Comparing Digital TV, An Insider Look

Compare digital TV with traditional analog TV, and you will be amazed at the difference. Digital TV is some of the latest in technology advances concerning broadcasting technology. The transmission of digital signals, instead of the traditional analog signals, sends the information as bits of data similar to a computer. This allows a broadcaster who broadcasts digital signals to transfer more information than analog signals will allow. Without digital TV, high definition TV, or HDTV, would not be possible. Digital TV allows for a picture that has higher resolution, which means a picture that is cleaner and clearer, and sound with a much higher quality than traditional analog signal TV. Digital TV also allows for multicasting, which means that it will allow transmitting several TV programs at one time if they are standard definition, and not HDTV. Digital TV also allows for data and video services which are interactive, which analog technology does not allow. Analog TV is the traditional method of broadcasting television signals. This technology is the standard for broadcasting since TV started using the technology of magnetic waves to transfer and show sound and picture both. This technology is being phased out in favor of digital technology, and right now is the transition phase. Almost all of the television stations will continue to broadcast analog signals along with the digital signals, at least until the end of the transition period. This period ends on February 17, 2009. After this, the choice to continue broadcasting analog signals will be up to the individual broadcasters, but it is doubtful that most of them will continue for a long period after this end date. Analog TV is old fashioned, and it is not nearly as high in quality as digital TV is. The convenience of digital TV far outweighs that of analog TV, and digital TV also offers interactive services which analog TV technology is just not capable of providing.