Visitors to the 1997 State Fair of Texas got a tempting taste of the future by experiencing WFAA-TV’s demonstration of high-definition television (HDTV). This tantalizing preview portended an exciting future of wide-screen, high-resolution video with full surround sound (WFAA, 1999). Unfortunately, this road to the future is proving to be a rocky one for consumers. It will likely be fraught with even more problems for the educational community.

History of HDTV

In 1986, the National Association of Broadcasters panicked when the FCC considered a request by Motorola to acquire an unused portion of the UHF spectrum for use in land mobile communications. In an effort to ward off this encroachment on the broadcasters’ territory, the NAB asserted that this unused portion of the spectrum would be required for the future of US broadcast television in its conversion to HDTV. As shown by the Japanese experience, each HDTV channel would require almost twice the bandwidth as the existing 6 MHz allocation for each US broadcast station. NHK, the Japanese network that had pioneered development of HDTV was invited to Washington to demonstrate the new technology to the FCC and members of Congress. A political firestorm ensued. Though the NAB successfully preserved the endangered UHF spectrum, it opened a Pandora’s box as political pressure developed to bring HDTV to America. 

American politicians were upset by the prospect of forfeiting another portion of the consumer electronics industry to the Japanese. Consequently, the FCC formed an Advisory Committee to develop a standard for high-definition television broadcasting in the United States. Hopes were high that a US-developed standard for HDTV could yield an opportunity for revitalization of the US consumer electronics industry. The ensuing political intrigue is documented in Joel Brinkley’s book Defining Vision: How Broadcasters Lured the Government into Inciting a Revolution in Television. (1997)

Though the Advisory Committee anticipated selecting a standard for analog HDTV, advances during the committee’s competitive selection process led to development of MPEG2 compression techniques enabling transmission of a high-definition digital signal over only 6 MHz of spectrum. After eight years of political jockeying by the consumer electronics developers, broadcasters and bureaucrats, the Advisory Committee endorsed the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) Standards for digital television. Rather than specifying one specific format for high-definition broadcasts, these complex standards provide for 18 different digital formats only a few of which are classified as HDTV (Brinkley, 1997).

In The Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress agreed to provide each public and commercial broadcaster with a second channel to broadcast digital television (DTV). A timeline was established requiring all broadcasters to broadcast DTV on these channels by 2003. They will also continue to operate their analog stations until 2006 when, ideally, all US broadcasts will be digital and the analog channels will be abandoned (Dupagne, 1998). It’s unlikely that this timeline will be met since Congress has subsequently passed legislation allowing the continued broadcast of analog signals until 85% of US households have digital equipment (FCC, 1998).

The Difference Between DTV and HDTV

At least in the US, all HDTV will be digital. All digital television, however, will not be HDTV. As noted above, many of the approved ATSC digital formats do not qualify as HDTV. Though broadcasters are being required to transition to digital transmission, there is no requirement that they provide high-definition programming. Most likely, broadcasters will opt to transmit much of their prime time programming in HDTV but transmit other programming in SDTV (Cringely, 1998). 

Key terms to aid understanding of the complex future of digital television are:

DTV - (digital television) – Broadcasts which comply with any of the approved 18 formats of the ATSC Standards.

HDTV - (high-definition television) – The most obvious feature of this format is its wide screen. It has an aspect ratio of 16:9 instead of the traditional 4:3. It is known for its high resolution which produces dramatically improved video quality. It also features Digital Dolby Surround Sound. There are two competing formats. Some broadcasters such as CBS, are using 1080i (1080 horizontal scan lines that are interlaced in the same fashion as the conventional NTSC signal.) Other broadcasters, such as ABC are broadcasting in 720p (720 scan lines displayed progressively without interlacing). These two formats are roughly comparable in quality (Pierce, 1999). 

SDTV – (standard-definition television) - Digital formats that are not high-definition, but are at least as good as analog NTSC video (Griffin, 1999).

Multicasting – Simultaneous broadcast of more than one program on a channel. If broadcasting SDTV signals, four to six SDTV programs can be broadcast on the 6 MHz allocated to a broadcaster (Cringely, 1998).

Datacasting – Another option for broadcasters is to use leftover space in their allocated 6 MHz to provide continuous datastreams of information (e.g. stock reports, weather). This space could often be found even during transmission of a high-definition program (CNET).

Complications

The FCC’s Advisory Committee set out with the best of intentions to establish one specific and consistent standard for HDTV. Due to the political realities, it failed to meet this goal. Consequently, consumers are left with much uncertainty.

Though broadcasters must meet mandates to broadcast digital programming, consumers are faced with challenges in actually receiving those signals. Among the primary culprits is the cable industry. Cable companies apparently don’t currently see the reward for transmitting digital signals. Though federal law requires cable companies to carry local stations’ analog signals, there is no such requirement to carry the digital channel (Burger & Gray, 1998). Though cable companies such as AT&T do provide digital cable, it is a misconception to believe that they are transmitting HDTV (or any DTV) signals. They are simply converting analog signals for transmission in order to carry more stations over existing cables. The signal is then reconverted to analog for consumer use.

