow journalists when I say that, despite all the angst, we loved covering the DTV transition because it created so much of another “D” word: Drama. The original shutoff date was Dec. 31, 2006. I remember it well because of a warning from one Congressman who feared the worst when viewers realized that they would lose TV the way it always was. “If we impose a strict, hard return of spectrum of December 31, 2006, one can be sure that we will all be impeached on January 1, 2007,” said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY). Clearly the industry wasn’t ready by then and it’s hard to say whose feet got colder: broadcasters or the government, (and more specifically the FCC). Realizing this, in 2005, Congress moved the deadline to February 2009. A number of problems were still unresolved, in particular, issues over how the controversial converter box program was being handled, so the deadline was moved to June, (when it was more likely that Congress would be on break, natch). So as the industry held its collective breath and at midnight on the evening of Friday, June 12, 2009, the end came for analog TV in the U.S. The transition went better than expected. Yes, stations, particularly along the urban areas on the east coast lost viewers as they moved from UHF to VHF and a number of consumers still hadn’t gotten the word despite millions of dollars in public education campaigns. The total cost of the government’s share of the transition ended up nearly $3 billion. During the first week after the shutoff, the FCC logged nearly 900,000 calls to a DTV hotline it had set up to respond to complaints and concerns. A month later, Nielsen reported that 98.9% of U.S. homes were able to receive a digital signal. Was it worth the expense? There was very little debate that the industry had to go digital—with increasing pressure from the wireless industry over spectrum availability, broadcasters’ hands were forced to make the transition. Rick Ducey, managing director at BIA Advisory Services, had the unique perspective of looking at the transition from several sides—first as the senior vice president of research and info group at the NAB and then as an advisor to broadcast stations when he moved to BIA nearly 20 years ago. Ducey helped establish Spectra Rep two decades ago to take advantage of the datacasting capabilities of digital television. “We wanted to see if there was a way to monetize the new capabilities of the digital infrastructure,” he said. Based in Chantilly, Spectra Rep today works with public broadcasters to use datacasting enabled by DTV for public safety operations. As a long-time contributor to TV Technology, Doug Lung had a front seat to the transition, chronicling the progress of the transition from when the first DTV station went on air in 1996 to today. Lung’s assessment of how the industry has fared in the decade since can probably be described as a “glass half-full” approach. “Once TV stations boosted their power [many had minimal facilities prior to the cut-over] and the quality of TV sets tuners improved, interest in over the air TV rose,” he said. Lung commented that some of the transmitters used for increased power after analog was shut down were converted analog transmitters, but that the work surrounding the current channel realignment, prompted by the 2017 spectrum auctions provides new upgrade opportunities. “The repack is giving us the opportunity to replace these ancient transmitters with more modern transmitters with solid state amplifiers and a relatively easy conversion to ATSC 3.0,” he said. Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is at the forefront of the transition to ATSC 3.0, was a prominent opponent of the 8-VSB modulation standard and spent numerous hours on Capitol Hill and in the halls of the FCC pressing their case for using COFDM, which they said was better at handling mobile reception. Now with ATSC 3.0 adopting the OFDM scheme, Mark Aitken, vice president of advanced technology for Sinclair and president of ONE Media, couldn’t help but feel vindicated. “We actually hate having to be the folks that were right,” he said, adding that the “lessons learned” about the transition include the importance of mobility, IP and maximizing broadcasters’ use of their spectrum. Today, ATSC is focused on what is perhaps even a bigger transition to 3.0 and an IP and mobile future designed to compete with telcos. Madeleine Noland, the new president of the association hailed the benefits of ATSC 1.0, including enhanced HD picture quality, improved sound and advanced closed captioning features, to name a few. “The 10 year anniversary of the analog shutoff shines a light on one of the major milestones in the history of terrestrial broadcasting, and we look forward to many more with the bright future of ATSC 3.0 ahead of us.” So do we.

