207 Records – Entertainment

While many experts are speculating that television viewership has decreased due to the Internet and video websites, new reports have shown that television is still the screen of choice for many people. A recent report has found that alternative forms of television, including online video, are having little impact on the number of people who tune in to their favourite shows through television sets. The report notes that 75 per cent of adults disagreed with the notion that they are watching less traditional television because of the Internet, and many said they would not consider cancelling their television service simply because of the availability of online television shows. In addition, it was also found from recent studies that the average viewer tuned in to over 151 hours of television shows during Q4 of 2008. Compared to those numbers, online television and mobile television viewers only watched between three and four hours worth of content. There are also statistics which prove that during the economic recession, more television viewers are planning to stay at home in order to save money on entertainment. This means more people watching television and pay-per-view films, and less people heading out to cinemas and theatres. Many are also attributing the swell in television viewership to an increase in quality programming as well. With great programmes being produced and shot in HD on many channels, it’s hard not to get swept up in the plot lines of our favourite shows. Now more people than ever are becoming exposed to new channels and television series’, as the switch to digital takes over in both the UK and the US. While the digital switchover deadline in America has been postponed, viewers are finding new programmes to enjoy thanks to the added number of stations. Furthermore, it is hoped that all regions in the UK will make the digital switchover by the end of 2012. With more people choosing to watch quality television, the popularity of digital TV is on the rise. Digital TV makes it easier to find the programmes that interest you, no matter if you’re interested in music, food, current events or popular films. And now, many digital TV operators offer the choice to purchase a digital video recorder, which means you won’t have to miss a moment of any of your favourite shows. Digital recorders can be pre-set to record all your favourite shows, no matter when they’re on, leaving you able to watch them whenever you like. With such options available, it is not too difficult to see why television is the viewer’s entertainment of choice.

Not many people seem to know this. . . By the end of 2012 the UK will have been the only country in the world to have totally made the switchover to all digital television. The digital switchover starts in 2008 – less than 2 short years away.

A recent Which Report (Which is the major consumer champion in the UK) shows that in many areas the awareness of the digital switchover is less than 2 %. Even in the Borders Television region – the first to make the change – only about a third of the people surveyed knew what was going to happen.

It really does seem that the UK is sleepwalking in to the Digital Switchover.

Not surprisingly, the whole switchover programme is being watched with keen interest by other nations around the World. The benefits of digital television for broadcasters, manufacturers and programme makers are pretty clear. The new media is already changing programme making – Planet Earth, currently showing on the BBC – is a prime example of what can be achieved. And of course the manufacturers are positively drooling at the thought of all the new televisions, video recorders and set-top boxes they expect to sell.

Consumers are set to benefit too – better pictures and sound, high definition television, interactivity, movies on demand. . . The list goes on.
Governments have a keen commercial interest too. They own the air waves. And digital television takes up much less band width than conventional analogue signals. So the move to digital frees up precious broadcasting capacity that Governments are keen to sell to the highest bidders. The sale of the mobile telephone spectrum for 3G providers raised over £20 billion. Who would bet that the sale of the television spectrum won’t raise significantly more?

The move to digital television benefits us all. So why do so few people know what is happening?

Simply being able to receive digital television is only part of the issue. Just about every television bought more than 12 months ago, and a good percentage of those being sold now, are effectively obsolete. All of them will need a separate satellite receiver or set top decoder box to receive digital signals. Every video recorder will also need an additional decoder.

The UK Government puts the average cost per household to upgrade to digital television at £132 ($210). I feel the real figure is likely to be 4 or times this level. Most homes in the UK have upwards of 4 televisions – each and every one will need significant investment to receive digital television signals.

In the UK 68% of homes already receive digital television in some form- satellite (which means BSkyB – the only UK satellite television provider), cable or terrestrial freeview. In almost all cases digital television is only watched on the main television in the house. The other sets are still restricted to the main analogue, terrestrial stations. From 2008 this has all got to change.

It’s time to wake up. We are at the threshold of the biggest change in the television experience since it was first invented.

Start planning your own digital switchover now.

TV standards

The standard adopted by the US was called NTSC, which stood for National Television Standards Committee. NTSC is the television standard in the US, Canada, and Japan.

Germany developed the television standard called PAL, which stood for Phase Alternating Line, and introduced it in 1967. PAL is the television standard in the United Kingdom, much of Europe, Africa, Australia, and some parts of South America.

The French developed in 1967 the television standard called SECAM, Sequentiel Couleur avec Mémoire, French for “sequential color with memory”. The SECAM standard was used mostly in France and Eastern European “Warsaw Pact” countries.

There are various kinds of television broadcast systems:

Terrestrial television

NTSC, PAL, PAL2 and SECAM analog signaling

Satellite television using standard digital signaling

Cable television

both analog and digital systems are available.

