15 May How Is A TV Signal Sent? A Comprehensive Guide
Virtually, every household in the world has a television. But have you ever wondered how a signal gets from studio to every television set in the world? Precisely, how is a TV signal sent and how does it overcome the barriers along the way? Can other gadgets like the phone capture the signal?
To understand how television signals get to TV sets, you must first know how they are packaged in studio. The basic idea of a television is a radio showing pictures. As such, signals are first converted into radio frequency.
Television studios use radio waves or invisible patterns of magnetism and electricity. The waves travel at the speed of light, which is approximately 186,000 miles per second. It almost means that you will get the packaged message immediately it leaves the transmission station.
The best example of radio and television signals is the waves you see on the sea. The information is the surfer who rides these waves. The radio waves carry the information just like waves in the sea keep the surfer afloat up to his destination.
The television is an invention that combines three parts. A TV camera first converts pictures and sound into a signal. The signal is then put through the air, in form of airwaves, by a transmitter. The TV set in your home then acts as the receiver. It picks signals from the air and reconverts them into the original video and sound generated by the camera in studio for display at home.
It is worth noting that cameras capture still images. Even the videos you watch are a combination of multiple still images. To produce a video for television, the still images are repeated multiple times and at a high speed. The repetition tricks the eyes that the object is moving.
A good signal can travel up to a hundred kilometers from the transmitter. Because of the nature of the electromagnetic waves, their strength is diluted by obstacles. It explains why television signal transmitters are installed on mountain tops. Further, you have boosters that pick a weak signal for forward transmission.
So, what makes a television set to pick a signal for one station and not the other? Well, each station is allocated a frequency. The electromagnetic waves carrying their broadcasts are packaged in a particular frequency. Your television set has to be set to capture that specific frequency. That is what you call tuning. Once you tune the television set to a particular station, it can only capture broadcast in a particular wavelength. Since no two stations broadcast in the same wavelength, you end up with one station.
Digital television has come to replace the analog transmission setup. The setup for digital television is the same, only that transmitters do not use electromagnetic waves. A digital signal is made of packets of compressed data that require less bandwidth to transmit. Such technology allows a station or broadcaster to use HD signal which is high quality.
Whether you are using digital or analog television transmission setup, the basic features are similar. A signal is converted into data and sent from the studio through a transmitter. Information travels through the air in different formats, is captured by your television aerial, converted back into the videos and sound, then displayed on your television.
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