Currently, the only way early adopters of HDTV can receive HDTV signals is to purchase an HDTV antenna or to subscribe to DirecTV and purchase an HDTV-compatible dish (CNET).

Implications for Society

Due to the general state of confusion of the broadcast and consumer electronics industries, the most immediate implication for the general public is an induced state of frustration. Fortunately, we can foresee a time in the not-too-distant future when we can enjoy the dramatically enhanced audio and video quality that will come with HDTV. 

During the awkward transitional period, consumers who have purchased digital televisions will have to upconvert NTSC signals to be viewed on their screens. For those who choose not to purchase DTVs, converters will be needed to downconvert digital signals to be viewed on their current analog television sets. After full implementation of the digital standards, individuals who wish to play their collection of analog videotapes will still need converters to upconvert the signal for display on digital televisions.

If, as appears likely, broadcasters transmit some programming in HDTV and other programming in SDTV, consumers can anticipate a future of not seeing video fill the full screens of their TVs. They will either view HDTV letterboxed on their traditionally proportioned screen, or they will view their SDTV programs with black bars on the sides of widescreen TVs.

Studies have demonstrated that optimum viewing distance for HDTV is much closer than for NTSC video. Since the viewer can sit closer to the screen without the distraction of viewing individual pixels and scan lines, and since the HDTV screen is wider and fills up most of his field of vision, the viewer is more emotionally involved in the video experience and remembers details more fully. However, this change in viewing habits will require many homeowners to rearrange their living environments to make best use of their new televisions (Dupagne, 1998).

Though the variety of possible DTV services such as multicasting, interactive programming, and PC convergence may yield significant unexplored societal benefits (Birkmaier, 1999), the benefits of HDTV seem simple and clear. The average viewer can expect enhanced aesthetic experiences. The significance of the improvement is frequently compared to the transition of broadcasts to color programming. 

Undoubtedly, an additional societal impact will be economic. Even though the prices of digital equipment should fall dramatically over the next few years, the consumer electronics industry can expect a windfall as the public adopts this new technology. Not only will there be a huge market for replacement of analog televisions but for converters, VCRs, and DVD players. 

Implications for Education

Though it would be wise for instructional technologists to anticipate a digital future, the impacts of digital television in all its forms will not be felt for several years. The same advantages and disadvantages that will accrue to society can be expected to eventually face educators. However, all of those could be magnified many times. 

A review of the literature yields little current or specific analysis of how HDTV will affect the future of education. The most direct reference to HDTV’s potential educational use is found on the Public Broadcasting System’s website. However, even this site only provides hypothetical scenarios of how digital television may affect the future. Since it is unclear what specific choices that broadcasters will make, it is difficult for educators to plan for the transition to an as-yet-to-be defined future. Considering the massive financial investment that will be required for schools to replace or upgrade their equipment to be digitally compatible, caution and detailed research will be necessary.

As with society in general, most of the more innovative changes that educational institutions will derive will come from the non-HDTV aspects of digital video. The direct benefits of HDTV seem obvious. The greatly increased video resolution will lead to improved clarity of on-screen text and the ability to display intricate details of procedures as never before. This could provide a marked increase in the usability and flexibility of video in the classroom. The failure to use the entire monitor’s screen, however, could be a dramatic drawback in the classroom. Considering the size of many classrooms, the failure to utilize the entire screen could be a significant drawback in the effectiveness of the video experience.

Schools should take note of the research which has been conducted about the optimal viewing conditions for HDTV. Though existing studies have considered the optimal personal viewing conditions for HDTV, it is important to explore how HDTV will be most effective in the classroom environment. 

In order to effectively capitalize on the enhanced video capabilities of HDTV, and to adequately accommodate other DTV formats, consideration should be given to increasing the use of digital projection systems instead of traditional monitors. Though the cost of this equipment would be high, as video becomes an increasingly integral part of our lives and as distance learning situations become more common in classroom experiences, this may be a justifiable expense.

Another area of concern is the usability of existing analog videos and the willingness of production companies to move forward in developing video products for educational use. Not only will schools need to maintain the ability to use the videos that they have currently implemented into the curriculum. Producers may be unwilling to make extensive investments in digital video educational products until the market settles down and it is clear what direction educational institutions will move in the adoption of digital equipment.

Conclusions

The future of HDTV and DTV are unclear. Though both will play significant roles in our future, consumer acceptance and economic interests of the electronics and entertainment industries will determine the exact path of technological development. Undoubtedly we can anticipate an exciting future as the scenario unfolds. 
 

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WFAA. (1999). WFAA-HD.   http://www.wfaa.com/wfaa/department/1,1018,_39__0,00.html