Do online videos lower the standard of television?

Over time it has become easier for the public to upload illegal pirate films. More and more websites are being created, allowing us to watch and upload. Although we all know it is wrong, we all appreciate and enjoy watching films for free, even if it is bad quality. Websites such as; www.freemooviesonline.com allow us to do this, these pages give us the chance to watch nearly any film ever released, it also gives us the chance to rate these films and give them a percentage, to help others to see the best version of the film. I personally think that these films do no harm to television production, they are available to watch in a poor quality, therefore people watch them before they come out on DVD or if they cannot afford to buy, the only people that this will affect are those that gain a profit from DVD sales, but television standards as a whole will not be affected.

Other websites such as; Youtube, allow us to upload any video we want to. Domestic or professional. People can create their own page on youtube and upload their home made video’s. Often people create a blog as well, and a weekly video show. A new video is uploaded every week to discuss things mentioned on their blog. Many people watch these only for entertainment and enjoyments, and really look forward to the following weeks upload. The quality of the films and clips uploaded onto youtube are of all different qualities, many are filmed on digital camera (8-12mp) however quite a few are filmed on an average webcam (1.3mp) these videos are homemade therefore nobody expects amazing high definition quality when watching them, they are enjoyed by the public whatever quality, and I for one think it’s a great thing that there is some proof that our nation doesn’t need the brand new, high definition quality cameras to enjoy a good clip. As technology is increasing it seems to me that society is taking a lot for granted, as we are changing our televisions to plasma screens in HD, buying brand new blue ray players to play blue ray DVD’s I find that we aren’t appreciating what is actually playing out of our high definition plasma screens, which is what youtube is showing us. Youtube is showing that quality doesn’t matter, there is no way youtube is lowering the standards. However a television programme being created around youtube is lowering standards. Youtube is a chance for anyone in the world to express their emotions and feelings and give other people a chance to appreciate their videos for free. I don’t agree with the fact that somehow the television industry is making money from showing everybody’s free online home video’s on television. This to me, show desperation for a new television channel, and defiantly lowers the standards of television by mixing online entertainment with television entertainment. 

Like I mentioned previously it is not the quality of video’s and clips  that is entertaining and enjoyable to watch. For example; many films have been created using a lower quality camera, to give the effect of a home movie, films such as; the Blairwitch project, and paranormal activity. Both films were huge and watched by almost everyone, these cameras were used with hand held shot almost all the way through each film.

Overall, in my opinion I believe that television standards are not dependent on the proffesionalism or quality of programmes or films, therefore i do not agree that online video's lower the standards of television.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

How has he digital world changed?

Over the years, television has developed from a leisure entertainment system into a necessity of everybody’s day to day lives. Television went from black and white, having just three channels, to having thousands of channels in colour, HD, on demand and available to watch from almost anywhere. The 4 ways in which we watch television, through are tv screens are; terrestrial tv, cable tv, satellite tv and digital tv.

Terrestrial television is the basic channels 1,2,3,4 and 5. That come with every television, the signals are broadcast from a terrestrial satellite. There are so many other television platforms that are used now; sky is a popular one, along with, bt vision, virgin media, digital television and free sat.

This provides us with thousands of different channels to watch television.  However, this isn’t enough, we then invented ‘on demand’ giving us the chance to catch up on our favourite shows via the internet. Then sky plus, and free sat enable us to record our favourite shows and come back to watch them. However this still isn’t all, our mobiles now allow us to watch television through our phones. With this many channels, the chance to record and the chance to catch up whenever we want you would think this would be enough for everybody. However once we had enough channels, we then enhanced the quality of channels, creating channel 4 HD, BBC HD, giving us the chance to watch certain channels in high definition.

The internet has become one of the most popular ways of viewing television, it gives us the chance to watch a programme we have missed online, via their own personal website for example; BBC I Player, and Channel4 OD. These websites only give us the chance to view programmes a month old, however other websites have clips that the public have uploaded in order for other members of the public to watch and enjoy for free. For example; you tube has many programmes available to watch any time. Other websites allow us to watch films free online before they are out on DVD, such as; www.freemoviesonline.com. The internet allows us to interact in our own time, giving us the chance to watch our programmes when we want to, as well as advertising other programmes for us to watch, and giving us the chance to have a look at other television listings for the week. There is so much to do online, the list is endless. Hundreds of pages on the net have been created and devoted to old television shows such as; Hanna Barbera. These websites provide plot summaries, and still frames of every episode ever made. There are so may official and unofficial websites linked and created about television programmes and characters. These pages give information, news, television publicity, cable and broadcast schedules, contest and competitions and histories about favourite programmes and channels. The Microsoft corporation has obtained stakes in media entertainment and television networks. Microsoft then joined a deal with the black entertainment television network, with the DreamWorks company owned by Speilberg, Katzenburg and Geffen.

