Television

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Television (TV) is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele (τῆλε), far, and Latin visio, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person).

Commercially available since the late 1930s, the television set has become a common communications receiver in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used for viewing recorded as well as broadcast material.

Although other forms such as closed-circuit television are in use, the most common usage of the medium is for broadcast television, which was modeled on the existing radio broadcasting systems developed in the 1920s, and uses high-powered radio-frequency transmitters to broadcast the television signal to individual TV receivers.

Broadcast TV is typically disseminated via radio transmissions on designated channels in the 54-890 megahertz frequency band. Signals are now often transmitted with stereo and/or surround sound in many countries. Until the 2000s broadcast TV programs were generally recorded and transmitted as an analog signal, but in recent years public and commercial broadcasters have been progressively introducing digital television broadcasting technology.

A standard television set comprises multiple internal electronic circuits, including those for receiving and decoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuner is properly called a monitor, rather than a television. A television system may use different technical standards such as digital television (DTV) and high-definition television (HDTV). Television systems are also used for surveillance, industrial process control, and guiding of weapons, in places where direct observation is difficult or dangerous.

Amateur television (HAM TV or ATV) is also used for experimentation, pleasure and public service events by amateur radio operators. HAM TV stations were on the air in many cities before commercial TV stations came on the air.

For more information about Television, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with television

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Suggestions for tech-happy holidays

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The holiday season is as much a time for tech as for toys. Electronic gadgets are at the top of many wish lists and account for an ever-growing share of holiday shopping budgets. Fortunately for shoppers, tech gifts don't ...


The logo of NBC studios in Burbank, California

Comcast bid for NBC Universal could be sealed next week: source

Technology / Business

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Comcast's bid to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal from General Electric could be sealed next week if GE reaches an agreement with Vivendi, a source close to the matter said Wednesday.


3D Glasses

3D TV -- Without the Glasses (w/ Video)

Technology / Hi Tech

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (12) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Even with "active shutter" 3D technology for television sets, the wearing of special glasses is still required in order to get the proper experience. They aren't those red and blue or red and ...


California targets TVs to lower electricity demand (AP)

Calif. requires TVs to be more energy-efficient (Update)

Technology / Energy

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(AP) -- California regulators adopted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards for televisions Wednesday in hopes of reducing electricity use at a time when millions of American households are switching ...


Sezmi offers a new kind of TV service

Technology / Telecom

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Sezmi, a Silicon Valley startup that's pioneering a new type of TV service, is opening up a public test of its system Monday in California.


Epson's new 4K panel for 3LCD projectors

Epson's new 4K panel for 3LCD projectors

Technology / Hi Tech

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Seiko Epson Corporation has announced the world's first 4K panel for 3LCD (liquid crystal display) projectors. The panel will enable the projectors to produce a bright image of 4096 x 2160 ...


Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover (AP)

Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover

Technology / Telecom

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 1

(AP) -- Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television's decline.


Comcast's NBC talks cap its decades-long rise (AP)

Comcast's NBC talks cap its decades-long rise

Technology / Telecom

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Ralph Roberts knew he was onto something big when people ran after his cable TV trucks in Tupelo, Miss., asking for a visit to their homes.


LG to Launch 15-inch OLED TV

LG to Launch 15-inch OLED TV

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Sep 01, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Korean company, LG Electronics, the second largest television manufacturer in the world, has announced it will launch a 15-inch organic display TV set in early September. The announcement, ...


Machine Learning by Watching and Listening

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- To expand the boundaries of machine intelligence, Ben Taskar is using television shows with large fan bases like CSI, Alias, and Lost to teach computers how to be smarter about what they see, hear and read.


Whose Internet is it, anyway?

Whose Internet is it, anyway?

Technology / Internet

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last week, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, broke with precedent by proposing federal rules that enforce Net neutrality -- the principle that ...


Solitude contributes to a person's imagined intimacy with a TV character

Solitude contributes to a person's imagined intimacy with a TV character

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- If your best friend is a guy from "The Office" or a young doctor on "Grey's Anatomy," you may be relying too much on TV shows to fill a social void in your life.


New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio

New radio chip mimics human ear, could enable universal radio (w/Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Jun 03, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (23) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio ...


Hacker illustration

Brazil blackouts result of cyber hacking: report

Technology / Internet

created Nov 07, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Massive power outages in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 that impacted millions were caused by cyber hackers attacking control systems, the US television network CBS said Sunday.


Moon crash: Public yawns, scientists celebrate (AP)

Moon crash: Public yawns, scientists celebrate

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 10, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (19) | comments 11

(AP) -- NASA's great lunar fireworks finale fizzled. After gearing up for the space agency's much-hyped mission to hurl two spacecraft into the moon, the public turned away from the sky Friday anything but ...