HDTV History
HDTV seems like a completely new innovation but actually the system has been
around in various forms since the mid-1970s and has developed quite an impressive
history.
In the Beginning
During the 1970s and 1980s, the prototype for HDTV was being developed in Japan
as a way to improve television quality and therefore sell more TVs. The first
HDTV system was called MUSE and it promised to offer customers the highest quality
picture and sound available.
The idea of introducing HDTV in the United States was met with mixed responses.
In the 1980s, the National Association of Broadcasters in the United States
invited NHK, Japan’s public network, to present the ideas behind the MUSE system
to the Federal Communications Commission. At the time, there were two groups
that were adamantly against the introduction of HDTV in the U.S.
No, No, No
The first group opposed to the introduction of this new technology
was the Terrestrial Television Broadcasters. They were scared by the possibility
of being excluded from the HDTV market because HDTV required more bandwidth
(the amount of information sent through a channel or connection) than standard
TV. These broadcasters worried because the channels that they already had license
to would not be able to handle the bandwidth of this new form of television.
The other group that became concerned about HDTV in the U.S. was Congress. Congress felt threatened by the many Japanese innovations that they
saw arriving in the U.S. and ultimately they didn’t want to introduce a new
form of communication that was owned by another country all together.
Making it Your Own
With these two complaints in mind, the American government sought to invent
a new form of HDTV. Groups of researchers and manufacturers were gathered together
to form different teams. Each team would attempt to create an HDTV system that could
fit into the existing channels that were used by broadcasters.
After years of work, the separate teams of researchers and manufacturers decided
to combine forces. This unity came to be known henceforth as The Grand Alliance.
As researchers continued their attempts to develop this new form of HDTV, they
discovered that this new technology would have to be partially digital in order
for all the necessary information to fit into the existing channels. With this
in mind, they were able to develop a system that was quite different from the
Japanese system.
The Japanese NHK version of HDTV was analog but the updated version created
by the American researchers ended up being completely digital.
HDTV Timeline
1968: Japan’s NHK initiates a project to develop a new standard in
television.
1970-1980: An HDTV prototype is developed in Japan called the MUSE
system.
Early 1980s: Movie producers are offered a high-definition television
system developed by Sony and the NHK. This high-definition system allowed producers
to record, play and edit immediately and then transfer to film so that production
time was considerably shortened.
1987: The NHK is invited by the National Association of Broadcasters
in the United States to present their MUSE system to the Federal Communications
Commission.
1990: General Instrument Corp. submits the first proposal for a completely
digital HDTV system.
1993: The Grand Alliance is formed combining together the four separate
American teams that had been working independently on the development of HDTV.
1993: Broadcasters speak out in opposition of HDTV saying that it would
cost far too much and limit broadcasting opportunities.
1994: Rupert Murdoch also speaks out against HDTV saying that unused
channels should be utilized to develop new stations, not to support the HDTV system.
1995: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission officially sets the
standard for completely digital HDTV.
1998: HDTV products become available to consumers.
1999: FCC mandates that the top 10 markets start offering Digital TV
broadcasts by May 1st of 1999.
2006: According to the FCC mandate, all stations are to be capable of broadcasting
HDTV by the year 2006. At this time conventional broadcasting will be almost completely phased out.
Will it Last?
Unlike BETA VCRs and 8-track players, HDTV is one form of technology that is
being built to withstand the test of time.
With the decades of development and research that have gone into optimizing
the HDTV system, this form of television is likely to endure for decades to
come.
