Exploring the implications of the DTV Transition
We’ve all seen the commercials: On February 17th, all full-power TV stations in the U.S. must begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format. Other than making sure our old analog TVs are digital-ready, what does this mean for communications professionals?
First, a primer on the basics of digital television:
- Analog vs. Digital: Analog signals are the original standard for transmitting television, take up a lot of room within their assigned channels and are subject to interference, decreasing audio and picture quality. Digital transmits by computer code, which uses less bandwidth space and allows for higher-quality picture and audio.
- Multicasting: Because digital transmission will give broadcasters more room in their channel space, they will have the ability to broadcast in high-definition or multicast multiple stations within one channel. Some broadcasters are planning to multicast four or more programming choices during the day and then switch to high-definition for prime-time programming.
So what does this mean for communications professionals, advertisers and marketers? Cision Blog asked the National Association of Broadcasters. Our interview is below:
