Heidi Game

TV sets are all about screen size, speed, and another thing to consider is the refresh rate.  Exponential advances in technology have changed the entire industry.  Last year I upgraded to a 4K Ultra HD TV, which is four times the resolution of Full HD, because the prices had dropped.  Now the 8K Ultra HD is on the market and 8K refers to the resolution of the display.  While 4K is 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, 8K moves up to 7,680 x 4,320, or 33 million pixels.  That means there are 7,680 pixels on the horizontal axis and 4,320 on the vertical.  Basic math seems to say that 8K would provide double the resolution of 4K, but that isn’t the case, because we are working in two dimensions here, with both horizontal lines and vertical lines, so it actually ends up giving you 16 times the pixels of HD and four times the pixels of 4K.

It is shocking that people will actually buy 98-inch TV sets and they are willing to pay up to $70,00 for these large 8K displays, especially since 8K quality movies don’t exist yet.  Refresh rate is how often a TV changes the image, this is the number time times per second (written in hertz, or Hz) a TV refreshes its image.  Movies are almost always filmed 24 frames per second, or 24Hz.  Live TV shows are at 30 or 60.  Most TVs refresh at 60, some higher-end models at 120.  60 Hz has a time interval of 1/(60 Hz) = 0.016 ̅  seconds and 120 Hz = 1/(120Hz) = 0.0083 ̅  seconds.  A higher number usually means the TV can keep up with the action better.

Television has long been a staple of entertainment and today’s consumers can watch whatever they want, whenever they want.  Digitalization which is the process of converting information into a digital format, in which the information is organized into bits, has changed TV forever.  The cable TV industry became very popular, because it gave people the freedom to watch shows without commercial interruptions and pause and restart their programs at their own discretion.  I enjoy watching shows on Netflix, because instead of waiting a week between episodes and sitting through commercials, I can binge watch what I want and have a truly uninterrupted experience.  Consumer expectations and usage habits are changing rapidly and having a smart TV allows users to stream videos and music, browse the Internet, and view photos.

Today we can purchase and download our favorite shows via multiple services and providers, and we can store our video in the cloud and then watch it on almost any device from any location.  It’s all done through an ever-growing marketplace of TV apps and these apps are capable of turning nearly every device we own into a TV screen, allowing us to have the TV anywhere experience.  Cable TV set top devices which contain a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the source signal into content in a form that can then be displayed on the television screen or other display device are becoming more like IP devices.

Much like the battle between AC & DC current a century ago, the battle between plasma and LCD televisions raged on for several years, but in the aftermath, they both ended up being losers.  It is a shame that my sister bought that large plasma TV before the LED TV’s came along, as that homely monstrosity is so heavy that it takes four people to move it.  I will always have tender memories of watching football on TV with my dad, not because I was drinking hot chocolate from cups and saucers, but this is the way that we bonded.  I remember when he flipped out when we were watching the Heidi Game in 1968 which was played between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Interval, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Sister, for the Daily Spur prompt – Shame, for FOWC with Fandango – Popular, for December Writing Prompts – Cups and saucers, for Ragtag Community – Aftermath, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Tender Shocking Homely and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Freedom.