06-12-2019, 08:56 PM	#4
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,365	Can You Still Use an Analog TV? Link Many consumers are under the impression that since the analog to DTV Transition took place in 2009, analog TVs can no longer be used. However, that is not necessarily the case. Analog TV Broadcasting - A Quick Refresher Analog TVs were designed to receive and display broadcast TV signals transmitted in a similar manner used for AM/FM radio transmissions - the video was transmitted in AM, while audio was transmitted in FM. Analog TV transmissions were subject to interference, such as ghosting and snow, depending on the distance and geographical location of the TV receiving the signal. Analog transmissions were also severely limited in terms of video resolution and color range. Full power analog TV broadcasts officially ended on June 12, 2009. There may be cases were low-power, analog TV broadcasts could still be available in some communities. However, as of September 1, 2015, these should have also been discontinued, unless special permission to continue was given to a specific station licensee by the FCC. With the transition from analog to digital TV broadcasting, to continue receiving TV broadcasts, consumers either have to purchase a new TV or implement a workaround to continue using an analog TV. The transition not only affected analog TVs but VCRs and pre-2009 DVD recorders that had built-in tuners designed to receive programming via an over-the-air antenna. Cable or satellite TV subscribers may, or may not, be affected (more on this below). Ways to Connect an Analog TV in Today's Digital World If you still have an analog TV and are currently not using it, you can breathe new life into it with one of the following options: If you receive TV programming via antenna, external DTV converter boxes are available that enable older TVs to still be used. The DTV converter box is placed between the antenna and the TV and converts in incoming DTV/HDTV signal to an analog TV signal that is compatible with any analog TV. You won't get any of the increased resolutions of DTV or HDTV and all widescreen programming will show up as letterboxed (black bars on the to top and bottom of the image) on your analog set. If you subscribe to a cable/satellite service, and the cable/satellite box provides an analog RF output with supporting analog signal service, you may be able to access programming. However, if you have been receiving basic cable without a box using a "cable-ready" analog TV, many cable/satellite services no longer provide analog TV signal output via this connection option. This means that even if your old analog TV is "cable-ready", you may now be required to rent a box from your provider that will covert digital cable signals back to analog. Contact your cable service or satellite provider for more details. If the analog TV also includes, in addition to an antenna/cable connection, a set(s) of RCA style AV inputs (red, white, and yellow), you can connect an external DTV converter box or a cable/satellite box that has that connection option. The DTV Transition also affects VCRs and DVD recorders (DVD recorders made before 2009) that may have a built-in tuner to receive programming via an over-the-air antenna as well as DVD recorders that do not include a built-in tuner. In these cases, the VCR and/or DVD recorder needs to be connected to an external DTV converter box or cable/satellite box in order to receive TV programming for recording purposes. However, there are some extra restrictions. You may be able to connect some media streamers to an analog TV that has a set of AV inputs, provided the media streamer has a set of analog AV outputs. This is rare, but one example is the Roku Express Plus. This option allows access to streaming services, such as Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu on your old analog TV. With all the above options, keep in mind that an analog TV can only display images in standard definition resolution (480i) - so even if the program source is originally in HD or 4K Ultra HD, you will only see it as a standard resolution image. Additional Note For Owners Of Pre-2007 HDTVs Another thing to point out is that until 2007, even HDTVs were not required to have digital or HD tuners. In other words, if you have an early HDTV, it may only have an analog TV tuner. In that case, the above connection options will also work, but since you are inputting a standard definition signal, you will have to depend on your TV's upscaling capability to provide a better quality image for viewing. Also, an older HDTV may have DVI inputs, instead of HDMI inputs for accessing HD resolution signals. If so, you will have to use an HDMI-to-DVI converter cable, as well as make a second connection for Audio. These connection options can be used with compatible OTA HD-DVRs or HD cable/satellite boxes for receiving HD TV programming. The Bottom Line If you have an older analog TV that is still working, you may still be able to use it, keeping mind its more limited capabilities and need for an add-on DTV converter box for receiving TV programming. HDTVs and Ultra HD TVs definitely provide a much better TV viewing experience, but if you have an analog TV, you may still be able to use it in the "digital age". Although not really suitable as your main TV (especially in a home theater setup), an analog TV may be perfectly suitable as a second, or a third TV. As the years' pass and the last analog TVs are finally disposed of (hopefully recycled) the analog-or-digital TV issue will be put to rest.

