For School Purpose

1. LO4- TASK 4-
DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGIES

2. Television
 Satellite :
This form of television is provided by multiple signals being relayed by satellites across the globe.
These signals are received by a an exterior dish on the building. After the signals are received
they are decoded by the antenna ready for viewing on a television set. Benefits of satellite
television include the vast range of channels on offer, signal can be received in dead areas and
you can also use ‘pay- to-view’ services. On the other hand, they can be awkward to set up, the
satellite must be in clear line of site and it can be very expensive with the initial cost, fitting and
subscriptions.
 Cable :
This form of television that is delivered through transmitting signals through coaxial cables or
light pulses through fibre-optic cables. Benefits of this are that hundreds of channels can be
delivered through the same system by integrating them onto specific frequencies along the
spectrum instead of have a separate signal for each channel with satellite television. Also cable
systems often are able to offer a telephone service and internet access in packages through high
speed modems. Reasonable prices and stability are also benefits worth mentioning for cable TV.
In terms of disadvantages include terrible to non-existent customer service, and privacy, as using
such a mass market, cheap and public service means that its easy for companies to track what
you are watching and when.

3.  Example of the largest television providers include Sky, Virgin and BT, all in
competition with each other providing exclusive content, like sky sports and
BT sports foe example. A new competitor in TV is online services like Netflix
and NOW TV, as its becoming easier and cheaper than ever to access these
services.

4. Timeline of BBC
 18th October 1922- The BBC- British Broadcasting Company is formed.
 14th November 1922- The first broadcast for the BBC is from London.
 21st June 1937- The BBC broadcasts the Wimbledon tennis championships for the first time.
 16th September 1937- The BBC broadcasts the first live football match between Arsenal and
Arsenal reserves.
 July 1981 – The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Charles and Diana's
wedding had an estimated global TV audience of 750 million, making it the most popular
programme ever broadcast. It was full of iconic and memorable moments, making its mark on
a generation, and was one of the BBC’s biggest outside broadcasts of the decade.
 27th May 2006- The BBC broadcasts for the first time in High Definition.
 25th December 2007- BBC I Player an online service for watching previously aired shows is
released
 29th April 2011- The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is broadcast on BBC
television

5. THE WAY WE WATCH TELEVISION
 Analogue:
This is the original television technology that used analogue signals to deliver video
and audio to viewers. With an analogue broadcast, everything from the brightness
colours and sound quality all relied on the strength of the analogue signal. Over a five
year process, gradually all analogue signals were turned off as the digital age took
over for the foreseeable future. The switchover started in October 2007 and was
completed five years later in October 2012.
 Digital:
This is the new, modernised way of delivering television which uses digitally processed
and multiplexed signals. It allows multiple channels to use the same bandwidth
meaning hundreds more channels are easily accessible for viewers now that analogue
has been left behind. Digital television was a blessing for the television and film
industries as it acted as a platform, providing many more channels for programs and
movies to be broadcast on.

6. Internet and Interaction
 Internet:
The internet provides easy access to pretty much every television and movie ever broadcast to those
using the web on computers, tablets, phones and even smart TV’s. This can be a positive for the
television industry, as it allows them to target an even wider audience with streaming services such as
Netflix and NOW TV, which are subscription services that allow you to watch a huge variety of content,
whilst still earning money for the producers and television industry. However, there are millions of illegal
sites, such as torrent websites that allow you to illegally download and watch content that is breaking
copyright laws and making no money for the producers of the media. This is a big problem for the
television and film industry as its decreasing their profits massively, as there is no need to pay to watch
media when you can download it for free in a few clicks on the web.
 Interactive:
Interactivity has increased greatly in media. We now have the access to interact with things we couldn’t
e.g. make contact with celebrity's via twitter, give are views on content e.g. YouTube commenting and
like/dislike system. As a consumer of all this media content we are given many ways to manipulate it.
One way in which we can do this is by changing the quality resolution. With YouTube videos we can
change the amount of pixels we see through the video player. We can go up to 1080p mostly however
with some videos we are even able to go beyond this. In some video’s 4k is given as an option which is
3840 by 2160 pixels.

