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Fans of television are sure to be pleased with the advancements made in the technology over the years. Those of the older generation can probably remember a time before any of the new developments were available, such as digital recording devices, satellite programming, and many more. Many individuals can recall a time when a program had to be recorded through a VCR onto a VHS tape. Today, many people don’t even own VCRs because the technology has advanced so far.

Programs can be recorded digitally and stored within a device that is hooked to the television, which gives instant access and storage options to multiple programs at once. Additionally, satellite programming has introduced high definition, which has changed the way television can be viewed. The picture quality is drastically improved from standard definition to high definition, and often when a channel is not offered in high definition, it can be very frustrating to those who are used to the quality of high definition.  On top of that, you can also watch these videos and programs on your computer utilizing free software like the xvid codec which powers the xvid media player.

Satellite television has also provided service to those in areas where cable television was simply unavailable. Because this service requires access to a satellite dish, often a signal can be obtained from a dish which is located farther away. Satellites have long been used by the government and military to transmit signals all over the world, but they are now able to be used by individuals for home enjoyment. Some satellite and cable providers now offer programs on demand, which give a specific set of programming that is stored within the system and can be watched at any time.

Digital television is now a requirement in order to watch programs, and has improved the picture quality and programming availability for users all over the world. Younger people can hardly remember a time before these advancements existed, but they have made quite a change to the way television programming can be enjoyed.

If you don’t have a television that has access to the internet you may be wondering what the fuss is all about. After all, that’s what a computer is for, right? For some it may all be a little too confusing, but there are some distinctive advantages to this that you may want to consider.

The features of internet-enabled televisions are impressive, and are becoming more so as technology continues forward. There are a number of add-ons you can buy for your television that allows you to stream video from the internet, look at pictures, and check your e-mail – right on your TV as you would your computer. Even now televisions can be purchased with Wi-Fi that comes with applications, so that you can do some of the same types of things, with unlimited options.

These features offer two primary advantages, if either of these sounds good to you. First, if you multitask a lot, the idea of checking the weather while commercials are on may be the next best thing in your life, or being able to check your e-mail on your television. Also, techies represent another audience for this type of thing, where the internet is brought onto another platform when your desktop, laptop, netbook, and smart phone may not be enough (it happens!).

While television with internet access offers much, it is not for everyone. If technology isn’t really your thing, or perhaps it would just be a distraction, you might want to keep the internet “where it belongs,” which may be just on the computer for you.

Either way, television with internet capabilities is the next big thing, and it’s happening right now. It could very well be included in your next television purchase, whether or not you are curious about taking advantage of its features.

Was there life before television? From our modern, media-influenced vantage point, it hardly seems possible. Since it became a popular mainstay of life in the late 1940s, after World War II, television has wreaked major transformations in the way Americans live, look, shop, and communicate. For those who have grown up with television as part of their daily life, it is indeed hard to imagine living without it. Yet today the way we watch and enjoy television is transforming again, just as it transforms society itself.
Before television became a huge factor in society, radio was the most significant medium for national and social communication. Funny to think now, but radio’s influence was so pervasive, back in the 1930s, few believed that television could ever overtake radio as a means of communication. Of course, it did, transforming entertainment and news and upending the movie industry as well, which suddenly had to compete with the idea of hours of entertainment being available right at home.
Today the Internet has become another hugely transforming social force, with its incredible powers of interconnectivity and ability to communicate with people anywhere at anytime. You can download software like Ares Galaxy from the open source website Ares and share music and movies with people across the globe. With the vast array of entertainment options now on the net, it makes sense that the Internet and television will soon merge into one thing. We’re almost there, but the hardware is still in transition.
Today it is possible to use a television monitor as a computer monitor with the use of cable hookups, but at this point a television monitor won’t give the picture quality most people are used to with a computer. Hi-definition televisions are a better bet for this than older TVs, but at this point the TV/Internet merger is still a work in progress. New developments, however, like Windows Media Center and Apple TV, are taking the Internet to a place closer to TV, but at a higher level. Hold on just a little while longer—the TV/Internet merger is almost here.

Entertainment fads are not a new marketing ploy. Movie theaters offered goers innovations dating back to talkies and colors. Major 3D offerings were offered decades earlier before they became en vogue again following the success of James Cameron’s Avatar. The picture earned more money than any other movie in history and inspired an onslaught of copycats. Other 3D movies found great success, but one piggybacking innovation failed to catch on—home theater 3D.

Television manufacturers blame the slow sale of 3D TVs on several factors including the bulky glasses that came with the sets. This year television makers are introducing sets that use similar light and inexpensive glasses that movie theaters provided with 3-D offerings. TVs manufacturers do not plan to discontinue production of the sets that require the heavy, battery-powered glasses, but something had to be changed in order to meet the demands of consumers.