MMDS (Wireless cable)

TV aspect ratio

All of these early TV systems shared the same aspect ratio of 4:3, which was determined by the Cathode Ray Tube manufacturing technology of the time — today’s CRT technology allows the manufacture of wider tubes. However, due to the negative heavy metal health effects associated with disposal of CRTs in landfills and the space-saving attributes of flat screen technologies that lack the aspect ratio limitations of CRTs, CRTs are becoming obsolete.

The switch-over to DTV systems co-incides with a change in picture format from a aspect ratio of 4:3 (1. 33:1) to an aspect ratio of 16:9 (1. 78:1). This enables TV to get closer to the aspect ratio of movies, which range from 1. 85:1 to 2. 35:1. The 16:9 format was first introduced for “widescreen” video and DVDs. The current technical implementation of 16:9 uses the same pixel raster as 4:3 video, in a full screen anamorphic format.

There is no technical reason for this aspect ratio change to be coupled with the introduction of DTV, but it has been decided to synchronize these changes for marketing reasons.

Aspect ratio incompatibility

A wide image on a conventional screen can be shown:

with “letterbox” black stripes at the top and bottom

with the extreme left and right of the image falling off (or in “pan and scan”, parts selected by an operator)

with the image horizontally compressed

A conventional image on a wide screen can be shown:

with black parts at the left and right

with the top and bottom of the image falling off

with the image horizontally expanded

A common compromise is to shoot or create material at an aspect ratio of 14:9, and to lose some image at each side for 4:3 presentation, and some image at top and bottom for 16:9 presentation.

In a room where several people watch one TV, horizontal expansion is not so bad, it compensates for watching at an oblique angle.

New developments

Digital television(DTV) — High Definition TV (HDTV) — Pay Per View — Web tv — programming on-demand.

TV sets

The earliest television sets were radios with the addition of a television device consisting of a neon tube with a mechanically spinning disk (the Nipkow disk, invented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow) that produced a red postage-stamp size image . The first publicly broadcast electronic service was in Germany in March 1935. It had 180 lines of resolution and was only available in 22 public viewing rooms. One of the first major broadcasts involved the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Germans had a 441 line system in the fall of 1937.

From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising. Since their inception in the late 1940s, TV commercials have become far and away the most effective, most pervasive, and most popular method of selling products of all sorts. Advertising rates are determined primarily by Nielsen Ratings

Television usage skyrocketed after World War II with war-related technological advances and additional disposable income. (1930s TV receivers cost the equivalent of $7000 today (2001) and had little available programming. )

Television in its original and still most popular form involves sending images and sound over radio waves in the VHF and UHF bands, which are received by a receiver (a television set). In this sense, it is an extension of radio.

Color television became available on December 30, 1953, backed by the CBS network. The government approved the color broadcast system proposed by CBS, but when RCA came up with a system that made it possible to view color broadcasts in black and white on unmodified old black and white TV sets, CBS dropped their own proposal and used the new one.

Starting in the 1990s, modern television sets diverged into three different trends:

standalone TV sets;

integrated systems with DVD players and/or VHS VCR built into the TV set itself (mostly for small size TV with up to 17″ screen, the main idea is to have a complete portable system);

component systems with separate big screen video monitor, tuner, audio system which the owner connects the pieces together as a high-end home theater system. This approach appeals to videophiles who prefer components which can be upgraded separately.

There are many kinds of video monitors used in modern TV sets. The most common are direct view CRTs for up to 40″ (4:3) and 46″ (16:9) diagonally. Most big screen TVs (up to over 100″) use projection technology. Three types of projection systems are used in projection TVs: CRT based, LCD based and reflective imaging chip based. Modern advances have brought flat screens to TV that use active matrix LCD or plasma display technology. Flat panel displays are as little as 4″ thick and can be hung on a wall like a picture. They are extremely attractive and space-saving but they remain expensive.

Nowadays some TVs include a port to connect peripherals to it or to connect the set to an A/V home network, like LG RZ-17LZ10 that includes a USB port, where one can connect a mouse, keyboard and so on ( very interesting for WebTV).

Even for simple video, there are five standard ways to connect a device. These are as follows:

Component Video- three separate connectors, with one brightness channel and two color channels, and is usually referred to as Y, B-Y, R-Y or Y Pr Pb. This provides for high quality pictures and is usually used inside professional studios. However, it is being used more in home theater for DVDs and high end sources. Audio is not carried on this cable.

SCART- A large 21 pin connector that may carry Composite video, S-Video or for better quality, separate red, green and blue (RGB) signals and two-channel sound, along with a number of control signals. This system is standard in Europe but rarely found elsewhere.

S-Video- two separate channels, one carry brightness, the other carrying color. Also referred to as Y/C video. Provides most of the benefit of component video, with slightly less color fidelity. Use started in the 1980s for SVHS, Hi-8 and early DVD players to relay high quality video. Audio is not carried on this cable.

