We all watch it every day and take for granted all that it brings but have you ever stopped to ponder for a moment how the actual programming that you see on your TV is created and then delivered to the viewers such as yourself? You might be surprised to learn all the goes into broadcasting your TV programming. Of course it all starts with the program being created and then recorded but after all of that work is done the tape itself is handed over the the broadcaster, who then has the task of sending it out to their family of viewers.
The first thing the the broadcaster must do is to upload the programming to their satellite dish at the broadcasting station. Every channel has a broadcasting station and if it is a program such as CNN they not only send out prerecorded material that is gathered in the field but they also do live broadcasting as well. For this they will have a news room as well as a few other studios on their premises. There are basically two ways that the signal can then be sent out to the subscribers or viewers and that is by analog or digital signal.
An analog signal is the lowest quality signal and that is whet you are getting if you are watching standard format TV with a standard antennae such as rabbit ears that sit on top of the TV set and some cable providers still use it as well. The reason that it is an inferior signal is because the signal can't be cleaned up of all the other static and “debris” that it picks up on its way to your TV the way that a digital signal can. This is why standard analog format TVs have a tuner that is used to isolate the clean signal as best as possible after it arrives at the TV set.
A digital signal is sent out after the signal itself has been converted to a digital code and it is this code that is then sent out to the viewer. After the digital or “coded signal arrives at the viewers satellite dish it can then be “cleaned up” in the receiver that is programmed to only recognize and accept the coded signal. The atmosphere that signals travel in is full of so much static and signal traffic that it is inevitable that more than what is sent to you will arrive and that is why a digital signal produces the best picture and sound available.
Of course now there is the option of receiving high definition programming that is also sent out digitally. However; high definition programming uses a different code system that is far more data intensive, because the digital signal is carrying so much more information. A high definition TV screen has twice the number of pixels in it that are arranged in verticle lines of resolution and these are what produce the picture on the TV screen. Twice the number of pixels does not mean twice the precision and distinction in the picture, because you get six time the resolution in a high definition TV set.
Written by David Johnson. Find more information on
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