06-12-2019, 08:58 PM	#5
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,365	The Differences Between Digital and Analog TV Link The transition from analog to digital TV (DTV) broadcasting in the U.S. on June 12, 2009 changed the way consumers receive and watch TV, as well as what TVs were available to purchase. Although TV transmission switched from analog to digital, some consumers may still be watching remaining low-power analog TV stations, subscribe to analog cable TV, and/or continue to watch analog video sources, such as VHS, on an analog, digital, or HDTV. As a result, understanding analog TV is still important. Analog TV Basics Before the DTV Transition, analog TV signals were transmitted in a manner similar to radio. Analog TV video signals were transmitted in AM, while audio was transmitted in FM. As a result, analog TV transmission was subject to interference, such as ghosting and snow, depending on the distance and geographical location of the TV receiving the signal. In addition, the amount of bandwidth assigned to an analog TV channel restricted the resolution and overall quality of the image. The U.S. analog TV transmission standard was referred to as NTSC. NTSC was adopted in 1941 and came into popular use after World War II. NTSC is based on a 525-line, 60 field/30 frames-per-second at 60 Hz system for transmission and display of video images. This is an interlaced system in which each frame is scanned in two fields of 262 lines, which is then combined to display a frame of video with 525 scan lines. NTSC works, but one drawback is that color was not included when the system was initially approved and implemented – It wasn't added until 1953. As a result, the addition of color into NTSC has always been a weakness of the system. NTSC became known by many professionals as "Never Twice The Same Color". This was due to the observation that color consistency often varied between programs and stations. Digital TV Basics Digital TV, or DTV, is transmitted as data bits of information, just as computer data is written or the way music or video is written on a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The DTV transmission system is referred to as ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee). Most DTV and HDTVs made after 2007 have ATSC tuners built-in. A digital signal is composed of 1's and 0's. This means it is either "on" or "off". The quality of the signal does not vary within a specific distance related to the power output of the transmitter. The viewer sees a full quality image or nothing at all. Unlike analog TV transmission, there is no gradual signal loss as the distance from the transmitter increases. If the viewer is too far from the transmitter or is in an undesirable location, the station is not accessible. Also, unlike analog TV, digital TV transmission has been designed from the ground up to take all the main factors of the signal into consideration: B/W, color, audio (including surround sound), and text. Video can be transmitted as an interlaced (lines scanned in alternate fields) or progressive (lines scanned in sequence) signal. Digital TV signals can be transmitted in up to 18 different resolution formats. However, the most commonly used are 480p (SD), 720p and 1080i (HD). 1080p (FHD) is not used for over-the-air TV transmission. Although all HDTVs are Digital TVs, not all Digital TV broadcasts are HD, and not all Digital TVs are HDTVs. Analog and Digital TV Differences Since the DTV signal is made up of "bits", the same bandwidth size that takes up a current analog TV signal, can accommodate not only a high definition (HDTV) images in digital form, but there is extra space can be used for transmitting: One or more digital secondary (aka sub) channels in addition to the main channel. Surround sound. Multiple language audio. Text services. Another difference between Digital and Analog TV is that DTV transmission supports the widescreen (16x9) aspect ratio format. This matches the aspect ratio of most Digital and HDTVs which more closely resembles the shape of a movie screen. This enables viewers to watch a movie as the filmmaker intended. In Sports, you can get more of the action in one camera shot, such as viewing the entire length of a football field without making look like it is a long distance away from the camera. A 16x9 aspect ratio TV can display widescreen images without a large amount of picture space taken up by black bars on the top and bottom of a widescreen image, which is what you see if such images are shown on a standard TV. Even non-HDTV sources, such as DVD can take advantage of a 16x9 aspect ratio TV. From DTV To HDTV and Beyond... The transition from Analog to Digital and HDTV TV is only one step. There is another transition slowly being implemented. This transition (referred to as ATSC 3.0 or NextGen TV Broadcasting) adds 4K resolution, enhanced picture and sound quality, over-the-air broadband and other capabilities to the TV transmission mix. Just as with the transition from analog to digital TV, ATSC 3.0 requires new tuners (add-on or built-in to TVs) to receive the signals, but support for the current DTV/HDTV system will remain in place for some time.

06-12-2019, 08:49 PM	#2
Heenan Fan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Oct 19, 2016 Posts: 6,001	The day the music, err, television...died.