Reality TV – Insight and Exploitation

Sinces its inception, television as an entertainment medium has been in a state of constant evolution, from the early live broadcasts to the birth of scripted drama – TV has seen a variety of vogues over its lifetime.

One of the most controversial of these has to be the genre now known as reality TV. Starting its life as an attempt for true to life documentation of a situation, the reality format has since metamorphosed into something that, at its exremes, many now consider to be either grotesque or exploitative.

Reality TV is a general term that is used to describe any programming that takes as its main feature the unscripted action of a set of subjects. While at the tamer end of the scale the reality TV genre offers up documentaries that provide an insight into worlds that the view may not otherwise see, the genre also includes a number of offerings that are much less worthy.

With the prolifeation of cable and satellite television channels, there is more and more  demand for programming to fill in schedule slots – and reality TV offers a relatively inexpesive way for producers to create shows to fill these spaces.

Low level reality TV production often involves the placement of subject in situations where the darkest areas of their lives and emotions are held up to the scrutiny and ridicule of audiences. With chat shows offering participants an opportunity to air their dirty laundry in public under the guise of providing guidance, and reality based gameshows tempting people to air the least appealing sides of their nature with the lure of a desirable prize.

Love it or hate it – reality TV looks set to stay.

Filed Under: Technology, Television Tagged With: , ,

The Role of Radio in Modern Television

Since the arrival of the television in households across the world the importance of the radio has seemingly dwindled and dwindled, with more and more people tuning out in favour of more visual medium of TV.

The days of families gathering around the wireless for the latest installment of a serial drama are seemingly long gone, with home entertainment these days being more likely to feature family members in separate rooms viewing the programming of their choice.

But does this mean that radio as a spoken medium no longer has a role to play in the evolution of light entertainment?

In short, the answer is no, radio continues to play an important role in the development of talents and personalities that provide us with distractions during our downtime.

For example, many of the stars of the screen whose faces are familiar to us would never have made it into the public consciousness without the existence of radio. For presenters, radio is often the first port of call in a career plan, allowing them to hone their on air skills before attempting to make the transition to television.

And some of the most popular television shows have some roots in radio programming, where writers and producers have tried out ideas on audiences, helping them to weed out the ones that work and latter translate them into a visual medium.

Television audiences may be disregarding of the radio as an entertainment tool, but most are unaware of what their favorite shows owe to this understated medium.

Filed Under: Technology, Television Tagged With: , ,

M*A*S*H: Making History…and Great Television

M*A*S*H is one of the most iconic and successful television shows of all time. Thanks to syndication, the show has found an entirely new set of fans in a later generation. The show was created because of the 1970 movie of the same name. The show was broadcasted on CBS from 1972 to 1983.

The show got off to a rocky start in its first season due to perpetually low ratings. M*A*S*H  took off the next year, however, landing in the top ten of all programs. The show never dipped out of the top twenty programs for the rest of the show’s run.

M*A*S*H was an incredibly innovative program. It maintained a zany, madcap tone while still focusing deeply on the show’s characters. While the show was billed as a comedy and indeed often maintained a light tone throughout the episode, the show constantly dealt with tragic themes and moments. The show excelled at striking a balance between serious and comedic elements within a half-hour format.  This format came to be known as the “dramedy.”

One of the most famous moments in the series’ (and indeed, television’s) history was the historic departure of Lt. Col. Henry Blake. While other show’s characters left the show (the character of Trapper was “discharged” early on due to a contract dispute with the character’s actor, Wayne Rogers). When Blake’s character left the show, the show reported that his plane was shot down. There were no survivors on the plane, meaning that Blake’s character had died. The public outcry to his death was so severe that the producers promised to never anything like it ever again on the show, but the event proved to the public that here was a comedy unafraid of the harsh realities of war.

Another way M*A*S*H was historically significant to the television industry is that it was one of the few sitcoms of its day to be filmed on location instead  of indoors with a live studio audience. The show also embraced outside-the-box cinematic filming techniques, like long shots and tracking shots.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Film Festival, General Tagged With: , ,

Shopping for a Television

Shopping for a new television is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Even a few years ago, all you had to consider was what size you wanted and making sure it would fit.  The last decade has seen huge changes in television and the types of televisions that are available.