Samsung Electronics Co. sold about 1 million 3D set in the United States in the last year. This met only about 25 percent of expected sales. LG Electronics Inc. introduced new 3D sets in the opening days of 2011. The South Korean company will begin selling a 47-inch and a 65-inch model in the American market. The 65-inch screen will use the lighter 3D glasses. The 3D sets currently on the market usually include only one or two pairs of the heavier glasses. The glasses cost as many as $100 per pair.

The active 3D glasses used battery-powered shutters that would black out each of the eyes to create the effect of seeing the picture in 3D. The lighter glasses do not cost as much, but also do not create the 3D effect to the same degree.

Some manufacturers such as Panasonic Corp. are sticking with the active glasses. Vizio Inc. announced plans for a set that uses the lighter passive glasses. The consumer will make the decision on which pair will be the future of 3D television.

Way back in time…oh about the 1950s or so, there was a space race between the United States and Russia. During this race, there was a satellite put into orbit by the Russians named Sputnik. Through this space race and Sputnik, we now have satellite television at our fingertips.

Sputnik was launched in 1957 and six years later a communications satellite was launched into orbit. Corporations and government entities worked together to launch this satellite — Syncom II, and it flew in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. In 1963, the first satellite communication occurred between a naval station in New Jersey and a Navy ship in a Nigerian harbor.

Fifteen years later, television signals started being transmitted using satellites orbiting the earth. March 1, 1978 marked the first satellite broadcast. Soon after major television networks started using this method of transmission to their affiliates.

1984 saw the advent of the consumer satellite receiver dishes. This came about because of people in rural areas who could not receive regular broadcast signals. The C-band dishes were relatively large — many feet in diameter. During this time, anyone could get satellite signals for free.

Broadcasters took the issue to court to restrict access. The FCC ruled that there was an “open skies” policy which stated that if television stations had the right to use the satellite signals, consumers had the same right to receive them. This is when broadcasters encrypted their signals, requiring that consumers have a decoder box to receive the signal.

During the 80′s the FCC put into place further regulations for these direct broadcast satellites. Again, this made consumers meet the requirement that they would need not only the satellite dish, but other special equipment to again decode the signals.

The 90′s saw the introduction of Primestar, the first direct broadcast system, as well as DirectTV and DISH Network. Now there’s a much smaller dish on many homes in America.

For first time computer buyers, it can be a frustrating task of figuring out which computer is best for you. You have two choices: Mac or PC. There are quite a few differences between both computers, which includes the operating system. Apple’s Mac uses the OSX operating system and PC uses Windows.

For those who are unfamiliar with either Mac or PC, here are the differences between both brands.

A big difference between the computers would be the mouse and keyboard. With a Mac there is only one button on the mouse, whereas a PC has two. While you can still do the “right-click” while using your mouse on a Mac, you just have to remember to hold the control button down before you click the button on your mouse.

The command button is also different on a Mac keyboard. On a Mac the Apple/Command key is used for copying and pasting and doing other shortcuts. With a PC, you would use the Control key.

One thing many new Mac users can’t get used to right away is closing a document or program. On a Mac you click on the X button, which is located on the right side of the page. On a Mac it’s the little red dot located on the left side of the page. Even though you click the red button to close the document, the program isn’t closed. To completely close the program, click on program name and click “Quit.” You can also do Apple/Command and Q as a shortcut.

The biggest difference is the price. Most PCs can range between $400 and $1,500 depending on which brand you get and what features you want on the PC. A Mac computer stars at about $1,100 and can go up to about $3,000.

There are many differences between a Macintosh Computer and a PC. It all comes down to preferences and which one will work best for your lifestyle.  Fortunately your media files are safe with either choice when you use open source freeware such as VLC, Media Player, KM Player or BS Player as many of them will work on either operating system and with many different formats.

Trying to predict how technology will change television is, at this point, difficult. With so many rapid technological changes in such a short period of time, nobody can say for sure what kind of television we’ll be watching in 10 years. One thing, however, is certain: at least for the near future, the Internet and television seem to be merging.

With companies like NetFlix taking over the DVD mailing industry and their continuous effort to ensure that every home computer with Internet access has the ability to stream content, couch potatoes the world over rebelled and demanded the ability to watch online content from their perspective couch.

Of course, now consoles like Wii can enable your television to access the Internet to stream NetFlix and to browse, if somewhat archaically, the Internet. Now the merge between Internet and television is being pushed one more step forward, but while any online video surfer can tell you how difficult it is to find good quality videos and television, companies are racing to bridge that gap.

