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Lots of people talk these days about digital television, but very few actually know what is the difference between analog and digital television. Actually the only difference is the way the signal is transmitted. Analog television signal is transmitted very much like radio signals. The video signal of analog television is AM, and the audio is FM. Because of this, there can be annoying interferences in the signal, depending on meteorological conditions or geographical location.

If this is not enough, certain bandwidths are assigned to analog TV channels, and this means the resolution and image quality are restricted. In the United States, the analog TV signal is NTSC. This standard had been adopted after the end of World War II, and it is a good system, but it was not engineered with color TV broadcasting in mind. Color implementation into the NTSC format is a weakness of this standard, and this is why many professionals call the NTSC standard "Never Twice The Same Color".

On the other hand digital TV signal is transmitted very similar to computer data: there are two kinds of signal, "on" or "off". This way, the user either sees an image, or not. Gradual signal loss is an unknown term in the era of digital TV: it has no difference how close or how far away the transmitter is from the television, the viewer either sees the exact image, or sees nothing.

Digital format was thought with all the main factors of present-day television signals in mind: B/W, color and audio can be transmitted as interlaced or progressive signal. This means the signal content has greater integrity and flexibility.

Another advantage is that because digital TV signal consists of "bits", the same bandwidth one analog TV signal requires can host not only higher quality digital image, but there will be extra space left, which can be used for extra video, audio or text signals.

Because of this, viewers can have a lot of extra features like surround sound, multiple language audio or text using the same bandwidth the standard analog TV signal requires. Digital television is also able to transmit signal for HDTV's that become more and more popular these days.

Digital technology is also able to broadcast programs in true wide screen (16×9) format. The shape of the picture is like a movie screen, so there will be no black bars on the top and the bottom of the image. This way movies can be viewed exactly the same way filmmakers intended to be seen. Sports fans will also love the 16×9 format, because this allows them to see the whole length of a football field.

Digital transition in the United States took place on June 12, 2009. On this date all analog TV signals went dead, and every analog television became useless without an analog-to-digital converter. Originally the digital transition was scheduled to 2006, but authorities postponed it because they were afraid the consumers are not ready.

Edward McKellen is an HDTV expert who writes television reviews for HDTVreviewlab.com. To read our latest HDTV review – The Samsung UN55B7000 LED HDTV or check out the latest Toshiba HDTV reviews visit HDTVreviewlab.com