Been solved and in the future it would be possible via satellite and cable TV to use more channels on a TV set at every home in the world.
Then we saw how a new technical invention, colour television, was rapidly replacing black-and-white television. Recently it was reported that the first pocket-size3 colour television set had been developed. It was stated that a liquid-crystal display4 was used similar to those on calculators and watches and that it weighed less than a pound.
A few years ago it became evident that the next major advance for TV would be digital television. In a digital system the usual continuous signal is replaced by a digital code containing detailed information on brightness, colour, etc. A digital TV set hangs on the wall like a picture. Essentially, it is a minicomputer with a visual display. Once a week5 you put the programs you like into the memory, and the TV set will automatically switch on the desired channel at the right time. You can watch several programs simultaneously on miniscreens and then produce one of them in full format. Also, the TV set can automatically video-record the programs when you are absent or occupied.
By the end of 1980s television has moved to a new and the most important stage in its development since the appearance of colour television. Technically it is called high-definition television (HDTV)6 or Hi-Vision. This is the much higher resolution television7 of the 21st century. This revolution was started by Japanese manufacturers when they developed a new video system with a picture resembling a wide-screen film more than traditional television. The new system increases the screen's width-to-height ratio8 (16:9). The result is a picture several times sharper than in the existing TV sets. Besides, recent developments in plasma display panel technology9 make HDTV commercially practicable. The plasma display makes it possible to produce a large, bright, colour, flat TV screen so thin and light that it can also be hung on a wall like a framed picture. The engineering problem that has existed almost since the first days of television may be solved now.