Cable TV

Felicia May 15th, 2015

From Cathode Ray Tubes To LED Flat Screens To Modern Curved Television

The word Television is from the ancient Greek word “tèle” means “far” and the Latin word “visio” means “sight”. Television is a device or a form of technology that receives and transmits moving images or otherwise known as “movies” that are sometimes monochrome or black and white and at other times in full color.

The moving images that it receives from a nearby broadcasting station is projected in three dimensions by the cathode ray tube or “CRT” and it also has an audio decoder to reproduce the sounds from the transmitted radio signals through the audio speakers. It is mainly used for entertainment, information and education. It is also referred to as a television set, television transmission or television program.

Unlike the internet where it is still struggling to compete with TV even nearing the completion of its third decade since it was made for public use; TV took over print media and radio broadcasting overnight! The world quickly catch on and before we knew it, TV had become a global phenomenon. Today there are approximately 4.7 billion units of television throughout the world and they range from the old cathode ray tubes to the flat LCD and plasma screens and all the way up to the latest LED curved TVs. In fact, there are more TV sets than computers in the world today and it seems computers and the internet has yet to surpass TV’s dominance in the mainstream media world.

Here are some of the latest innovations on television today:

The various innovations that companies have developed today makes television almost unrecognizable except for developers and providers adding the suffix “TV” at each new idea that they conceived. Apparently it’s no longer just about a broadcasting station and the box with moving pictures in it! In order to understand what these innovations are allow me to break it down to you in bite sizes. TV nowadays could be…

1) 3DTV – is a semi-total immersion television system that uses multiple techniques such as multi-view display, stereoscopic display, 2D-plus-depth, and other forms of 3D display which makes the object on the TV screen appear to have dept and form just like real objects are. In other words it makes viewing movies on a 3DTV seem realistic! It is one notch below holograms as you will need a specially-designed 3D glasses in order to see the images projected from this type of TV set. The benefits of having a 3DTV is that it makes learning more fun for kids who wants to learn about space and the universe or what’s in our oceans at the comfort of their living rooms. Watching movies that are heavily incorporated with CGI (computer generated imaging) takes you right in the middle of it, which is a completely different experience than just watching the same movie from an ordinary TV. One way 3D images are produced is by offsetting the images and separating them to each eye (left and right), then use passive color filters and a light source to project the image in a singularity all the while the 3D glasses help solidify the images from the viewer’s perspective.

2) Cable TV – CATV or cable television is a system that delivers TV programs through the use of coaxial or fiber-optic cables. Those who wish to subscribe to TV programs offered by CATV companies has to pay for them and that’s why cable television has been a major success back in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The benefits of subscribing to a cable TV network is that you’ll have hundreds of channels and vast TV programs to watch all day everyday; while the disadvantage is that due to the fact that TV shows and movies are sometimes played more than 3 times a day, you will get bored eventually. The take-away is that when you have a busy schedule and you absolutely need to catch up with the episodes of your favorite TV shows or when there’s some very interesting shows that you need to take down notes from.

3) HDTV – or otherwise known as high definition TV or hi-def TV is a modern innovation that came out in the latter years of the first decade of the new millennium. HDTVs has a resolution display between 720p – 1080p which is basically 0.92 megapixels to 2.07 megapixels and that’s like more than 5 times normal! In February 2008 the FCC ordered all TV broadcasting frequency in the United States be set to high definition standards, because the federal government will use all the lower bandwidths exclusively. Perhaps the best benefit that HDTV brings is that you won’t ever have fuzzy signals again.

4) Smart TV – is a cross-between TV and internet as it has the attributes of both. Examples of Smart TV include Apple TV, Amazon TV, Google TV, MeeGo, Plex, Roku, Samsung, TiVo and more! Companies that offer Smart TV programming requires users to buy a set-top-box which is some sort of a receiver (much like cable and satellite TV systems) where you can get exclusive access to paid TV programs. Besides gaining access to TV programs you can also get games, internet access and special offers through the Smart TV vendor which is even better than ordinary TV.

