In the age of HDTV, it is important to receive the best signals available to take advantage of the higher image quality that such display technology made possible. Pure Digital Television (PDTV) is the answer to this need. PDTV makes it possible to get direct feed from the video source and send it directly to the display without loss of quality or any need to filter the image. How does PDTV Work? The way that PDTV works is simple. A satellite, Cable, or alternative signal is captured directly from the Read More

Apple TV is a device that is designed to stream video and other content from iTunes and directly through the iTunes store. An Apple iTunes account is required and the account must have sharing enabled. Local sources can also be used to stream to the Apple TV hardware via a computer running the Apple iTunes software. Once the Apple TV has been connected to iTunes locally or through the Internet, users can choose which media to stream to the TV. The Apple TV will receive and display or produce the Read More

A set top box is an electronic device that is used to convert an externally received signal or transmission into a viewable format that can be displayed on a television/display device. Set top boxes have been used in some form since the 1950s. Its capabilities have significantly advanced over the past several decades. How Do Set Top Boxes Work? Set top boxes process digital information and are no longer simple signal converters. Currently, they can function as video game consoles, Digital Media Receivers, and media extenders. The most common set Read More

A QAM tuner (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation tuner) is a device that allows television sets to receive digital channels. QAM tuners are included in most modern television sets, although there are many that have not yet been upgraded to process digital channels. QAM tuners can be used in conjunction with a set top box or “cable box,” or by itself to receive unscrambled digital channels such as public access channels, basic channels, local broadcast channels, and cable radio channels. QAM tuners are similar to ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) tuners, the Read More

If you are like many other computer users, you might be watching more videos (including TV shows) on your computer. Whether at home, the office, or coffee shop, more people are ditching their TVs for their computers. One way to watch live TV broadcasts without having to connect to the Internet is with an HDTV tuner card. HDTV tuners are perfect for watching over the air Analog and HDTV broadcasts. Types of HDTV Tuner Cards There are two types of HDTV tuner cards. The first is the PCI card, which Read More

CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) uses one or more video cameras to transmit video and sometimes audio images to a monitor, set of monitors, or video recorder. The difference between CCTV and standard TV is that standard TV openly broadcasts signals to the public. CCTV is not openly transmitted to the public. CCTV uses either wireless or wired transmission to send the broadcast from the video cameras to the monitor(s) or recording device. Most CCTV systems are used for surveillance, which can include security monitoring, spying, or safety monitoring. CCTV Cameras Read More

DLP (Digital Light Processing) is a technology widely used for projecting images from a monitor onto a large screen for presentation purposes. A DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) is used to create sharp images which can be clearly noticed even in a normally lit room. Developed in the 1980s by Texas Instruments (TI), DLP became commercially available in the late 1990s. Texas Instruments remain the sole manufacturer of DLP technology. How DLP Works Before the development of DLP, most computer projection systems were based on LCD technology which tends to generate Read More

VGA (Video Graphics Array) based systems can have interesting uses. Whether it is to simply connect a computer to a television or convert an HD signal which uses the standard VGA connector into RCA compliant signals, it is possible with the correct hardware tools. What is VGA? The video graphics array was designed for computers in the late 1980’s which have undergone several advancements in the past couple of decades. It is now one of the standard options used in HD televisions. The HD-VGA connectors usually use the same set Read More

MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) is an International Standards Organization (ISO) group which sets standards for compressing and storing video, audio, and animation in digital form. Moving Picture Experts Group’s first meeting was in Ottawa, Canada, in May of 1988. Over the years, MPEG has developed to include around 350 members per meeting from several industries, research institutions, and universities. The official designation of Moving Picture Experts Group is ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 WG11. Pronounced “m-peg”, the term MPEG represents the entirety of digital video compression techniques and the digital file formats Read More

What is VGA? The Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a type of display hardware. The VGA connector is a 15 pin connection which relays all of the visual data to be shown to the computer screen. Each pin corresponds to a color, ground or placement information for the display. This has been in use ever since the 1990s and has improved in quality of the display as well. It is now most commonly found on most built in computer hardware accelerators, video cards as well as high definition televisions. The High Density Video Graphics Array Read More