Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system that transmits digital signals rather than analog signals, therefore freeing up the bandwidth and improving overall quality both in video and audio. What is convenient is that the digital signals take up less bandwidth than the analog signals, so broadcasters are able to split channels into several signals allowing for several “formats” of the same channel to be broadcast. For example, “Channel 7”, can also have other channels associated with it like “Channel 7-1”, “Channel 7-2”, etc. which could be other feeds. The gain in bandwidth can also allow multi-casting, which is the ability to transmit several different programs within the same space. For example, a broadcaster could transmit both a digital “standard” definition feed of a program (at 480p) and a high-definition (HD) feed of the same program (at either 720p or 1080i) simultaneously.
The digital transition in the U.S. occured on June 12, 2009, approximately four months after the originally scheduled date of Feb. 17, 2009. Other DTV conversions happening internationally include August 31, 2011 for Canada, July 24, 2011 for Japan, by 2012 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by 2013 in Australia, and by 2015 in the Philippines and Uruguay.