7. Consumer Products
Consumer products are defined as goods that are sold for use in or around a
permanent or temporary household/institution. In terms of technology there are
countless products on the market in the current day and age and they lead the way
we live in the 21st century. A well-known, big name is Apple, who have become the
largest and most successful technology company in the world. They provide countless
different devices for people to use, making it more and more easier to access the
internet, socialise, game and do important tasks such as banking. Examples of
products are the iPhone, iPod, iPad and iMac. Recently has been the launch of the
Apple iWatch, a watch that does just about everything all of the other Apple products,
easily accessible and compact on the wrist.
Another modern consumer product in households are Smart TV’s. They are digital
televisions with the added functionality of connecting to the internet with capabilities
like web browsers and apps.
Digital cameras and editing software on computers also provide a platform for making
films and other productions in the comfort of your own home. An example of this is
Youtubers who make a living from this, such as gamers like Seananners, or vloggers
like Caspar Lee.

8. Breakthroughs In Technology
 High Definition:
With the introduction of HD channels on television with the host of technology inside the modern
television sets, it allows for a much more crisp, slick picture quality for the viewer, providing a
more thrilling viewing experience than ever before. It provides a higher resolution image by
having many more pixels in each frame. Its proven that audiences love HD and want more of it
with specific HD versions of channels being implemented into televisions such as BBC ONE HD, ITV
HD and Channel 4 HD to name a few.
 3D:
This is a very current and up-to-date service, that is an attempt to mimic reality. It is an optical
illusion that makes viewers see an image with a sense of depth that isn't really there. Cinemas
especially have taken advantage of this, advertising the incredible experience of viewing films on
the big screen in 3D, with things jumping out of the screen towards giving you the richest and
involved cinema experience ever. Recently televisions have been released that include a 3D
function. The 3D feature, all be it impressive, does require anyone viewing to wear special
glasses in order to get the full effects of the illusion, that can be inconvenient and
uncomfortable. 3D is slowly growing and making a new branch of audience and profit for the
television and film industry, but its is an expensive service to produce.

9. Pay Per View and On Demand Viewing
 Pay Per View :
It’s a service that lets you watch TV shows and Films while they are being viewed
at the same time of anyone else who is watching the event. This now allows
audiences to watch whatever they want whenever they want. Sites such as Blink
box and Prime Instant Video by Amazon offers this service to people who want to
watch the latest blockbuster films. However once you have watched your film or
TV show you can’t watch it again unless you pay again.
 On Demand Viewing :
When audiences can watch video and audio
whenever they want. Sky Store has many movies
ready for audiences to watch for a price.
This excludes the inconvenience of waiting or
missing the initial broadcast time of Film and TV
programmes. Also when these are watched they
usually don’t include adverts which allows
audience’s to avoid the annoyance.

10. Streaming
 The difference between steaming and downloading is that when you download something, you have
the whole thing there, and can watch it whenever you like and wont be met with buffering times.
However with streaming, you don’t actually have the media yourself, but are watching from another
platform that the content is coming from, meaning when signal is weak you can experience long
waiting times whilst the content buffers, and if it’s a live stream you also typically cannot rewind if
you miss something. Examples of streaming sites include Blink box and Netflix.
 In late 1990s and early 2000s, Internet users experienced a number of developments including:
 Greater bandwidth
 Increased access to networks
 Use of standard formats and
protocols such as TCP, IP, HTTP and HTML
 The Commercialization of the internet
 These technological advances, in addition to access to more powerful home computing and
operating systems, made streaming film and television programme practical and affordable for the
vast majority of ordinary consumers.

11. Digital Recorders
 When instead of constantly being fed the data the content is being saved for
you to watch later. Sky allows you to record any film or TV programme
whenever the viewer wants. When these features were introduced to viewers
for the first time you were required to upgrade your box to be able to do this.
This was very expensive to do and you must pay a monthly cost.