Composite video- The most common form of connecting external devices, putting all the video information into one stream. Most televisions provide this option with a yellow RCA cable. Audio is not carried on this cable.

Coaxial or RF (coaxial cable)- All audio channels and picture components are transmitted through one wire and modulated on a radio frequency. Most TVs manufactured during the past 15-20 years accept coaxial connection, and the video is typically “tuned” on channel 3 or 4.

How much television do you watch? It used to be that the average person only watched about two hours of television on a daily basis. However I believe that the number continues to grow as people spend more time in front of their television sets. This article is written to help you discover are you watching too much television and are you saving money while watching your favorite shows?

Television was invented in the early 1920′s and research shows that several people contributed to the reality of being able to watch some of our favorite celebrities on the television set. This method of spending quality time has increased in each household throughout our country and not to mention the prices that it costs just to watch your favorite shows. It can be quite expensive just to enjoy a nice evening of watching your favorite movies or television shows.

Heck a decent television set can easily cost someone in the several hundreds of dollars; not to mention the monthly cost that it takes to be able to receive service from a local cable provider. However have you ever sat and wondered how much television do you watch?

Are you and your family sitting inside the house too often and staring at the television set while you could be out at the park or the beach? Well most people do not realize that it is now possible to take your television programs anywhere you want. Television has really changed since I was growing up; with todays technology you can easily watch TV from your laptop from anywhere in the world.

Not to mention the money that this method of watching TV can save you. Besides if you are finding that you and your family are sitting in the living room too much staring at the “blaring” screen; it is time to take your television mobile. Why not get PC internet TV and take your family to the park. You can do some physical activities and then once you have had your fun and gotten your exercise then you can watch your favorite programs together.

This is a great way to get your exercise in without worrying about your kids staring at the screen for long hours. Besides I have come to realize that my family enjoys a program much better after spending a day in the park and we all get to watch it together; so it gives us better quality time than sitting at home and doing the same routine that we used to.

Visit our site: http://pc-internet-tv. hi-tech-reviews. com for more information.

If you found this article on “how much television do you watch” helpful; visit our site below. In just a few minutes you and your family can be enjoying 3000 channels from anywhere in the world and not having to worry about sitting in front of the television set for too many hours. You can choose to be active while not giving up the programs that you have grown to love. Television can be a good thing after all I too have my favorite shows I watch; however learn how to exercise your family as well.

On February 17, 2009, Americans will enter the age of digital television — ready or not.

 

On that date, all full-power broadcast television stations will begin broadcasting only in digital, improving sound and picture quality as well as allowing for stations to offer multiple programming choices, called multicasting.

 

The government-mandated change will free up needed frequencies for public safety and new wireless communication offerings.

 

 

Since television was invented, stations have broadcast analog signals, or continuously varying radio waves. The familiar “snow” or ghosting of images is one problem with this way of sending broadcast signals.   Another issue is the limited bandwidth for an ever increasing number of television channels.

 

After the transition, broadcasts will be sent only via digital signals, which use a series of zeroes and ones to transmit data just as a computer does. The result is clearer, more reliable picture and sound as well as the opportunity for more programming options and interactive features.

 

Because of how a digital signal transmits information, it has more room for additional data. So now television stations that once broadcast on one channel, such as channel 3, can now broadcast on several segments of that channel, for example: 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4. Each channel could offer specialized programming for a particular audience.

 

HDTV is the highest level of digital television quality, but it is not the only one. SDTV, or standard definition television format, is the quality at which basic digital broadcasts will be provided. SDTV offers an enhancement over traditional analog broadcasts, but it is not as sharp as HDTV.

 

 

If you have an analog input television and currently receive your television service through cable or satellite, you will continue to receive your current stations without needing to purchase additional equipment.   However, to receive the full, original quality digital signal, you may need to upgrade your set or get special equipment from your service provider. Simply check with your cable or satellite company for more details.

 

Note that if your service goes out due to weather or other circumstances, you will no longer be able to receive traditional television channels without a digital tuner or digital-to-analog converter box.

 

If you have an analog input television and receive your signal via an outside antenna or “rabbit ears,” then you will need to purchase a digital-to-analog converter box to be able to continue watch television. Your set will continue to work as before with gaming consoles, DVD players, VCRs and other similar systems.

 

The new converter boxes are expected to be available in early 2008 and run between $50 and $70. From January 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, all U. S. households are eligible for a government coupon program to offset $40 of the cost for up to two boxes per household.   A list of eligible boxes is available from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages the program.

 

Aside from buying a converter box or signing up for a cable or satellite service, you could also choose to buy a new digital-input ready television. After May 2007, all new televisions must be ready for receiving digital signals or be clearly marked that additional equipment will be needed.

 

These next generation television sets are the best way to experience all that digital television has to offer.