pwkits.org

According to a recent report on TV viewership data gathered by NBC (NY Times, October 17, 2008), free Internet
streaming is the most popular alternative to traditional television, accounting for roughly a quarter of total viewing based on field surveys of their TV episodes. Aside from streaming, paid downloads, VOD (video on demand) and mobile viewing were also assessed but their numbers were insignificant at best. The impressive amount of Internet streaming has indeed cast the writing on the wall for free TV on PC.

Actually, Internet TV is nothing new. It’s just that supporting infrastructure had not been in its favor in the early days. Conditions have advanced by heaps by now: broadband access, power PCs, super-sized storage and open hardware, software and networking. On top of it, internet user base volume has also long surpassed the critical mass level. The web is clearly rich for the picking by many an industry, not least Television.

Different kinds of television are distributed over the internet nowadays and the few most notable ones are Internet TV (ITV), Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), Broadband TV and User Generated Content TV (UGC TV). To broadly distinguish among themselves; ITV is free open-format video streaming, IPTV is closed and usually require set-top boxes governed under pay-per-view or subscription structure, Broadband TV is much like ITV with extended real-time interactive capabilities such as messaging, on-demand media, images and UGC TV are basically free-style individual short clips such as the immensely popular YouTube. Read the rest of this entry »

HDTV is high definition television and it can make a huge difference in your television viewing experience. Most consumers describe the HDTV experience as being closer to watching a movie in the theater than watching a standard television set in their living room. HDTV offers a digital picture with a higher resolution than normal television screens resulting in a clearer, crisper picture. It also offers the ability to watch wide-screen movies and programs without the annoying black bars that your regular television displays(you know, the ones your mom won’t stop complaining about). It is the way the movie directors intended you to watch their films.

With your current regular color television, waves are scanned at 480i. This means that at any given time there are 480 lines of a picture being sent to your television screen by your service provider. Odd lines are displayed, followed by even lines. The change happens so quickly, the human eye believes you are seeing one big picture. With the introduction of HDTV, there are more lines transmitted (at either more than double interlaced or progressively) giving us a higher resolution and better quality picture. For an image to be HD it must have 720 lines at a minimum. HDTV is also fully digital and you won’t need to worry about the analog to digital switchover in February of 2009. Upgrading now to an HDTV will give you years of entertainment(as long as there’s something worth watching on TV, if not there are movie channels and reruns of Battlestar Galactica).

In order to enjoy the HDTV experience, you will need to introduce a few things to your home. To get started, you need:

1. A High Definition Television set with the smallest resolution a minimum of 720. If this isn’t the case the TV is only “HD Compatible”. That means it’ll downgrade an HD signal to a normal signal and that’s not what you want. High Definition television sets are available at most consumer electronic stores and online stores and they are becoming increasingly more affordable for the public. These sets are the first step in obtaining a clearer, picture that provides an experience similar to being at the football game, movie theater, boxing match, etc.
2. An HD source like satellite TV service, cable or antenna. Even with an HDTV, you may not notice any difference in normal channels. The channel must be broadcast in high definition in order to see the advanced quality in picture. Read the rest of this entry »