Convergence in Broadcast and Communications Media

Preface

 

 

There are two key inventions which have brought about this book, and neither of them are new. The digital computer is one of these, and turned from a curiosity into a powerful tool as early as the Second World War. The idea of pulse code modulation (PCM) which allows continuous signals to be handled by digital hardware is even older.

Digital video and audio are another form of data and so the convergence with computers and communications networks has always been inevitable, although it has taken 50 years to become an economic reality.

Now that convergence is a reality, products and systems combining audio, video, data processing and communications are emerging. Without adequate fundamental knowledge of the four core technologies, ...