Televisions

Archive for February, 2010

It is very contradictory for the network to host shows like Family Guy, and then still promote a strong conservative news basis with Hanity and O’Riley. Fox has always been an edgy network in comparison to NBC or CBS, like Married With Children, In Living Color, even the Simpson’s were stretching the envelope. These are all shows absent of moral behavior (yet very entertaining), and typically inconsistent with their conservative views. I remember a Simpson’s episode years ago said that the FCC is a Republican contributor, and by having "risky" Television broadcast on Fox feeds funds back to the FCC in fines and penalties. I imagine that was a joke, or is it true? Is the FCC even allowed to provide campaign funds? Anyhow just curious if anyone has the answer.

Their ‘news’ division panders to those frightened individuals that think the world is going to end in 2012 and that the Democrats will be behind it. Their ‘entertainment’ division appears to be targeted at the opposite demographic. Best of both worlds = Lots of $$$$$$$$ for Rupert.

I hear people say that it’s to "free up that particular frequency for other uses". I don’t see this working because the signal may be digital when it hits your television, but the signal still has to be sent through the air in analogue. Is that the real purpose of the switch or is it something else. Supposedly the quality goes up when digital is used, but other than that I can’t see any real benefit.

What is this switch to digital really trying to accomplish?

Television signals are not on a single frequency. They are Frequency modulated signals. Like FM radio. When you tune into an FM station you are tuning to the center frequency. The actual signal is a bandwidth of frequencies above and below that center freq. So with digital you can narrow that bandwidth to carry the same amount of information. Digital will not free up a particular freq. but reduce the bandwidth needed. This allows for the frequencies associated with a certain channel to be used.

Is this only possible with newer Televisions? I have an older Panasonic, its huge, not flat screen.

Depends on the particular model TV. I’ll assume it’s a standard-definition TV (non-HD).
If your computer can output S-video, then you will be able to. Use a S-video cable to connect your computer to your TV’s S-video input, and if it doesn’t have S-video, get a S-video to composite video adapter or cable to plug it into the standard composite video connection.

If your computer only outputs VGA, then you’ll need a VGA to S-video/composite transcoder box. Note that these are fairly expensive, and may not be worth it considering the fact that on non-HD ready analog TVs and standard-def TVs, the resolution is very limited (about the equivalent of 640×480).