Most mobile phones now include internet searching; having the internet on our mobile phones gives us the chance to do everything I’ve mentioned above literally from the palm of our hands. Giving us the chance to watch whatever we want, from wherever in the world.

Most television channels allow us to interact using ‘the red button’ this gives the viewer the chance to actually interact and get involved. By pressing the interactive button it gives us the chance to watch extra programmes, and enter competition, as well as finding out extra information and news.

Video cameras are used for moving imagery, developed and created by the television industry. The BBC were the first to use a video camera. Video cameras are used for two purposes, the first being; for live broadcast, where the image is immediately broadcast to the television screens, with up to a 3 second delay. The second is to have the images saved onto a device; the camcorder would save on to video tape, to enable to be played in a VCR.

Digital cameras are used to take videos or still photographs, digital cameras allow us to be able to view and delete the videos or photographs whenever we like, we are often given the chance to crop and zoom in on already taken footage. Digital cameras are also incorporated into camera phones.

Cameras have developed over the years, therefore making the quality of television and film develop also. Cameras have become much more high tech with a larger mega pixel to the previous, allowing us to watch television on larger screens with better quality. HD cameras are now often used, allowing us to watch television in high definition, and also special cameras that allow us to film a programme of film twice creating a 3D effect.

History of television

Mechanical television was started back to 1873 by the discovery of photoconductivity of the element selenium by Willoughby Smith. In 1884, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow invented the scanning dick, and 1926 when John Logie Baird demonstrated television by moving imagery. The first electromechanical television system was proposed by Paul Nipkow. Nipkow was a 23 year old university student from Germany, interested and fascinated by the development of television. Nipkow had never built a working model before, however his scanning disk was becoming very common; (in use until 1939) he proposed this electromechanical television with the visions of building it himself. Constantin Perkskyi had used television in a paper of his in 1900, mentioning the existing electromechanical technologies, Nipkow’s work and proposal also mentioned.Back in the 1900’s, in 1908 to be precise, it was A.A Campbell-Swinton that gave proposals of a television electrical system. He was the first man to envisage this sort of electronic device; he opened the first radiographic lab in Britain in 1896. Swinton studied radiography at Fettes College; he was one of the first in the world to study this unusual topic. In 1911, Swinton attended a presidential lecture and expanded on his proposal for an electronic television device. It wasn’t then until 1915 that Swinton’s television system was featured in Hugo Gernsback’s magazine, ‘Electrical Experimenter’ Back in 1926, the B.B.C broadcast television transmissions to experiment with the transmitting devises, they were broadcast back to their own devices and machines, as the public didn’t have the equipment essentially needed, to receive the signals. The broadcasting experimentation meant that the B.B.C now knew they could transmit signals to broadcast. The experimentation progressed and development commenced. In 1932 the BBC starts 30-line tests using Baird’s system. After three years of experimental transitions within The Baird Studios, the B.B.C took of the studio side of the work. In 1934 the British government selected a committee to query the feasibility of setting up a television service. The committee also looked at the conditions that would have to be set with such a service. A report was filed, and the results were issued as a government white paper in January 1935. The BBC was then given the responsibility of developing television, transmitting a minimum of 240 lines with no less than 25 pictures per second.

When television was first created the video technology was developed for cathode ray tube television systems. As television has urbanized and developed over the years, so have new technologies for video devices, television set standards, and computer monitors also. Digital video formats for moving image have also evolved. Video can now be recorded and transmitted using different formats, in magnetic tape when recorded as; PAL or NTSC on video cameras. Or in an MPEG-4 or DV format when recorded on digital cameras.

The quality of the video is dependant on the format used. Different parts of the world use different formats when recording moving imagery.

PAL, SECAM, and NTSC are all video formats that are used around the world.

PAL stands for, Phase Alternating Line, it is a video analogue encoding system. PAL is used all over the world.

NTSC (national television system committee) is also used all over the world. NTSC receivers have a colour tint control to enable people to control and change the colour manually to suit their own choice. The PAL standard however doesn’t have a tint control, the system cancels hue errors automatically leaving a tint control unessential.