5) Satellite TV – it’s almost very similar to cable TV except for 2 things: a) network coverage can extend beyond the US, and b) providers always broadcast in HD bandwidth which is very desirable for subscribers. TV programs may or may not be the same as cable TV providers offers and severe weather conditions can disrupt satellite broadcast which is an obvious weakness for satellite TVs. Satellite TV providers also offer a bundled service that includes TV, internet and telephone service.

6) Internet TV – is also called Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) where mainstream media TV and alternative TV programs are converted into digital signals and are offered for either free or paid subscription over the internet through video streaming technology. Advantages of internet TV is that you can access it from your desktop home computer, your laptop computer, your tablet computer and even your smartphone. And what’s not to like about mobile TV watching your favorite shows while you’re on the go? Absolutely nothing! Another thing that you may like about internet TV is that you can participate in their forum discussions in real time as a fan and sometimes even interact with the stars and other people involved in creating and developing these shows.

7) PPTV – another emerging digital television is known as peer-to-peer television or PPTV. It is very popular in Asia, particularly in China, Korea, Thailand and other nearby countries – this is because the technology was developed in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. For now the system is mostly compatible with Microsoft’s Windows OS (operating system) and you can watch TV shows, movies, sports, news and other special coverages right off of the browser. If it will be marketed worldwide, then we may see it soon on other platforms.

Other possible future TV innovations include holographic imaging and virtual reality TV although it may take years for us to see it into fruition as the marketing aspect of these innovations is such a huge obstacle to get around with. Still, the number of innovations that has so far been developed are leaps compared to what we had just a decade ago which are very impressive. Whatever your preference is you can be sure that you will absolutely enjoy these wonderful new innovations for TV.

Shilpa Lama Mar 6th, 2015

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Is Cable TV Nearing Extinction Due to the Ever Expanding Market Reach of Streaming TV?

Last year in October, HBO made it clear that the company plans to enter the lucrative and ever expanding streaming TV market by rolling out its own standalone streaming service at some point in 2015. Quite predictably, the market was abuzz with all sorts of speculations within hours – with some even going to the extent that this could well be the end of cable television as we know it.

Adding more to these speculations, CBS announced only a day later that it too was preparing to join the bandwagon by launching a proprietary streaming service. Similar announcement came from Showtime, CBS’s flagship entertainment channel.

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Tinaya Jan 1st, 2015

DirecTV and Disney Strike A New Multi-Year Deal

The previous contract between DirecTV Satellite service and Disney apparently expired earlier this year on September 30^th, and since then, as the two companies continued their negotiations, extensions to the contract were made in an effort to avoid any service interruptions or channel blackouts.

Right before the holiday week, Disney and DirecTV finally agreed on a multi-year distribution deal. DirecTV customers can access ABC, ESPN, and Disney Channel content on any device that has an internet connection. The plan is all part of Disney’s TV Everywhere service and both live streaming TV shows and video-on-demand (VOD) services will be included.

DirecTV, who currently has around 20 million subscribers in the U.S., has also added some additional program services that have been included in the new multi-year deal with Disney: The Longhorn network, (which is a channel that is committed to the full-time coverage of University of Texas sports) Univision, Fusion, (which is an ABC-run news channel) and a number of ESPN college sports channels.

Both companies are also exploring other possible avenues for what they are referring to as “over-the-top” services which they claim will be targeted towards TV customers who would like to be able to access streaming video without a subscription to a satellite and/or cable company.

Both DirecTV and Disney claim they plan to continue their joint venture into future developments in order to give DirecTV consumers an even wider range of viewing options that will be available both in the home and outside of the home.

Danny Dec 3rd, 2014

Scientists Encourage Governments to Broadcast Free Super-Wifi

KIT Scientists have recently come out urging governments to rethink selling old TV frequencies to the highest bidder, and instead to turn these relics into free ‘super-wifi’ for all. The change over from analogue to digital broadcasts has left many companies bidding for control, mainly from mobile phone networks who want to extend their mobile coverage. But scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany are claiming that if governments would instead put these old transmissions to better use, it would boost economies.

