HOW IT WORKS: “the Digital TV”

First and foremost, let us understand the meaning of the term “Digital Television”. In electronics, we have analog systems existing side by side alongside the digital counterparts. We are now living in the digital divide; nearly every aspect of our daily life is getting more and more digitalised. One thing that is for sure is the influence of the computer or rather the “microprocessor”. Nearly every domestic device has some sort of a microprocessor that gives it an element of “artificial intelligence”. We now hear of devices having a “memory” and a processor, this is the digital part of the device. The digital devices employ a processor and memory in order to work. First and foremost, in order for a digital TV to exist and work appropriately, there must also be a digital broadcast. The two can be said to be complementary to each other; viz, without one, the other would be rendered useless! Keeping it simple and easy, the digital TV signal carries at least ten times that of the analog broadcast. A clear distinction of the two types of TV sets and broadcasts lies in the manner in which the two work. The digital TV sets are sometimes known as SDTV (standard Definition TV), these have a Digital Tuner built in them. Normally, a Digital Satellite signal is converted into MPEG compression before it can be transmitted, this allows for a number of programmes to be compacted into a single channel and to get broadcast to the various viewers. MPEG stands for.” Moving Picture Experts Group”, this is the same format that is used in the making of the “Digital Versatile Discs (DVD). MPEG-2 is used in Digital Video Broadcast and Digital Versatile Discs. The transport stream, TS, and program stream, PS, are container formats. The main reason why so many governments want to have digital TV service for their countries is the fact that, such governments would have a variety of programmes running on one station. E.g., you can be able to receive multiple broadcasts or programmes through just one channel. This is typical of the Satellite TVs like DSTV. Instead of having several analog transmissions, you can simply have one digital transmission that comprises several programmes; it makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? One of the biggest features of the Digital TV is the HD (high definition) capability, the pictures are not only very clear but you can also zoom in and out on an object; say if you are watching a football match, you might be able to zoom a distant ball so that you get a better view, you can also replay some scenes or even store the programmes for future viewing. Lots and lots of options are becoming available. The new Digital TV systems have been designed with a computer like system and memory as compared to their analog counterparts that simply relayed any programme as it came. With digital, the viewer will be given lots of options and customisation in order to get maximum entertainment from his set. eddie@afrowebs.com