The only difference between analog and digital TV is the way signal is transmitted. The video signal of analog television is transmitted in the same way as the radio signal. Actually, the video signal of analog television is AM, and audio is FM. The main drawback of analog TV is that because of the way signal is transmitted, interference can appear depending on meteorological conditions or geographic location of the TV.

If this is not enough, certain bandwidths are assigned to analog TV channels, and this means the resolution and image quality are restricted. In the United States, the analog TV signal is NTSC. This standard had been adopted after the end of World War II, and it is a good system, but it was not engineered with color TV broadcasting in mind. Color implementation into the NTSC format is a weakness of this standard, and this is why many professionals call the NTSC standard “Never Twice The Same Color”.

Digital TV signal, unlike analog signal, resembles very much the way computers work: there are two kinds of signal, “on” or “off”. The viewer either sees an image, or not. Because of this, gradual loss of signal or interferences are an unknown term in the era of digital TV. It doesn’t make any difference how close or far the transmitter is from the TV, and weather conditions also have no importance.

Digital TV format has been designed considering all main factors of television signal: B/W, color and audio can be transmitted as progressive or interlaced signal. Basically this means the signal content has greater integrity and flexibility.

Because digital TV signal is made out of “bits”, the same bandwidth one analog TV signal requires can transmit digital signal of much higher quality, and there will be even some extra space left. Broadcasters can use this space for extra video, audio or text signals.

This way broadcasters using digital technology can supply more features, like surround sound, multiple language audio or text using the same bandwidth a standard analog TV signal requires. Digital TV has one more advantage: it is able to transmit High Definition (HDTV) signal.

Unlike analog TV, digital technology is also able to broadcast programming in a true wide screen (16×9) format. This means the shape of the picture is very much like a movie screen, so the viewers can see a movie just as the director intended to be seen. Those who watch sports can see more action in one camera shot: it is possible to view the entire length of a football field without having the sensation that it is far away from the camera. The 16×9 format means there will be no more black bars on the top and the bottom of the wide screen image.

Digital transition in the United States took place on June 12, 2009. On this date all analog TV signals went dead, and every analog television became useless without an analog-to-digital converter. Originally the digital transition was scheduled to 2006, but authorities postponed it because they were afraid the consumers are not ready.

Edward McKellen is an HDTV expert who writes lcd tv reviews for HDTVreviewlab.com. To read our latest HDTV review – The Samsung UN55B7000 or check out the latest Toshiba HDTV reviews visit HDTVreviewlab.com

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Posted by admin on March 7th, 2010 :: Filed under Satellite TV
Tags :: analog television, digital television, digital tv, hdtv, tv

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