Hdtv Essay Research Paper HDTV INTRODUCTIONHigh Definition

Hdtv Essay, Research Paper

HDTV INTRODUCTION:

High Definition Television (HDTV) is quite an example of an international topic that has far reaching effects on the world wide electronics marketplace. HDTV is not simply a new standard for color televisions; it is in fact a doorway to becoming the world leader in setting the standards for; computer screens, laptop flat panel displays, medical imaging displays, automobile interactive displays and of course high definition wide screens. HDTV is as much about sound quality improvements as it is about clarity of the visual screen. However the quest for leadership in the HDTV market has become a saga of near successes, failures and potential winners. The stakes are tremendous. Even if we only concentrate on the television market the expected revenues are in the billions. Today there are an estimated 600 million TV sets in the world. With so much at risk it is not surprising that the interest of many multinational corporations and governments set their sights on capturing the lead in this emerging technological race. The alarming fact is that this race has been going on for more than 30 years.

The consumer electronics industry entered into the 90s eagerly waiting for a new growth stimulus. U.S. annual sales in 1992 for consumer electronics were 33 billion, which only trailed that of Japan (35 billion) and Europe (42 billion). In fact in 1991 television sales accounted for only 7 billion of new sales for the consumer electronics market. Historically, the industry has been driven by major innovations and life cycles of the radio, television, hi-fi and the VCR. The recent introductions of CDs, DAT and camcorders have not measured up to yesteryears major technological breakthroughs.

HDTV HISTORY:

But first lets go back in history to understand some of what transpired in the early adoption of television standards. The 1920s saw the introduction of commercial radio broadcasting. This media form grew consistently right into the 40s when the first black and white television sets began appearing on the market. As quickly as black and white technology was introduced, engineers saw that color transmissions were the ultimate goal of this emerging visual medium. Zenith corporation introduced its first color television set into the U.S. market in 1961 and its price was comparable to that of a new automobile. Interestingly it took the color television 12 years after its introduction to begin outselling black and white sets. If HDTV projections are based upon similar projections it would correspond to an installed base of about $40 billion worldwide by the year 2000. Perhaps more important was the different selections of standards for achieving color broadcasting. Early on, Europe, lead by Britain, adopted the PAL standard while the U.S., in the late 50s, relied upon a committee to establish a new standard. The National Television Systems Committee agreed, in 1957, upon a standard that is still widely used today – apply referred to as the NTSC standard. These standards defined an analog broadcasting scheme that provided 525 lines of resolution for clarity and an aspect ration of 4 units wide by 3 units high. This aspect ration is why existing televisions don.t have the same wide screen appearance that you would normally see in movie theaters.

JAPAN:

The first country to begin to realize the importance in HDTV technology leadership was Japan. The government in Japan viewed the development of the technology industry as a matter of national security. With strong backing from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Japan quickly became the early leader in HDTV technology. MITI.s role was unquestionably a major factor in establishing the encouragement of Japanese firms to concentrate their efforts in this new marketplace. MITI controlled the foreign exchange and had the ability of block both imports and foreign direct investment. This coupled with attractive loans, cooperative programs, extending a twenty six percent permanent tax credit and allowing accelerated depreciation of assets made it irresistible for firms to invest in HDTV. MITI.s desire for research and development lead to the creation of a team of researchers at the Nippon Hoso and Kyokai (NHK). The NHK, was the only national broadcaster in Japan after the war and it had the luxury of steady revenues from a monthly levy assessed on every television set in Japan. It wasn.t until the early 80s though that Japan first started transmitting HDTV signals based upon NHK.s creation of the MUSE decoding scheme. Given the trend that 50 percent of television screens purchased in Japan are 32 inches or longer the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) projects that 40 percent of all Japanese households will own a HDTV set by the year 2000. This represents a market value of $9.6 billion. Unfortunately the global acceptance of MUSE HDTV is not as promising worldwide as some analysts have already dubbed this hybrid digital-analog system obsolete.

EUROPE:

Europe naturally had great fear concerning MUSE HDTV. In 1984 when Japan demonstrated a means for transmitting HDTV, Europe felt vulnerable. HDTV was thought to be the key to dominating the world in consumer electronics and communications technology for the foreseeable future. What ended up being the first blow to Japan was the unilateral rejection of Japan.s standard by Eu