Brief History of TV in the UK and abroad?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1146543.stm
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Television_Time_3.htm
http://www.hometechanswers.com/video/standards.html
http://www.dstvo.com/2010/11/the-evolution-of-tv/
The first ever sign of broadcasting was created by Guglielmo Marconi an Italian entrepreneur in 1901. His wireless transmitted the first radio waves across the curvature of the earth. It was soon after possible to transmit radio waves from one country to another. In 1922 The BBC began its daily transmissions and soon became a social and cultural phenomenon in the UK. Television came a lot long after radio broadcasting. There is said to be evidence of a Scottish inventor called John Logie Baird. His first efforts of a television were ones of simplicity, made from a washstand and tea chest housing a projection lamp and scanning discs cut from cycle lenses. Held together with scrap wood, darning needles, string and sealing wax, it was a far cry from the huge, wide-screen, multi-channel TVs on sale today. There is a debate as to who actually invented television. However, the US, UK, Japan, Russia, France, Germany and Eastern Europe all have a claim that John Logie Baird definitely made the world's first broadcast. Baird also established that it was possible to broadcast moving images and demonstrated it at London’s Royal Institute in 1926 by using a now out-dated mechanical TV. Due to that demonstration the BBC’s television public service began in 1932 on the 22nd of August. Then in 1935 there were around 2000 Baird televisions in use that cost £100 per set. Sadly Baird’s 30-line mechanical television service was closed down to make way for new technology. Baird’s invention was replaced the following year with the high-definition electronic Marconi/EMI service which then caused prices to dramatically drop. Although there was a television demonstration made in London by Baird. The first ever large scale TV demonstration over 25,000 people came over the duration of three weeks and went to watch NBC programs from New York and local shows sent out by Philco’s Philadelphia station. In 1940, Peter Goldmark invented 343 lines of resolution colour television system. Then in 1943 Vladimir Zworkin developed a new camera tube called the Orthicon. The difference being that it was able to record outdoor events at night due to the good amount of light sensitivity. Peter Goldmark, working for CBS, demonstrated his colour television system to the FCC. His system produced color pictures by having a red-blue-green wheel spin in front of a cathode ray tube. This mechanical means of producing a colour picture was used in 1949 to broadcast medical procedures from Pennsylvania and Atlantic City hospitals. In Atlantic City, viewers could come to the convention center to see broadcasts of operations. Reports from the time noted that the realism of seeing surgery in colour caused more than a few viewers to faint.In 1945, an electronics company (RCA) held a demonstration of a new TV offering a sharper image then any other at the time.
Most countries around the World use one of three main Video Broadcast Standards. These three main standards are NTSC - PAL and SECAM. However, each standard is incompatible with the other. For example, a video recording made in the UK could not be played on US standard VCR's or shown on the TV. The reason for this is that the UK Video Standard is PAL whereas the US Video Standard is NTSC. The first colour TV broadcast system was put in to practice in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC - National Television System Committee standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries. NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame. The PAL - Phase Alternating Line standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most European countries except for France. The PAL standard utilises a wider channelbandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame. The SECAM - Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Colour with Memory standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the colour information sequentially.
SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame.
Television has changed a lot over the years, public interaction has become essential to live events and reality TV shows. Text message voting now plays a key role in making shows more interesting in which it gains more viewers. Teleision has changed from being more passivley viwed to the audience becoming more engaged with the show and also having chances to participate in them too. For example in quiz shows people can now ring up to answer questions which would then result in them maybe winning a prize and overall it makes the whole consumption of television for both the viewers watching and also the ones taking part. South Africa has unfortunately been slow in following the high-levels of broadband growth when compared to other markets. In mainstream countries in which are usually associated with being ahead in technology have begun to improve the consumers experiance even more ways other then texting and phoning in. Users now have a wider range of choices, with the ability to communicate not only with the show, but also their social network around the video content. The advent of broadband video delivery, means that traditional television will evolve from just waiting for your favourite show to come on, to an experience that is on-demand, fully interactive, highly convenient and time saving. To even further enthasise the wide range of being able to view television shows it is also now possible to view online when you like as well, due to the websites set up by broascating companies for audiences to catch up on shows that they have missed.
