Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals Digital television supports many different

picture formats defined by the broadcast television systems which are a combination of size, aspect ratio (width to height ratio). With digital terrestrial television (DTV) broadcasting, the range of formats can be broadly divided into two categories: high definition television (HDTV) for the transmission of high-definition video and standarddefinition television (SDTV). These terms by themselves are not very precise, and many subtle intermediate cases exist. There are a number of different ways to receive digital television. One of the oldest means of receiving DTV (and TV in general) is using anantenna (television) (known as an aerial in some countries). This way is known as Digital terrestrial television (DTT). With DTT, viewers are limited to whatever channels the antenna picks up. Signal quality will also vary. Other ways have been devised to receive digital television. Among the most familiar to people are digital cable and digital satellite. In some countries where transmissions of TV signals are normally achieved by microwaves, digital MMDS is used. Other standards, such as Digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) and DVB-H, have been devised to allow handheld devices such as mobile phones to receive TV signals. Another way is IPTV, that is receiving TV via Internet Protocol, relying on Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or optical cable line. Finally, an alternative way is to receive digital TV signals via the open Internet. For example, there is P2P (peer-to-peer) Internet television software that can be used to watch TV on a computer. Some signals carry encryption and specify use conditions (such as "may not be recorded" or "may not be viewed on displays larger than 1 m in diagonal measure") backed up with the force of law under the WIPO Copyright Treaty and national legislation implementing it, such as the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Access to encrypted channels can be controlled by a removable smart card, for example via the Common Interface (DVB-CI) standard for Europe and via Point Of Deployment (POD) for IS or named differently CableCard.

[edit]Comparison

analog vs digital

DTV has several advantages over analog TV, the most significant being that digital channels take up less bandwidth, and the bandwidth needs are continuously variable, at a corresponding reduction in image quality depending on the level of compression as well as the resolution of the transmitted image. This means that digital broadcasters can provide more digital channels in the same space, provide highdefinition television service, or provide other non-television services such as multimedia or interactivity. DTV also permits special services such as multiplexing (more than one program on the same channel), electronic program guides and additional languages (spoken or subtitled). The sale of non-television services may provide an additional revenue source. Digital signals react differently to interference than analog signals. For example, common problems with analog television include ghosting of images, noise from weak signals, and many other potential problems

which degrade the quality of the image and sound, although the program material may still be watchable. With digital television, the audio and video must be synchronized digitally, so reception of the digital signal must be very nearly complete; otherwise, neither audio nor video will be usable. Short of this complete failure, "blocky" video is seen when the digital signal experiences interference.

Re: Difference between analog and digital TV

Analog TVs use a continuously variable video signal. The video signals (encoded as separate color and luminance) are modulated with the audio signals on individual channels. Digital TVs use a binary-based system that requires each frame to be downloaded before it is displayed. The video signals are encoded and modulated as radio waves with the audio signals on individual channels, which may also have subchannels. Analog TV signals are directly compatible with CRT-type displays (TVs with picture tubes). They "drive" the electron guns, which fire at the phosphor dots on the back of the screen, causing light of a certain color to glow. Digital TV signals are directly compatible with other types of displays that use fixed-pixel technology, including LCD, LED-backlit LCD, plasma, LCD projection, DLP projection, and LCoS projection. The video file is uncompressed and the data controls the color of each individual pixel.
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Digital television in the Philippines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the Philippines, Digital television broadcasts can be received through digital cable and direct broadcast satellite. Digital terrestrial television (DTT) services are currently in development by the major broadcasting companies of the Philippines. Currently using the American NTSC standard for analog television, the National Telecommunications Commission officially announced in June 2010 that DTT in the Philippines would utilize the Japanese ISDBT standard, and issued a circular stating that the country's broadcasters must discontinue their analog services by the transition deadline of 11:59 p.m. (Philippine Standard Time, UTC+8) on December 31, 2015. The commission will be using the ultra-high frequency television channels from 14 to 51 between 470-698 megahertz for digital terrestrial television broadcast service and deliberating channels 14 to 20 (470-512 Mhz) which is currently being used for fixed/mobile services.[1]However, before the official announcement, several broadcasters performed trial broadcasts using DVB-T.

Preparation for the transition to digital television commenced with an issuance of Executive Order 546, series of 1979 and Republic Act 3846 or the Radio Control Law as amended by the local governing body for broadcast services, the National Telecommunications Commission(NTC) and adopted the said order to promulgate rules and regulations in order to facilitate the entry of digital broadcast services in the Philippines and implement a specific standard for the delivery of DTT services. Subsequently organizing two technical working groups for the purpose of directing the governing body in the selection of appropriate DTT standard and upon the commendation of investors in the broadcast business, comprising the local broadcasters group, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the NTC issued Memorandum Circular 02-06-2010 on June 11, 2010 implementing the standard for digital terrestrial television broadcast service.[2]

Part 4) Simple Block Diagram of digital receiver.

Some observations on the afforementioned diagram: DAC = Digital-to-analogue converter ADC = Analogue-to-digital converter The video encoder typically contains 4 or more DACs which run at video rates & quality. This infers 8 bit video DAC's (not cheap). 3 are needed for RGB; another is needed for composite video out (PAL or SECAM). Some use 10 bit

DAC's & the difference *may* be visible by viewing sharp transitions like black to white -hint : have a look at the On Screen Display if you want to try to spot this effect. I have not included the conditional access module for simplicity. See section 5 for more detail on this (including a diagram). Complex IC's are needed for many of these blocks. A qpsk demodulator/ADC/Viterbi decoder can easily cost around $7-$13 in manufacturers volumes! The mpeg transport demultiplexer & decoders cost even more!I haven't included the CPU & memory (usually around 1-3Meg. is needed & some of this may be fast,expensive SRAM). Perhaps you can now see why the digital receivers cost a lot more than the analogue ones!!! It's worth noting that on Astra,a Network Information Table (NIT) is transmitted every 10 seconds on every DVB/mpeg transponder. The information sent includes the FEC,S/R,frequencies etc.