Digital television is the way of recieving your television signal in a digital format. This allows TV companiesto broadcast better quality sound, a higher definition picture and a wider range of channels than ever before. As well as quality picture and sound and more channels, it has many other advantages.Digital television is very much interactive. Digital TV allows user to access more information, as most digital televisions can access the internet. As a result of this, you can also access 'on-demand' programs and listen to radio.
The first country in the world that made the switch to digital television were the Netherlands. This was on December 11, 2006. As of the end of 2012, a total of 34 countries have made the switch from analog, while another 47 will be making the switch in between now and 2024. Two countries' dates of the switch are unknown, wheras North Korea have no intention of switching.
Australia is in the process of switching from analog signals to digital-based television. This transition will be completed in December of this year (2013) when Melbourne and Central and Eastern Australia switch off.
It was promised to be television like you've never seen before, "pictures so bold our imaginations run wild". This is exactly what it was when digital television was launched in the main capital cities (Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth) on January 1, 2001.
Digital television let us see pictures that are much crisper and clearer, with CD quality sound. But the major networks in Australia (Channels 7, 9, 10 and ABC) disagreed over just what kind of digital would be broadcasted. Channel 9 and ABC wanted the best quality; high definition (HDTV), while Channel 7 was happy with standard definition (SDTV). The Government then decided and announced that each station will have to broadcast both, plus the analog signal.
Australia currently has a total of 23 digital channels, which includes Channel 31 and the shopping networks. Channel 7 has 4 channels (7, 7TWO, 7mate and TV4ME), Channel 9 has 5 channels (9, GO!, GEM, eXtra and eXtra 2), Channel 10 has 4 channels (10, Eleven, ONE and TVSN), ABC has 4 channels (ABC, ABC2/ABC 4 Kids, ABC3 and ABC News 24) and SBS has 4 channels (SBS One, SBS Two, NITV and SBS HD)
Digital television has changed the way of TV and life quite drastically. Because of the speed in which digital works, it brings a more realistic pattern of what the the people on TV (boradcasters, actors, athletes,etc.) are doing. Previously, you may not have gotten reception, even colour. You could have seen the picture, but had trouble as a result of the antenna needing readjusting. The evolution of digital TV has also allowed the addition of many more television shows, both local and international, to be screened. And the fact that there are so many new digital channels, networks are able to do this easily and efficiently so that these programs get to a wider audience, so it has made us more engaged with television, not only with the amount of shows shown on TV, but also the array of features that go along with it. Digital television also has the result of internet accessabilty, so you can research and connect with others. Digital television lets people catch-up on programs that were originally shown on the major channel, but then repeated on a digital channel, so they are able to watch the show they missed. The majority of households did not realise of the switch taking place in 2001, and therefore were unknown to that fact that they had to buy a set top box in order to receive the signal.
SOURCES:
Socha, Bailey, Eber-Schmidt, Barbara. WHAT IS NEW MEDIA? on New Media Institute, http://www.newmedia.org/what-is-new-media.html, accessed on: 17/05/2013
CheesyTV/Davez621, Digital TV in Australia - 1999 Nine News segment on YouTube, September 10, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XP7NvuOcLA, accessed on: 17/05/13
Turner, Adam, Digital television: look at the big picture, on The Age , October 27, 2011, http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/hometech/digital-television-look-at-the-big-picture-20111026-1mil1.html, accessed on: 17/05/2013
FreeTV Australia, About Digital, on FreeTV Australia, http://www.freetv.com.au/content_common/pg-about-digital.seo, accessed on: 21/05/2013
Flack, Jo, Nelson Media VCE Units 1-4, Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited, Australia, 2012
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