How has the digital world changed the way we consume and create TV?
Television has came along way from just being viewed on one device. Nowadays there are lots of ways anyone can watch TV either portably or at home. In the digital world it is now possible to watch films on games consoles such as the 'PS3' which can also connect to the internet and become available for internet browsing. Another form of technology is on your mobile phone, a phone brand and make in particular would have to be the Nokia n82 in which BBC iplayer has been edited in to the software so people can watch television whenever they want, where ever they want. Because of websites such as BBC iplayer, channel 4 catch up and ITV player. it is now possible to watch any television progammes what the public may have missed.Which is like i said now being installed to other digital devices such as mobile phones and televisions.
Before digital cameras came along, Video cameras had the tendancy to have the outcome of a blurry picture and would also lack quality of sound. A video camera would be required to be set up manually as oposed to the digital camera were everything is more or less automatic. Also with digital cameras you can review your recordings right away and delete any that are of bad quality. You can also make adjustments to your camera so the rest of your recordings turn out exactly how you want them. Whereas with video cameras you could only find out the quality of the recording by removing the tape and watching it on a television showing that the digital camera like i already said allows you to instantly view what you have preciously recorded making it more time consuming and practical.
Today's digital world allows us to alter reality and improve on a less than perfect picture. In my opinion editing has improved the digitial world dramatically. Fair enough that digital cameras have lots of technical accessories in order to make the outcome near to perfect already. However, with editing equipment you can change mostly anything you dont like about the recordings in which can be corrected and changed dramatically with all of the editing software which exists today virtually everything is possible and can be of use in the comforts of your own home.
Have online videos lowered the standards of television production?
Online videos have over time inspired and encouraged a range of people coming from all different backgrounds. However, certain illegal backgrounds create certain websites in which you can watch almost any film or television show ever created. People tend to illegally record in cinemas and the majority of the time the films lack quality. However, people enjoy watching films for free. No one would say no to a free film as opposed to buying the DVD because that's what everyone's inititive tells them, no one likes spending money. Because the free films that are shown online are not always of a very good quality I think it has overall not lowered the standards of television production. Firstly my reason would be that the film maker did already have a film made of a very professional quality after all it was the illegal downloader that re-recorded the actual films. It is up to the viewer to work out whether it lowers the standards to the origanl film. In my opinion, whilst watching a free film online, i do not expect a decent quality film how ever i did appreciate the fact that i didn't have to pay for the DVD and i think most viewers will agree rather then taking in to account that it's essentially killing the film industry. From working class adults to school children it is now possible for almost everyone to upload their own videos online as well as watch them. One website in particular that makes this possible for the nation is 'Youtube.' This social networking site allows almost anyone to create videos, blogs and their own accounts in order to express their own creativity in hope that other people will watch in enjoyment. However, the standards of these videos are not always of a very good quality but are reasonably clear to watch and enjoy. Because I myself are an audience member of 'Youtube' i have taken it upon myself to say that in my opinion i do not watch 'Youtube clips' and expect a good standard quality of recording, i watch them for my own entertainment and sometimes think that the lack of quality in a number of the videos work really well. The reason for the lack of quality in a number of the 'Youtube' clips is that people from all different countries and backgrounds upload videos and obviously they all have different recording devices, whether it's a mobile phone with a video camera or a webcam it doesn't matter because the main enjoyment is the contents of the video not the quality. However, not every 'Youtube clip' lacks quality because the clips have been uploaded either as a domestic production or sometimes shot proffessionally on HD recording equipment, there are many different recording devices all in which record in different qualities. 'Youtube' has already been used as a content for a television show called 'Rudetube' shown on channel 4.
This particular shows aim is to play a carefully publicly selected number of 'Youtube Clips'in order for the people watching at home to vote for their favourite video clip. In all honesty i think it shows that the quality of the recording does not matter as much as the entertainment level for this type of show as the audience is already familar with the mainstream social networking site and they already know that not every video clip will be perfectly clear in both through picture or sound and instead look at it as a form of entertainment. Because i have witnessed an online video being aired on a television show, therefore the technologies have been mixed stating that online videos have not lowered the standards of television production because otherwise the video clips from online would not be shown on television.
