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Hd Tv Transition

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In a world of Hulu, HD TV, and online streaming, the television industry has had no choice but to embrace shifting consumer trends within the industry. Now that Internet streaming has allowed consumers to watch whatever they want, whenever they want, it is becoming harder for cable providers to keep up with consumer demand. Television broadcasters must take advantage of the bandwidth that they have available to them if they are to compete in the viewing market. With streaming sites such as Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix gaining competitive advantage in the market, television broadcasters can no longer sit back and continue to run as they always have. Accordingly, these television stations have begun making much-needed modifications. Since 2009, television broadcasters have begun shutting down their analog systems and converting to strictly digital in compliance with the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act. In February of 2009, the FCC required all hybrid television producers, including companies such as Time Warner Cable and Verizon, to shut down their analog systems and convert to digital transmissions only. Due to this transition, the analog …show more content…

The conversion allows a simpler compression of signals than analog, which in turn allows more content to be delivered to subscribers. 36 channels turns into over 400, a significant portion of which are HD, which is a bit of a waste on analog signals. This digital conversion frees up analog spectrums and allows for those spectrums to be utilized by first responders as well as fire and rescue squads. It also improves the quality of sound to because, as analog systems convert to digital, audio systems simultaneously convert to surround and enhanced sound (Dolby Digital). In short, providers are able to supply a greater amount of channels and offerings while consumers receive a higher quality product and

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