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Author Topic: Origins of HDTV; invented in '93, 1st broadcast in '96, reached consumers in '98  (Read 3757 times)

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Offline chrisNova777

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didnt become mainstream/commonplace untill summer of 2004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television

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The first public HDTV broadcast in the United States occurred on July 23, 1996 when the Raleigh, North Carolina television station WRAL-HD began broadcasting from the existing tower of WRAL-TV southeast of Raleigh, winning a race to be first with the HD Model Station in Washington, D.C., which began broadcasting July 31, 1996 with the callsign WHD-TV, based out of the facilities of NBC owned and operated station WRC-TV

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television_in_the_United_States
HDTV sets became available in the U.S. in 1998 and broadcasts began around November 1998. The first public HDTV broadcast was of the launch of the space shuttle Discovery and John Glenn's return to space; that broadcast was made possible in part by the Harris Corporation.[3] The first commercial broadcast of a local sporting event in HD was during Major League Baseball's Opening Day on March 31, 1998, the Texas Rangers against the Chicago White Sox from The Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, TX. The telecast was produced by LIN Productions, and overseen by LIN Productions president and Texas Rangers television executive producer Lee Spieckerman. The game was also the inaugural telecast on the digital channel of Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas NBC affiliate KXAS channel 5. The historic event was simultaneously shown via satellite at a reception attended by members of congress, the FCC and other luminaries in Washington, DC. This telecast was also the first commercial HD broadcast in the state of Texas.[4] The first major sporting event broadcast nationwide in HD was Super Bowl XXXIV on January 30, 2000.

Satellite television companies in the United States, such as Dish Network and DirecTV, started to carry HD programming in 2002.

Offline chrisNova777

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http://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/hdtv.php

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United States
One of the current reasons for the US government's push for digital transmission is the desire to auction off part of the UHF spectrum, channels #52 through #69, for other two way and one way fixed and mobile services. This could include digital mobile TV broadcasting. However, this is not the only reason historically. HDTV had been in development for some years in the US. In the 1980s there was a fear among many in the US that Japanese advances in HDTV would contribute to the further erosion of US leadership in electronics and other high-tech industries, not to mention the defense industry implications of having a high resolution television system. (Japan has since all but abandoned its old MUSE system and has introduced a digital system.) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began soliciting proposals for a new television standard for the US in the late 1980s and later decided to pick a digital standard in 1993. HDTV sets became available in the US in 1998 and broadcasts began around November 1998.
Because HDTV requires more broadcast spectrum for the transition period, it has been the topic of great political controversy in the United States. Stations currently receive a free channel, generally in the UHF range, over which they are to broadcast their digital signal, while still providing analog service. According to FCC rules, all television broadcasting in the United States by current full power broadcasters on channels 2-51 will by the beginning of 2007 be digital, with an escape clause that 85% of the serviced area must be "capable" of receiving digital signals. At the time of analog shutoff, one channel would then be returned to the government for transfer to the new private owner, while the other would have only the digital signal. Current analog TV sets would still work with cable or satellite service or with a converter box that would convert digital OTA signals to analog. As of January 2004, indications from industry and FCC officials including its chairman are that the cutoff date for digital-only broadcasts will not meet the intended 2007 and the actual timeline for analog shutoff in the US will realistically be in the 2010-2015 timeframe.

Of importance is that the FCC has not mandated HDTV signals; it has only mandated that digital TV signals be broadcast. The prevailing expectation, however, is that HDTV during primetime will be the rule. It is not clear whether broadcasting HDTV or multiple standard definition channels during non primetime hours will become common.

As of February 2004, most HDTV sets in the US had the capability to display HDTV signals but not to decode the broadcast. Generally only the more expensive TVs will have an 8-VSB (and often QAM) tuner built-in. Because a large percentage of people in the US receive their television through cable or satellite (particularly those who have the money to spend on an HDTV), and because different cable and satellite systems use different encoding standards, most HDTVs only include standard-definition tuners. This allows the user to purchase or rent a separate tuner to receive HDTV signals. An ATSC receiver can currently be purchased for around $350 in the US, although this is expected to drop sharply as demand increases. Alternately, in the US one can purchase a satellite tuner to receive satellite HD signals, or rent a cable HD tuner to receive cable signals. The situation is similar to UHF tuners, which initially were an aftermarket accessory in the early days when NTSC was initially broadcast only in the VHF range.

To expedite the availability of HD reception, the FCC has ruled that 50% of TV sets with screens of at least 36 inches must have 8-VSB tuners by July 2004, with complete tuner coverage in that size class by July 2005, while the requirement for smaller sets and digital VCRs would be phased in from 2005 to 2007. It is anticipated that the price of tuner hardware will fall as the market enlarges. It should be noted that the FCC also mandated the inclusion of UHF tuners in all NTSC TVs which eventually lead to their being integrated at no marginal cost.

The transition to HDTV in the US has not yet reached critical mass but there is increasing availability of premium as well as freely available terrestrial broadcast HD content. As equipment for HDTV production becomes cheaper and more widespread, this will only accelerate. For example, the US President's State-of-the-Union speech in January 2004 was broadcast using a mixture of HD and a few SD camera signals, which was the first major US news event to see any significant use of HD. On the equipment side, TVs capable of displaying HDTV signals are available as of July 2004 for approximately $400 USD in the direct view CRT market. Standard resolution CRT TV sets are completely extinct in the larger rear-projection CRT units.

Many of the new HDTV's with integrated tuners will include CableCard support. CableCard which has also been named "Digital Cable Ready" will enable cable TV customers to access protected content by receiving a Card from their cable company much like a PCCard for a pc, once this card is installed in the TV the customer will have some of the features of the Cable companies supplied Set Top Box. Unfortunately CableCard only support One Way communications which means that Video On Demand and Pay Per View will not be available. This also means that the Interactive Program Guide that most Digital Cable Customers are used to will have to be supplied by the TV manufacture. Cable Companies started supporting CableCard on July 1st 2004 per the FCC "Plug and Play" agreement. At this time the only CableCard devices are Panasonic TV's. Most major manufactures have announced CableCard products to be released late 2004.

Satellite television companies in the USA, such as Dish Network, started to carry HD programming in 2002. Some cable television companies, such as Comcast, started to do the same in 2003. As of July 2003, HD programming is carried by all major television networks (except Fox which plans to go HD in mid 2004) including ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and The WB as well as other cable/satellite channels including Discovery HD Theater, HBO, HDNet, Showtime HDTV and INHD. Cable and satellite providers typically also offer HDTV pay-per-view movies. The production of HDTV programming is very time consuming. According to PBS, it took 1000 hours to produce a three hour program. As of July 2003, PBS only produces about 10 hours of HD programming per month, while ABC provides the most hours of HD programming per day among other non-cable networks.

Canada
In Canada, on November 22, 2003, CBC had their first broadcast in HD. Bell ExpressVu, a Canadian satellite company has TSN HD and Discovery HD (Canadian Edition). The Canadian Discovery HD Channel has commercials and is sponsored By Franklin Templeton Investments. Other networks are continuing to announce availability of HD signals.