Nearly every television sold today is a flat screen. These have become very popular because they can be easily hung on the wall or still displayed in an entertainment cabinet like they have been traditionally. Flat screens are thinner and weigh less, enabling them to be more easily moved around and adjusted according to personal preference.

HDTV is very popular, many stations are now broadcast in high density, which gives a cleaner, sharper picture and is the closest thing to a true movie experience available in the home. It is getting harder to find non-HDTVs, and this will likely continue to go even further in this direction in the future. HDTV has become more affordable as it has become more common, making it a great choice for anyone looking at purchasing a new TV.

Three dimensional television is a concept that is still being worked out. There are televisions available in 3d, but the amount of programming available is still very small, and the 3d effect is not as pronounced and enjoyable as it is in a theatre.

As you can see, there are lots of things that you have to consider when looking for a television, but most importantly is finding one that fits your home, your lifestyle and your budget. When everything is said and done, your family will enjoy whatever you bring home, as long as it allows them to gather around and spend time watching family programming together. The television can bring families together in a way that the computer or other electronic gadgets cannot.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: General Tagged With:

DVR Technology: Benefits and Considerations

Digital video recorder
Image via Wikipedia

The DVR or Digital Video Recorder is an electronic device that is changing the way that people watch television. In a nutshell, this device is the modern-day equivalent of the traditional VCR, which is capable of recording and playing television shows and movies without requiring the use of tape. Everything is stored in a digital format.

The DVR device takes recording and watching television to an entirely new level. This device makes it possible for you to pause the television, rewind, watch in slow motion, fast forward and instantly replay live television broadcasts. Whether you are watching a pay-per-view movie, a live sporting event, the news or just any ordinary television show, these extra options can really come in handy.

The Digital Video Recorder device is proof that television is evolving. People can now record their favorite shows and watch them later, fast forwarding through commercials. They can pause the show they are watching to answer the phone or to stop and eat a meal, then start the recording right back up, fast forwarding through commercials to catch-up to the live television. Some DVR services offer significant buffer capabilities, meaning that you can pause and replay television on the channel that you are watching as many as several hours behind the live television feed.

Above all else, the Digital Video Recorder technology makes it possible for you to take control of the television you watch more than ever before. By buffering the signal from the satellite, you can pause, rewind, fast forward or slow-motion the television show that you are watching, and then you can simply resume the program so that you are watching it without missing a thing. Nobody wants to miss a favorite show due to unforeseen circumstances, and the DVR system makes it possible not to. Record favorite shows when you are not around to watch them, then queue them up and watch them any time that suits you.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Technology, Television Tagged With: , ,

A little Television-Related History

Security features of City Hall MRT Station. CC...
Image via Wikipedia

The television is an invention that has been evolving significantly over time. Rather than being created and developed by a single inventor, the television is actually the product of a wide variety of very bright minds and decades of hard labor and creative determination. Here is a little bit of history about the television, especially leading up to the plasma televisions that we know today.

A little Television-Related History

Televisions weren’t commercially available until the late 1920’s. However, the idea of transmitting images was being worked on as early as the late 1870’s. Many of the first units were electro-mechanical in nature, using varying means to capture, transmit, and recreate images. The first television system using electronic scanning of the pickup and display devices was invented by Philo Farnsworth in 1927, and was demonstrated to the press September 1st 1928. Television was first used practically in Germany with regular broadcasts happening by 1929. The 1936 Olympic games were also broadcast to stations in both Leipzig and Berlin for the public to view. Regular commercial programming did not occur in the United States until 1948 due to the fact that television was not introduced to the general public until 1939 and World War 2 broke out preventing large scale manufacture.

The basic principles for plasma television were first described in 1936 by one Kálmán Tihanyi, which later went on to become the first flat panel display system. Experiments began in 1931 culminated in color television in 1940, the work of Mexican inventor Guillermo González Camarena. He was also the inventor of the remote control, which has become a standard feature of television sets.

It doesn’t take much to find awe and surprise in how the television was invented and developed. This particular electronic device has come a long way through the years.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Television Tagged With: , ,

Evolution of the Television in 1900

Modern colour televisor. A test card can just ...
Image via Wikipedia

The 1900s is when things really began to move in terms of television invention, evolution and development. In the Paris World’s Fair, the first ever International Congress of Electricity saw the light of day. Constantin Perskyi, a Russian inventor, was the first person ever during this era to use the term television to refer to the invention that has been in development for so many years.