Transmitting wifi signals over lower frequencies would provide a far greater coverage than standard wifi, which is very limited in its reach. If the move was to go ahead and the old TV signals were used to broadcast wifi, the signal would travel a lot further than standard wifi. At the moment, wifi signals are limited in their reach, capable of only supplying a small area. The estimated area of coverage of the new wifi signals far exceed current distances, as they would be able to cover ranges of up to several kilometres.

One group that would not be open to such a suggestion are the mobile phone companies. At the moment, mobile phone companies plan to increase their mobile phone coverage by rolling out 4G. But if free wifi was available throughout cities and towns then no one would have any need for mobile internet. Currently, 3G and 4G technology is very expensive for the consumer and leaves users no other choice but to pay the premiums for internet coverage on the go.

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Steve Nov 13th, 2014

Foundations Set For New HBO Production

HBO, like AMC, seem to have a reputation for more hits than misses when it comes to producing well-received and critically-acclaimed content, and hope to have a new item on that hit list soon in the form of Foundation.

Based on the Issac Asimov trilogy of novels, Foundation will be adapted into a TV series for the premium cable network Jonathan Nolan, the writer of recent sci-fi film Interstellar. Support in developing this to screen will come from Warner Bros TV, according to The Wrap.

Believed to be a long-term goal for Nolan to create, he recently said of his dream concept to Indie Wire: “I f**king love the Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov. They’re certainly not [unknown], but that’s a set of books I think everyone would benefit from reading. That’s a set of books where the influence they have is just f**king massive. They have many imitators and many have been inspired by them, but go back and read those, and there are some ideas in those that’ll set your f**king hair on fire.”

The franchise found success enough in the printed form to encourage writer Asimov to make a number of prequels and sequels to the story, which focuses on mathematician “Hari Seldon” as he develops an idea of ‘psychohistory’, which utilises the laws of mass action as a means to predict future events. After predicting the destruction of his world’s current ‘Galactic Empire’ to be followed by a dark age, he seeks to form an empire of his own before it’s too late. At present, it is unknown how far-reaching into the franchise’s book collection the series will delve.

Previously having worked with wife Lisa Joy on Person of Interest and co-writing another new HBO series in Westworld, Nolan will look to continue his relationship with the network and the TV industry in a strong manner, and with the content he is working with, will he also be able to help twist a few viewer’s minds as his brother did with Inception…

Steve Nov 12th, 2014

Trigger Pulled on Franklin & Bash By TNT

TNT have announced the cancellation of their legal comedy-drama Franklin & Bash, with the cable network not pursuing any further episodes of the show.

Having recently ended their fourth season with the cable network, the series was confirmed as having aired its finale (an episode titled “Red or Black”) on 22 October having attracted around 975,000 viewers.

Following 4 annual seasons of 10 episodes each, fans of the series will be left hoping that another network might consider picking up on the stories of Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar starring as best friends who are also legal partners, but episode performances were not a good indication in its 4th run, with the final stretch beginning with a premiere to just under 1.25 million people, a drop of 60% on their previous season opener.

Believed to have been a possible part of the move to cut the show was ex-Fox chairman Kevin Reilly, who has recently been hired by Turner broadcasting to manage both the TNT network and TBS.

Speaking to Deadline, Turner Broadcasting’s president David Levy said of his company’s future intentions for the networks: “We are going to get edgier, we are going to get louder, and we are going to get more dual [male-female], but we also have an existing audience, we have an existing fan base with a lot of our very popular show. It’s an evolution, a bridge-type process that will take place as opposed to a turnaround. You are going to see shows like Legends and Public Morals that are going to bring us on a path to a more edgier type of shows; this is a path we are taking.”

So to retain their core audience but with a particular new ‘edge’, what will Turner be able to come up with regarding content next year? Who could Turner partner with to make it happen?