High-Definition Television Available Everywhere

The 1970's marked the stirrings of HDTV or High-Definition Television.

First developed in Japan to sell more TVs by improving the picture quality it soon gained popularity. The technology hit the market with the first HDTV system, dubbed MUSE, which was supposed to offer consumers the best picture and sound quality ever available.

1989 was an important year for the new technology as Japan became the first country to regularly broadcast HDTV. However, HDTV in the U.S. was first met with resistance. The Terrestrial Television Broadcasters were opposed to such broadcasts in the U.S. because they feared they would be pushed out of the HDTV market. HDTV requires a higher bandwidth than standard TV and the channels controlled by Terrestrial Television Broadcasters would not be able to handle such an increase. The United States Congress was also opposed to HDTV, essentially they did not agree that the U.S. should utilize another technology that was owned by another country. As time went out, the technology improved and the opposition softened when in 1995 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission set the standard for completely digital HDTV.

In 2006 the FCC mandated that all channels will have the capacity to broadcast HDTV. Now, such technology is standard in the U.S.

Posted By: Jessica Lantz

Sources:

undefined. (2009). HDTV History. In RepairHome. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://www.repair-home.com/HDTV_History.html.

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