Digital TV Is Better Than Analog TV
On June 12, 2009, television transmissions in the United States switched from analog to digital. Since then, digital television has supplanted analog television as the primary signal as new television models are manufactured and viewers watch and consume more television.
Although the US government has required all analog and low-power television channels to go digital by July 13, 2021, analog television still has a presence through VHS viewers and other analog sources.
Why is there a battle between analogue and digital television? What makes digital television so special? Read below to see the differences between analogue and digital television.
What is analogue and digital television? When trying to compare the differences between analogue and digital television, it is important to see what sets them apart. Here are some properties of analog and digital TV signals.
Analog signals are primarily generated from radio signals: AM radio for video and FM radio for audio. Analog TVs use cathode ray tubes and use more energy than digital TVs.
The primary analog transmission standard is NTSC, which operates on a 60 Hz, 525 line, 60 field, or 30 frame per second system for transmitting and displaying video images.
Because these analog TVs only use analog signals, transmission can be affected by problems such as noise (also known as ghosting and snow), interference, and distorted images, depending on the distance from the TV and geographic location with respect to the signal. Also, the bandwidth gained would be adequate to limit resolution and overall image quality.
Also, analog television is particularly vulnerable to TV signal piracy, where cable signals or TV broadcasts can be hijacked. This resulted in many infamous incidents, such as the Max Headroom Incident.
In contrast to analog television, digital television is transmitted as a computer program with information bits containing ones and zeros. This enables digital processing of high definition (HD) images. While digital TVs may still suffer from the same problems as analog signals, this is less likely and has all but been eliminated.
