Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Monday, 1 November 2010
UK Broadcast Systems
Broadcast has changed hugely since the invention of television, with programs becoming far more diverse, in content, accessibility and quality of reception. In the 1950’s TV was limited to a few channels at certain times of day whereas now we have hundreds of channel playing twenty-four hours a day which are also available for viewing online on different portable devices.
There are five different systems by which TV is broadcast in the UK. Analogue l broadcasting which has been in use for many years, uses radio waves from radio towers (like the Crystal Palace radio tower) to get a signal from an antenna on your roof. The potential problems with this sort of broadcast are that waves can be blocked from reaching their destination or the antenna can be too far away. This kind of TV is also limited to five channels, as analogue terrestrial TV has limited bandwidth, giving you less choice and possibly inferior picture quality to other broadcast systems.
Digital broadcasting, such as Freeview, has an advantage over the previous analogue system because it can broadcast several channels on one bandwidth and because it compresses the data digitally, allowing the viewer much more choice of channels. It also has a higher quality signal, high definition picture and interactive capabilities. But, in order to receive the digital signal you need to either have a television equipped to receive a digital signal or buy a digital decoder to use with your TV. This does makes the whole package more expensive, but many people consider the amount of variety in channels you get worth paying the extra money. Freeview is a cheap form of digital TV as no subscription is required and you only have to buy a Freeview box to receive it.
Satellite broadcasting such as Sky and Freesat uses a signal which is bounced off the ASTRA satellites in space (meaning there are no obstructions) and is received by a satellite dish on viewer’s houses. The satellite is also more effective than terrestrial as it has a longer sight range and it can reach more people. Sky is capable of HD TV and has 693 channels at the present moment. To receive it you need a dish on the outside of your house to receive the signal. It can be expensive to install the dish and box (but it makes it easier for people in more remote locations to receive the signal.
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Cable TV is broadcast through cables installed under pavements, via fibre-optic cables. A Cable Company, such as Telewest, decides where to lay them and if there isn’t one in your street then you can’t receive the signal and even if there is, the service is restricted to the company that laid the cable. Also, when cables installed, the pavement has to be dug up which can be inconvenient. On the other hand, you do not need any kind of equipment like a satellite dish or an antenna to receive cable, making it less expensive. It is also not certain how good the picture quality on cable will be and there is a possibility of interference.
Internet TV is becoming very popular in the 21st century because of sites like BBC iPlayer in the UK and Hulu in the USA. These sites upload programs onto the internet after they have been broadcast on TV so that people who missed them are able to watch them at any time, via streaming on a broadband connection. However the video quality can vary on these services and watching a program in full screen might look bad. They are mostly kept on for a certain amount of time before being deleted. It allows you to watch the program more than once. It also allows the programs to be viewed on a variety of different media such as iPhones, PCs, laptops and even TVs themselves as a convergence between internet and television approaches. This is making TV far more accessible to a wider amount of people.
There are many options when it comes to choosing how to watch TV and they have pros and cons. I think that analogue can be written out of the equation as it is set to be closed down by 2012, with digital in its place. Cable TV is the most difficult to acquire and therefore has limited access, because it is only available in certain areas. I think it comes down to how you want to receive digital broadcasting. Whether it’s through cable, satellite or the internet, as each have pros and cons that I’ve outlined. Satellite is quite expensive but has more choice of channels than others which means it might be the best for those who want a wide choice or access to specialist channels. Internet TV is free and has the advantage of portability if that is what the user wants. Overall, the greater consumer choice people have nowadays, means people can chose the method that suits them and their lifestyle.
There are five different systems by which TV is broadcast in the UK. Analogue l broadcasting which has been in use for many years, uses radio waves from radio towers (like the Crystal Palace radio tower) to get a signal from an antenna on your roof. The potential problems with this sort of broadcast are that waves can be blocked from reaching their destination or the antenna can be too far away. This kind of TV is also limited to five channels, as analogue terrestrial TV has limited bandwidth, giving you less choice and possibly inferior picture quality to other broadcast systems.
Digital broadcasting, such as Freeview, has an advantage over the previous analogue system because it can broadcast several channels on one bandwidth and because it compresses the data digitally, allowing the viewer much more choice of channels. It also has a higher quality signal, high definition picture and interactive capabilities. But, in order to receive the digital signal you need to either have a television equipped to receive a digital signal or buy a digital decoder to use with your TV. This does makes the whole package more expensive, but many people consider the amount of variety in channels you get worth paying the extra money. Freeview is a cheap form of digital TV as no subscription is required and you only have to buy a Freeview box to receive it.
Satellite broadcasting such as Sky and Freesat uses a signal which is bounced off the ASTRA satellites in space (meaning there are no obstructions) and is received by a satellite dish on viewer’s houses. The satellite is also more effective than terrestrial as it has a longer sight range and it can reach more people. Sky is capable of HD TV and has 693 channels at the present moment. To receive it you need a dish on the outside of your house to receive the signal. It can be expensive to install the dish and box (but it makes it easier for people in more remote locations to receive the signal.
.
Cable TV is broadcast through cables installed under pavements, via fibre-optic cables. A Cable Company, such as Telewest, decides where to lay them and if there isn’t one in your street then you can’t receive the signal and even if there is, the service is restricted to the company that laid the cable. Also, when cables installed, the pavement has to be dug up which can be inconvenient. On the other hand, you do not need any kind of equipment like a satellite dish or an antenna to receive cable, making it less expensive. It is also not certain how good the picture quality on cable will be and there is a possibility of interference.
Internet TV is becoming very popular in the 21st century because of sites like BBC iPlayer in the UK and Hulu in the USA. These sites upload programs onto the internet after they have been broadcast on TV so that people who missed them are able to watch them at any time, via streaming on a broadband connection. However the video quality can vary on these services and watching a program in full screen might look bad. They are mostly kept on for a certain amount of time before being deleted. It allows you to watch the program more than once. It also allows the programs to be viewed on a variety of different media such as iPhones, PCs, laptops and even TVs themselves as a convergence between internet and television approaches. This is making TV far more accessible to a wider amount of people.
There are many options when it comes to choosing how to watch TV and they have pros and cons. I think that analogue can be written out of the equation as it is set to be closed down by 2012, with digital in its place. Cable TV is the most difficult to acquire and therefore has limited access, because it is only available in certain areas. I think it comes down to how you want to receive digital broadcasting. Whether it’s through cable, satellite or the internet, as each have pros and cons that I’ve outlined. Satellite is quite expensive but has more choice of channels than others which means it might be the best for those who want a wide choice or access to specialist channels. Internet TV is free and has the advantage of portability if that is what the user wants. Overall, the greater consumer choice people have nowadays, means people can chose the method that suits them and their lifestyle.
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