Evolution of the Television in 1900 and Beyond

Soon after the year 1900, the momentum really began to shift away from discussions and ideas and into actual physical development of these television systems. There were two major paths that were pursued by these inventors in the way of developing television systems.

Inventors were beginning to build mechanical systems for televisions based on the rotating disks that Paul Nipkow had invented, and other inventors had begun to build electronic systems that were based on cathode ray tube technology. This technology was independently developed in the year 1907 by an English inventor named A.A. Campbell-Swinton along with the help of a scientist by the name of Boris Rosing.

An American inventor named Charles Jenkins, working with a Scotsman named John Baird began to follow this mechanical model. On the other hand, Philo Farnsworth in San Francisco and a Russian emigrant named Vladimir Zworkin began to advance the electronic concept for television development.

Eventually it was the electronic television system that won out, replacing the mechanical television system concept. Both systems had a lot of merits, but the electronic system using the cathode ray tube technology was proving to be the simpler and straighter forward concept, and so it was better received in comparison to the mechanical model. By now, it was clear that the first mechanical and electronic systems were well on their way in terms of development.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: History, Television Tagged With: , ,

The First Mechanical and Electronic Television Systems

RCA ’808’ Power Vacuum Tube

Image via Wikipedia

1906 brought about the first ever mechanical television system, while the early electronic television systems were not seeing development until 1907 or so. Lee de Forest is responsible for inventing an Audion vacuum tube, which proved to be essential when it came to the development of electronics. This Audion tube was the first ever vacuum tube that actually had the ability to create amplification for signals.

The First Mechanical and Electronic Television Systems

Boris Rosing was responsible for combining the disk from Nipkow with the cathode ray tube concept in order to build the first ever mechanical television system in 1906.

In 1907, Boris Rosing and Campbell Swinton suggested using cathode ray tubes for the purpose of transmitting images through wires. Independent from one another, they both managed to successfully develop a way to reproduce images by way of electronic scanning methods.

Evolution into 1923

The iconscope was patented in 1923 by Vladimir Zworkin. This was a television camera tube that was based on the ideas conjured up by Swinton. The iconscope was known as an electric eye, and it became the cornerstone for all further development of the television. Zworkin later went on to develop the kinescope, which was the receiver for the purpose of picture display.

Moving Silhouette Images in 1924 and 1925

Charles Jenkins worked with John Baird, from America and Scotland respectively, and each managed to demonstrate that images could be mechanically transmitted across wire circuits. John Baird became the first person ever to transmit a moving silhouette image across a mechanical system, which he did based on the Nipkow disk system.

Charles Jenkins built what was known as a Radiovisor. In 1931, he went on to sold it in kit form to consumers who could put it together. During the same era, a color television system had been developed and patented by Vladimir Zworkin.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Television Tagged With: , ,

1926 Television Evolution and Beyond

View looking east towards Roberts Hall.
Image via Wikipedia

In 1926, John Baird operated a television system that utilized 30 lines of resolution with a frames per second rate of 5.

In 1927, the Bell Telephone Company and the United States Department of Commerce conducted the first ever use of a television over long distance, which they held between New York City and Washington D.C. on the 9th of April. The Secretary of Commerce at the time, Herbert Hoover, was especially impressed.

During this same era, Philo Farnsworth filed a patent for the first ever complete electronic television, which at the time was known as an image dissector.

1928 Television Evolution and Beyond

In 1928, the Federal Radio Commission issued a television station license for the first time. W3XK was issued to Charles Jenkins.

In 1929, Vladimir Zworkin demonstrated the first ever practical electronic television system, which could handle both transmission as well as reception of television images using a kinescope tube.

During this same area, John Baird opened the first ever television studio, but the image quality that he was capable of producing was still poor.

The first television commercial was broadcast in the year 1930 by Charles Jenkins.

The BBC began its regular television transmissions in the year 1930 as well.

By 1933, w9XK was owned by Iowa State University, and they began to broadcast television programs twice weekly in cooperation with a radio station known as WSUI.

By 1936, there were approximately 200 television sets currently in use across the globe. Coaxial cables were introduced in 1936 as well, using pure copper wire or copper-coated wire to transmit telephone, television and data signals over short and long distances. AT&T was the first television company to lay experimental coaxial cables.

And this was only the beginning because now there are more than a billion television sets worldwide.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Television Tagged With: , ,