With a firm press of the power button the set flashes to life.  It scans for channels and maybe brings up a electronic guide so you can navigate through all the available programming.  After a quick scan, you decide to try out a documentary on National Parks in Africa.

Your first impression is a picture that looks incredibly real. Every detail is revealed with amazing clarity.  You're looking over your shoulder for wildlife because the 5.1 channel sound makes it seem like you're there on the Serengeti.  Your favorite nature programs are now more real and educational.

Next, you decide to catch up on the news.  A box pops up asking you which stocks to follow, where to check for weather conditions, which college basketball scores to list, and which stories to read more about.  Watching the news just became a personalized report.

Your kids take a seat with you on the couch, so you switch to the local Public Broadcasting channel, and choose children's programming from the four multi-casting selections.  The other three selections are showing Norm starting a carpentry project, Julia baking some pastries, and a documentary about New Guinea.  You and your kids play some learning games with Big Bird, replay the sing-along a few times, and then print out a picture for coloring together.  Your kids are learning by doing.

It's time to check out your favorite movie channel.  Hollywood's best are shown as they were meant to be seen.  Your new television shows the whole picture and surround-sound brings the action to life.  The picture quality looks just like you see in the theater, minus the nasty scratch marks on week-old film.  You'll want to see all your favorite movies over again.

For the last five decades, television has changed the way we see the world and how we learn and communicate.  However, the basic technology of the television has not changed with the advances in communications developed in the last few decades.  Digital television will change how we look and listen to TV.

Digital is not just a trend.  Everything in terms of communication will be converted to digital--it is the wave of the future.  A step beyond digital TV is High Definition Television (HDTV).  This next step is to incorporate your television set into a monitor as well, so that you get two for the price of one.

True, there are only about 100 people in all the US that has the privalege of owning one as we speak.  The small production of HDTVs is due to the nearly nonexistant broadcasting of digital signals by the networks.  Few networks are offering these services because they are not required to as of yet.  But in the near future, analog will be out and digital will have its monopoly of the industry.
 

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