Developing Technologies in the TV and Film Industries

3DTV Current developments
A 3D television (3DTV) is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field. 3D TV is layers of video, layered on to of eachother to create and effect that fools the human eye into thinking there is 3 dimensions infront of it. This "3D" effect makes television seem more realistic. 3D television has not taken off yet and I think this is because on most of them you need glasses, so for this reason I wouldn't buy one just yet until the price drops.

Video Explaination Below;

Satellite

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellite tuner module built into a TV set. In the UK we have a satellite dish on the outsides of our house and this is pointing to the satellite in the sky, this is then connected to a external sky box. Sky company broadcast all of their channels using this method.

Cable

Cable television is provided to subscribers property through underground cables. FM radio programming, high speed internet, telephony and similar non-television services can also be provided by cable. Some subscriber based companies such as Virgin Media broadcast their television by cable. To have cable television a antenna is required.

Video Explaination Below;

Analogue
In many places all over the world what is known as the digital switch over has happened. This is where television originated from, when there were approximatly only 5 channels before the digital switch over. Not everywhere has taken in the digital switch over and still use analogue television, however the digital switch over is expected to be completed all over the world by the end 2012 - begining of 2013.

Digital
Analogue television is recorded at 30 frames per second (fps), whereas digital is recorded at 60 frames per second. These frames are basically seperate pictures being taken per second and are then placed in lines to form a 1 second of video. Many of these shots are produced to make a full movie. So as you can imagine the more frames per second the video is recorded in the sharper detail the video has.

The picture below supports my explanation:

Film-based
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. The visual scenes may be either dynamic or static. An example of CGI would be Star Wars, as it has characters that do not exist in real life, but are made to look extremely realistic and alive through the use of CGI. A lot of CGI is used on the basis of a green screen and it is human acting edited to make a realistic special effect. CGI is used in lots of cartoon films as they can use this to create virtual characters which are not real, therefore this means there is no end to what can be achieved as a character.

Interactive
To be truly interactive, the viewer must be able to alter the viewing experience (e.g. choose which angle to watch a football match), or return information to the broadcaster. The most obvious example of this would be any kind of real-time voting on the screen, in which audience votes create decisions that are reflected in how the show continues. An example of a time when I have witnessed this would be the X Factor, this would be because the public have to ring or text a specific number to keep a specific contestent in the running to win the show.

Internet
Internet television is becoming a big part of everyday life as people such as me now watch television on iPads, iPods etc, using Sky Go as an example of one of these services now known as apps. Internet television has also recevied growth by catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer, 4OD and Youtube. People with a busy lifestyle have facilities such as BBC iPlayer which provides a catch up service, personally I use this a lot as I miss quite a lot of programmes when I go to the gym. I really think facilities like BBC iPlayer are a very positive thing because it means I do not miss out.

High Definition

High Definition (HD) has grown a lot as it simply increases the aspect ratio of the video creates finer pixels which then creates a higher quality video or image. The higher the 'p' of the television the greater the clarity of the video for example, 360p is standard, now television are able to be made at 1080p and 720p in which these are both HD. I think HD television is worth the extra £10 a month because I pay it and see a very big difference when watching sports such as Football and Golf. When watching Golf they do a slow-motion camera of the golfer hiting the ball, when this is in HD it allows you to see every blade of grass.

Streaming Content

Often when watching content on the internet it is a constant stream, such as watching live sport from peer 2 peer websites. These websites are illegal many people still share files which would normally cost money on pay per view or seperately paid for channels such as ESPN for free.

On-Demand Viewing

Lots of people do not watch programmes first time round as they know that they can catch up on demand channels such as Channel 4OD. Video on Demand (VOD) or Audio and Video On Demand (AVOD) are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand. IPTV technology is often used to bring video on demand to televisions and personal computers.

Digital Recorders

In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure. Digital recorders are similar to subscriber boxes such as Sky and Virgin, because they have storage space on them in which you can record programmes on to, to watch another time. It also has the features of pausing and rewinding live television also like the subscriber boxes.


Pay per view
Often sporting events are placed on pay-per-view as they are a one off event and also broadcasted live worldwide. Pay-per-view events are purchased on a basis that the consumer pays for a certain amount of viewer time on a premium channel. Subscriber companies do not include pay-per-view channels in with the subscribed payment the consumer pays, however the consumer can pay extra money monthly for constant access to channels such as ESPN.