Europe is currently transitioning to digital terrestrial television and is aimed to replace all analog infrastructures by 2012. Besides replacing all broadcasting networks in Europe, the transition requires updating household televisions and antennas. As with any major change, public administrations must keep citizens informed and provide support, especially when dealing with a communication me...

Did you know there are more television sets in the world than there are telephones? Even the television professionals find it hard to believe. However the statistics prove it to be true; according to official figures from the International Telecommunication Union there were 565 million telephones in 1983, and 600 million television sets. Other figures are just as impressive: in Belgium, from 19...

Today’s interactive television systems are using proprietary communication protocols and interchange formats. To provide interoperability at the application level the next generation of interactive television system will be based on standardized communication protocols, monomedia and multimedia formats. This paper presents the Globally Accessible Services (GLASS) system which is a prototype int...

Issues on the role of television as a medium of education and persuasion, apart from entertainment and information gathering have been widely discussed and debated by researchers in the past (see for example, Zajonc 1968, Tan, Fujioka & Tan 2001, Mastro & Tropp 2004). In this case, television is seen as a medium that is capable of positively educating and influencing the attitudes and mindset o...

The present television system was designed nearly 50 years ago. Since then, there have been significant developments in technology, which are highly relevant to the television industries. For example, advances in the very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) technology and signal processing theories make it feasible to incorporate frame-store memory and sophisticated signal processing capabilities in...

Only 17 per cent of French households received digital television in 2002. Hence, for public authorities, digital terrestrial television (DTTV) is mainly a means to stimulate the development of digital television. However, cable and satellite operators (TF1, M6 and Canal Plus), which have been designated as leaders of the DTTV process, are reluctant, as they view DTTV as a competitor to their e...

OBJECTIVES This study assessed the claim that children's television use interferes with time spent in more developmentally appropriate activities. METHODS Data came from the first wave of the Child Development Supplement, a nationally representative sample of children aged 0 to 12 in 1997 (N = 1712). Twenty-four-hour time-use diaries from 1 randomly chosen weekday and 1 randomly chosen weeken...

OBJECTIVE The goal was to quantify television viewing in day care settings and to investigate the characteristics of programs that predict viewing. METHODS A telephone survey of licensed child care programs in Michigan, Washington, Florida, and Massachusetts was performed. The frequency and quantity of television viewing for infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children were assessed. RESU...

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this research was to study whether a fastpaced television show immediately influences preschool-aged children’s executive function (eg, self-regulation, working memory). METHODS: Sixty 4-year-olds were randomly assigned to watch a fastpaced television cartoon or an educational cartoon or draw for 9 minutes. They were then given 4 tasks tapping executive function, includin...