Communication Technology Update, 10/e, 10th Edition

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DIGITAL TELEVISION

Michel Dupagne, Ph.D. & Peter B. Seel, Ph.D.*

Television broadcasters and viewers in the United States, Japan, and Europe are facing the end of analog terrestrial transmission. In the United States, midnight on February 17, 2009 will mark the end of the digital television (DTV) transition window as defined by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the cessation of analog NTSC television broadcasting (Deficit Reduction Act, 2005). Most primetime U.S. television programming is now simulcast in both analog and digital formats, and almost all commercial terrestrial television stations are now simulcasting this programming to their viewers. In the United States, the rate of consumer adoption is driven by ...