Plain-talking intro to television's newest technology. Digital Television Fundamentals, Second Edition, by Michael Robin and Michel Poulin, is the ideal guide for everyone who deals with digital video production or equipment design - or who just wants to know how this new phenomenon works. Fully detailed and heavily illustrated, this easy-reading reference covers it all--from video and audio fundamentals...to bit-serial distribution and ancillary data multiplexing...to digital signal compression and distribution methods of coding and decoding. In this edition you'll find: multimedia television treatment covering technologies, hardware, systems, workstations, A/V signal processing, disk storage, servers, cameras, VCRs, CD-ROM, DVI--plus interconnections, multimedia software, systems, and applications and standardization activities; late-breaking information on the DTV standard and how it affects broadcasting equipment and operations; a focus on the importance of relevant SMPTE and CCIR-ITU standards; details on digital/analog equipment compatibility issues; much more!

On February 17, 2009, analog television broadcasting in the United States will end. As of that date, all television stations will switch to digital TV broadcasts -- effectively making obsolete every analog television set in the country. What do you need to do to keep watching television after the switch to digital? Do you need to buy a new television set? If so, what kind of set? Do you need a fancy high definition TV? Or is there a way to make your old TV still work with the new digital broadcasts? Should you switch to cable or satellite television? And what is digital television, anyway? These are just a few of the questions people are asking as the switch to digital TV approaches. All of these questions and more are answered in this short book. Don't be one of the tens of millions of people who are confused about the switch to digital TV and may lose their broadcast signal on February 17! Buy this book and take the guesswork out of the switch to digital TV! What you can learn in this book - o What is the difference is between Digital TV and HDTV o How to switch your analog antenna reception to digital o What you need to do if you are a cable, DSL or satellite subscriber o How to connect a digital converter box o Tips on shopping for a new digital TV o Great solutions to your digital TV problems

Digital television (DTV) is a new television service representing the most significant development in television technology since the advent of color television in the 1950s. DTV can provide sharper pictures, a wider screen, CD-quality sound, better color rendition, and other new services currently being developed. A successful deployment of DTV requires: the development by content providers of compelling digital programming; the delivery of digital signals to consumers by broadcast television stations, as well as cable and satellite television systems; and the widespread purchase and adoption by consumers of digital television equipment. A key issue in the Congressional debate over the digital transition has been addressing the millions of American over-the-air households whose existing analog televisions will require converter boxes in order to receive digital signals when the analog signal is turned off.