preview

High Definition Television (HDTV) Essay examples

Decent Essays

High Definition Television (HDTV)

High Definition Television, also known as HDTV, is a technological advancement compared to the analog television most Americans have now. High definition was a marvel that was bound to come. It seems that every time a new technology emerges, it is a must have, but is high-definition television worth buying? This is the question I have posed to myself and will try to answer.

High definition started in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. It was a simple experimental research project that did not hold much weight. Once the Federal Communications Commission heard of the news, the proposed a competition to see who could come up with a higher quality television. There was no real winner for the contest, but …show more content…

A 20 inch high-definition ready television average price can range anywhere from $500 to $800. That is almost double the amount I paid for my television, which is eight-inches bigger.

2) Television programming

Imagine, sitting on your couch watching the Discovery Channel and the animals looking so close to the real thing. Well, do not expect for that visual to come true. Another problem with the high-definition format television is there is hardly any programming to watch that is high-definition programming.

The National Association of Broadcasters stated that ABC, NBC, CBS, and the WB are broadcasting sixty prime-time shows in high definition format, but what about the rest? The second issue is cable programs. The most high definition format programming offered is averaged around six channels. Cable television usual has close to one-hundred channels of programming. There is one cable provider which offers about thirty channels in high-definition format but it costs around $750 just to install it.

3) Future Expectations

The government is mandating that all broadcasts be in digital high-definition format, and estimating that all broadcasts should be switch over to that format by the year 2006 (that is only two years from now). By the year 2006 most all programming will be showing in high-definition format and the price of high-definition television sets will drop because more programming will be

Get Access