| DIGITAL TELEVISION
Digital television (DTV) in Australia uses digital modulation and compression to broadcast video, audio and data signals to television sets.
Digital television can be used to carry more channels in the same amount of bandwidth than analog TV and to receive high-definition programming.
The digital signal eliminates common analog broadcasting artifacts such as "ghosting", "snow", and static noises in audio. However, when the signal is transmitted at a too low data rate Digital TV replaces these artifacts with new MPEG compression artifacts, such as "blocking", and may fail to work entirely in situations where analog television would have produced an impaired but watchable picture.
Depending on the sophistication and level of the error correction defined by the technical standard that the broadcaster complies with, Digital TV may either work perfectly or not work at all.
Where to Buy Digital TV?
Digital TVs are available to buy in Australia at most consumer electronic and department / retail stores. They can also be sourced from some online shops / stores.
Examples of stores that sell Digital Televisions in Australia include:
Target,
Kmart
Harvey Norman,
David Jones
Digital Set Top Boxes
The above locations will also sell Digital Set Top Boxes for using digital television on your standard AV set. A Digital Set Top Box will give you digital TV on a budget with prices ranging from around AUD$70 upwards. All Set Top Boxes give you digital TV channels.
Where to Buy Digital TV equipment and accessories for computers / PC's ?
Digital TV equipment such as PC cards or external USB digital TV decoders can be bought at many PC / computer retail and department stores as well as online.
Examples of retailers that sell digital TV PC equipment include:
Harvey Norman,
Buyquick.com.au,
Gamespot.com.au
What does free-to-air digital television offer ?
The four key offerings of free-to-air digital television are Sharper Pictures (including some programs in High Definition), Clearer Sound (including some programs with Dolby Digital), Widesceen Programs and Extra Channels.
How do I receive free-to-air digital television?
There are two ways for you to receive digital television.
- connect your antenna RF cable to a digital television receiver set-top box then connecting the set-top box to your current analog television screen using standard AV cables
- connecting your antenna RF cable to an integrated digital television
Prices for digital television set top boxes range from around $70 to $1,200. Prices of integrated digital televisions start at around $1,300 Australian.
When will free-to-air digital television be available in my area?
The free-to-air broadcasters are now transmitting their digital television services in all Australian capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra & Darwin) and a number of major regional areas, 24/7.
Do I need to upgrade my antenna system?
If your current antenna is fairly new and in good condition it should be able to receive all the digital channels available in your area. But if after acquiring your new digital television receiver you are experiencing interference problems, you may need to install better cables or even a better antenna.
When will analog television be switched off?
The Australian Parliament has determined that there is to be a simulcast period of eight years (or longer where prescribed) during which broadcasters are to transmit their television programs in both analog and digital mode.
Effectively this means analog television transmissions will not be switched off before 31 December 2008 in mainland metropolitan markets and not before eight years have passed since the introduction of digital television in other markets.
Big Screen TV
Modern advances have brought flat panels to TV that use active matrix LCD or plasma display technology. Flat panel LCDs and plasma displays are as little as 4in (10cm) thick and can be hung on a wall like a picture or put over a pedestal. They are multifunctional, because they are used like computer monitors too (VGA and DVI or HDMI connections).
Some TVs integrate a pair of ports to connect computer cases and peripherals to it or to connect the set to an A/V home network (HAVI) (USB port for cord connection and Bluetooth/WiFi for wireless).
Today, some LCD and Plasma sets have SD Card slots, so users can view pictures from a digital camera. On the new Panasonic LCDs and Plasmas (Viera), users have the capability to record onto SD card and then play it back on a hand-held PC or digital camera (anything that allows MPEG4). With SD cards now available with 1G of memory (soon 2GB, and Panasonic is also working on one that contains over 30GB of memory), a user can record over 1,000 minutes at low quality, and around 80 minutes on the highest quality. The playback of the recording is not brilliant, but these are the first generation. They will get better with time.
Manufacturers of Big Screen TVs include: Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Sanyo, Philips, Panasonic.
Plasma TV, Plasma Television
A plasma display is an emissive flat panel display where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass. The gas discharge contains no mercury, a mixture of noble gases (neon and xenon) is used instead. This gas mixture is inert and entirely harmless.
Screen sizes have increased since the 21 inch display in 1992. The largest Plasma display in the world was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2006. It measured 103" and was made by Matsushita Electrical Industries (Panasonic).
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