Television: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Television: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Television (often abbreviated to TV, T.V., or more recently, tv; sometimes called telly, the tube, boob tube, or idiot box in British English) is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. The term may also be used to refer specifically to a television set, programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele (????), far, and Latin vision, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person).

Since it first became commercially available from the late 1930s, the television set has become a common household communications device in homes and institutions, particularly in the first world, as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s, video recordings on VCR tapes and later, digital playback systems such as DVDs, have enabled the television to be used to view recorded movies and other programs.

A television system may be made up of multiple components, so a screen which lacks an internal tuner to receive the broadcast signals is called a monitor rather than a television. A television may be built to receive different broadcast or video formats, such as high- definition television, or preferably referred to as (HDTV). HDTV costs more that normal TV but is becoming more available.

The end of analog television broadcasting

NTSC In North America, the basic signal standards since 1941 have been compatible enough that even the oldest monochrome televisions can still receive color broadcasts in 2007. However, the United States Congress has passed a law which requires the cessation of all conventional television broadcast signals by February 2009. If the law is not changed again, then after that date all NTSC standard televisions, with analog-only tuners, will go dark unless fitted with digital ATSC tuners, and the spectrum previously occupied by those analog channels will be auctioned off by the United States' Federal Communications Commission for other uses. The analog cut-off date has been changed by Congress in the past.

PAL and SECAM PAL and SECAM are expected not to be broadcast in Europe and Eurasia by the mid-2020s. PAL-M may have a similar decommissioning timeline.

The European Union has recommended its members to have closed down analogue terrestrial television by 2012. Luxembourg and the Netherlands had already completed their closedowns in 2006, and Finland and Sweden will have closed down their analogue broadcasts in

2007. Meanwhile, some countries may have difficulties making the 2012 deadline.

Britain started its programme of switching off analogue transmitters in October 2007. At 2am on Wednesday 17 October 2007 the BBC2 transmitter covering the Whitehaven and Copeland areas (NW England) was turned off. The remaining four analogue channels cease broadcasting in the region on Wednesday 14 November. The original five channels will then only be available in digital form, alongside some

15 additional free to air channels.

For the Best Internet and Digital Television has to offer see...

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Reply to
angryspider
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I have NEVER heard it called an 'idiot box' and I live in Britain. That's not to say it SHOULDN'T be called that of course.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

In North America, the basic signal standards since 1941 have been compatible enough that even the oldest monochrome televisions can still receive color broadcasts in 2007. However, the United States Congress has passed a law which requires the cessation of all conventional television broadcast signals by February 2009. If the law is not changed again, then after that date all NTSC standard televisions, with analog-only tuners, will go dark unless fitted with digital ATSC tuners, and the spectrum previously occupied by those analog channels will be auctioned off by the United States' Federal Communications Commission for other uses. The analog cut-off date has been changed by Congress in the past.

The key word here is "broadcast". Analog TVs will continue to work just fine on cable systems.

The people on CNN managed to thoroughly mis-explain this yesterday.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:35:46 +0100, Eeyore put finger to keyboard and composed:

We sometimes call it that in Australia.

- Franc Zabkar

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Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
Reply to
Franc Zabkar

I've heard it called that here in the USA.

Reply to
Michael Kennedy

In article , Eeyore writes

Me neither. It's usually called the Idiot's Lantern, not box.

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(\__/)   Bunny says NO to Windows Vista!
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Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Eeyore hath wroth:

I guess you're culturally deprived. In the colonies, specifically the left coast, I've heard television service and sets called: idiot box vidiot box one eyed idiot vast wasteland glass wasteland commerical-land televoid green screen (from early b&w daze) Hex Hog (in reference to the 6Mhz of occupied bandwidth) zap box bird box (satellite TV set top box) opiate for the masses brain washer sync buzz (disorientation caused by watching too much TV) tele-revision glass wall (in reference to large HDTV) teliot (toilet spelled backwards) (whatever else I forgot...)

There are also some specialized terms, such as: Pain Pour Vous (in reference to Pay Per View) Violence On Demand (in reference to Video On Demand)

There were also some odd mutations for the TV acronym such as: Thought Vacuum Trash Vehicle etc

You might want to correct the Wikipedia article (as I'm too lazy).

No technology is considered successful until it's thoroughly abused. I guess TV is considered successful.

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150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
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Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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