Companies such as Boxee are forging ahead to merge television and the Internet, and until Google can catch up and improve their video and programming search results, Boxee remains ahead. Their device acts as a bridge between your television and the Internet so you can bypass the Wii or other console. They purport to have in excess of 40,000 television shows and movies ready instantly for viewing, with no tedious searching.

Nobody can be certain how television will change, but people will continue to demand high quality living room entertainment. If this means that one day our televisions will be portals to the holosuite, or if some other wonderful technology arises to change television as we know it, there will be some form of home entertainment. For now, however, the race seems to be on who can be the leader in successfully merging television with all the capabilities of the Internet.

Smaller-sized LCD LED TVs will become a trend in the near future because of the cost benefits, but also because they are more environmentally friendly. People have reportedly begun buying these devices for kitchens, dorms, and even their home garages because they are so affordable.

TVs with internet connectivity will continue to be popular in stores because they are the future, and everyone knows it. They will easily replace the functions of desktop computers, as the huge screens work as monitors with simple Ethernet plugs. The next time you want to talk to grandma as a family, set up the call to broadcast from your TV with Skype. People will begin using their TVs for web cams, browsing, and especially for video streaming.

Can TVs get any thinner? In fact, yes. Because of the wonders of LED technology, you can expect to see TVs as thin as 6.6 millimeters in stores in 2011. They will be much more sensitive to heat and damages, but they will also be much more subtle and picture-frame-like.

Although 3-D TVs made a mark in the mainstream already, they have been re-developed due to low interest and prohibitive prices. LG, Panasonic, and Samsung are developing new 3-D home TV technology, which will still be expensive, and will still have very few compatible DVDs and movies to interface with, but will be even more amazing to look at. Toshiba thinks that its new technology will turn everything on the television 3-D, even if it’s live, regular programming.

Taking its hints from Wii manufacturers, LG is developing television remotes which will interact with programs the way the popular game remote does. It will have a second, small LED LCD for channel previews, and lots of other features to earn the name “Magic Remote.” With all these advancements in television technology, it’s easy to imagine a technology-packed future.

Let’s face it. Television has gotten incredibly expensive. Once upon a time, there was an antenna on top of the house and maybe a set of rabbit ears with a wad of aluminum foil and your dad’s wedding ring hanging from them. All three channels were free! No choices, no major technology. Today there are hundreds of channels and none of it is free anymore. At least, not for the up to the minute TV fan. However, it’s worth looking into Internet TV versus satellite TV.

Satellite television offers multiple packages that can bring you about 150 channels, but nothing too good. In fact, the local channels won’t even be included. For more money, movies and local channels and the really good stuff can be added. A satellite TV bill can easily be over $100 a month. The advantage is the seemingly unlimited choice of channels. If TV is an important part of a household, by all means, satellites are the way to go.

If TV access, but not necessarily the very latest on TV, are good enough, Internet TV can be very satisfying for hardly any cost. Most major networks air their shows on their websites. A good Internet connection can make the programs smooth and easy to watch. Today’s wide monitors, as well as advancements in superior graphics, make them easy to watch, too. Movies can be downloaded. Some websites are set up like television stations. Hulu.com is a good example. There’s the free stuff and then there’s the subscription stuff. It’s all sitting out there on the Internet, thus transforming a computer monitor into a television.

Some technically savvy homeowners will figure out how to make advancements in computer technology and television technology work together, and they’ll link the two so that the big screen TV can do what it’s supposed to do without a satellite. Money and choice. Those are the factors. Make the decision from there.

Television technology has been taken into the realm of three-dimensional (3D) technology, which was recently brought back into theaters. Many manufacturers started creating screens that could show 3D movies if you wore a special pair of glasses that came with the film or that you purchased at the store.

This has been an exciting entertainment option for film lovers who also can now access the same technology through the web. The next step, as has now been shown, is to go without the glasses and still be able to take in a film in three dimensions.

Sony has showcased its latest advancement with a television screen that does not require the glasses to get the 3D effect. The flat screen allows the effect to go across the entire screen, and it does not diminish as you go farther to one side or the other. The LED screen was showcased on a 46-inch screen. The technology is still in the development stage, though, and is projected to be out in the next one to two years. This is exciting for moviegoers who will be able to download a 3D film and play it instantly on the television.

As this technology becomes more and more integrated into digital media, the possibilities are endless for consumers. Computer screens are also moving toward more 3D effects, which will be extremely popular with the general public. This technology has now become the norm in film production and should soon come into other areas, such as television shows and even commercials.

Those wanting to wait to purchase a new set should consider hanging back for a while until these new screens are on the market. The large size and excellent graphics will make for a truly entertaining evening at home for you and the entire family.