Comcast Makes Continual Upgrades to Cable TV

Cable TV has had a less than stellar reputation in the past, but there are some things
that cable is doing (and has done) that make cable TV worth looking into again.  The
most basic thing that has been done was to embrace digital TV technology.  This may
seem pretty elementary, but it actually has some pretty far reaching implications.  For
example, using digital TV to transmit TV programming has the benefit of allowing each
video stream to be compressed so that it takes up less bandwidth.  When each channel
takes up less bandwidth, a cable TV company can fit more channels over the existing
cable infrastructure without having to replace it or add more cables. This compression
technology makes cable company able to provide over three hundred channels, making
it at least as good as any satellite TV service.

Another thing that digital TV allows cable to do is to provide a better picture.  Any time
that TV is transmitted it picks up a certain amount of interference.  Even if it happens to
be transmitted over buried cables, it still picks up the interference of cosmic rays or
something.  This inevitable interference translates into a fuzzy picture for any video
that¡¯s been transmitted more than a couple of hundred feet over a cable.  The good
thing about digital TV is that a digital cable receiver can tell the difference between
interference and the real signal, making it easy to clean all of that picture ruining crud
out of the signal.  The same thing works for sound too.

Digital TV also allows companies to provide access to other technologies as well.  For
example, it¡¯s now possible to provide an interactive on screen program guide with
digital TV to allow viewers to see what¡¯s available for them to watch at any given time.  It
even includes descriptions of the TV shows and movies that you have to choose from.
Digital TV also makes parental control software available as well.  Parental control
software can be programmed to filter out specific types of programming that you may
not want your kids to view.  Then, before each program comes on, the software will
check to see that it meets your criteria before allowing it to be displayed.

Digital TV also forms the basis for higher tech features like HDTV.  HDTV is a great new
way to watch TV because it provides an even sharper picture than regular digital TV
along with a great sound format. Cable is taking advantage of digital technology in
another way with the implementation of Switched Digital Video.  Switched Digital Video
is a new technology that will allow cable to provide a virtually unlimited number of
channels- including HDTV channels- by making even better use of existing bandwidth.