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Within the next six years, there is going to be a big change in media and broadcasting. Almost all the developed countries of the world will switch to digital television system.From February 17, 2009 USA will stop their analog broadcasting.  If you are living in  USA, UK  or any other  western countries  you should  find  out about digital television system.  In this post, you  will get the basic information about digital television.

Digital television: what is it?

Digital television receives pictures and sound in terms of digital signals.

Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a standard receiver with a set-top box, or a PC fitted with a television card. Introduced in the late 1990s, this technology appealed to the television broadcasting business and consumer electronics industries as offering new financial opportunities.

(Wikipedia)

What is the benefit?

The major benefit is that people will have better picture and sound quality. 

Switching to digital broadcasting will also increase the broadcasting capability. It will enable more television channels, more radio stations and internet services.

In the present day analog system, one broadcasting station can broadcast only one program at a time. Switching to digital television will enable the broadcasting centers provide more programs through one channel.

DTV has several advantages over traditional, analog TV, the most significant being that digital channels take up less bandwidth (and the bandwidth needs are continuously variable, at a corresponding cost in image quality depending on the level of compression). This means that digital broadcasters can provide more digital channels in the same space, provide High-definition 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. In many cases, viewers perceive DTV to have superior picture quality, improved audio quality, and easier reception than analog. (Wikipedia)

Digital Television in USA:

In USA, half of the television owners are using digital televisions. In 2008, 32 million digital televisions will be sold. The Federal court of USA declared that all television sets produced from March of 2007 will have digital tuners.

The analog television users will require digital-to-analog converters to watch programs broadcast in digital format. For more information you need to contact your near by government office. Television owners of USA will be able to get their converters through government permitted retailers. Chicago Tribune reports:

The federal government doesn't usually give things away, but starting Tuesday broadcast TV watchers can apply for a gift that could keep their sets from going dark in 2009.

Via a toll-free hot line and Web site the Commerce Department will begin accepting applications for coupons worth $40 off a no-frills converter box to allow older televisions to receive digital broadcast signals.

"We are open for business Jan. 1," said Bart Forbes, a spokesman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department agency running the program.

For more information, visit the following links:

http://www.dtv.gov/whatisdtv.html

http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html

If you are subscribing any cable service you should contact with them if you are required to buy any machine to watch the television programs.

Useful Links:

http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080101/NEWS/801010398/-1/NEWS

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/12/31/daily4.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue_converter_0101jan01,0,587726.story?coll=chi-news-hed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_television

http://www.dtv.gov/