High-definition was already used as a term back in the thirties
Back in the thirties many already talked about high-definition. Now we want the perfect image and sound quality, but back then they believed that the British 405-line black-and-white system was HD. The TV was introduced in 1936 and the first to be used in regular broadcasting. After the BBC introduced the service back in the late thirties the people had to wait until the end of the World War II. When everyone enjoyed the end of the war the 405-line remained operational until 1985. After the success of the 405-line system, Americans decided to come with their own version called the 525-line NTSC system. The British 405 and American 525 TV systems were only high-definition because many compared these two with previous mechanical and electronic televisions.
Being part of the BDA asks for a big wallet
There are different membership levels and every level comes at a price. Before you become part of the Blu-ray Disc Association you need to be able to drop some cash. If you want to share your view with the Board of Directors you’ll need to prove you can handle the $50,000 annual fee. After you are welcomed by your fellow directors you can start discussing about the association’s key strategy. If these kinds of funds aren’t anywhere near you try becoming a ‘contributor’. You are then welcomed at general seminars and meetings, but won’t decide anything. Of course the $20,000 price tag opens some doors, but I would suggest to spend your hard-earned cash carefully and become a $3,000 paying ‘general member’... You will then attain specific information about the last committee’s discussions and participate in a specific regional promotional team. Now I see you thinking, a promotional team? Yes, you are running around as a promoter and this time it will even cost you. We all know those days as a student or young, active man where you attain to your first side jobs. For a few bucks you give away samples and smile from ‘9 to 5’, as a promoter. To do promotions at the BDA you need to pay three thousand bucks... An expensive group you won’t get in easily.
You can make Blu-ray discs with corn
Back in 2004 Pioneer announced this astonishing news. The company made a next-gen disc from a corn starch. Positive points are of course the disc’s environmental plusses. A disc that’s made from a corn starch is totally biodegradable when buried underground. As a journalist back then said it: ‘And it’s loved by bacteria.’ The Blu-ray discs that are created from corn offered a capacity that’s about five times bigger than a DVD’s capacity. Back then Pioneer said that these developments could lower the price of a Blu-ray disc, but at this point we aren’t seeing anything changing price-wise. It’s funny to see that economical discussions around the format still exist.
The first HDTV set was sold in 1998 in the United States
The first HDTV sets were sold in 1998, and these models are basically the first models we can compare with the current one. In the ‘90s an alliance called the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance introduced the technology in the States. This alliance consisted of a group of television companies and CBS started broadcasting in HD with WCBS-HD. After the company made its first demos they started evaluating the technology. By 1998 the first HDTV set was for sale and a rise of popularity started.
HDTV broadcasting systems are defined by three things...
The number of lines in the vertical display resolution, the scanning system (progressive vs. interlaced) and the number of frames per second.
Soviets created first high-resolution television system
Back in 1958 Soviets created the first high-resolution television system in the U.S.S.R. They named it the Transformator and it was capable of producing an image composed of 1,125 lines. This system was mainly used by the military during their briefings or at military conferences.
The best possible HD quality is usually not achieved
In theory you should easily get the high-definition quality in your house, but in practice many operators do not follow HDTV specifications fully. For example an operator uses slower bitrates or lower resolution to pack more channels in the limited bandwidth. Besides this we’ve seen examples of operators using a format that’s different from the original programming. During re-encoding you could lose some quality.
Brazilians enjoy high-definition with help from Japanese
Some countries need help with this technology. In December 2007 Brazil started its HDTV transmissions with a Japanese standard. The ISDB-T was used to start broadcasting in Brazil, but HDTV receivers were way too expensive back then ($ 600). The Brazilian president told more about the technology in a speech on national television. Many are still curious if other South-American countries will follow Brazil’s lead in the near future.
Consumers are confused because of the different standards and resolutions
It must be something we will see more and more in the near future. Creating confusion among consumers with terms like 1080i, 1080p and 720p. Another complicating thing concerning high-definition is the change from component video, to DVI and then to HDMI. Changing terms and similarities in terms make it hard to understand today’s theories about high-definition.
Until the early 2000s the technology didn’t offer sufficient storage capacity
It took a long time before the technology offered sufficient storage capacity. In the early 2000s HDTVs delivered sufficient storage capacity. Besides delivering sufficient storage the HDTVs started becoming affordable for consumers and profitable for broadcasters in this decade.
