I should like to come into this more on the technical side and see how it fits with society. To begin I'll relate the development of TV systems in our household over the last 20 years.


In the early 2000s, we had TVs in various parts of the house, mostly linked to video cassette recorders, so programmes recorded in one place could be viewed in another if necessary. Our aerial fed into a satellite receiver, thence to the RF distribution amplifier, so satellite channels could be viewed in many parts of the house if desired. (In fact it still works this way, though of course not in high definition.)


From 2008, DVD recorders started to replace VCRs. I was not concerned at the time that some of the TV sets were becoming fairly elderly - they worked and of course the DVD recorders gave them the ability to screen the new digital channels.


In 2012, when the so-called digital switchover reached us, we purchased two new flat-screen TVs. The emphasis had now switched to modernising the TV set-up, and we purchased a third smart TV more recently. The arrangement of recording on DVDs in many parts of the house was now showing itself as limited. It was not convenient to record in various places and much of the time was spent poring over the Radio Times working out what could be put on the available space on each disk. And of course this did not take advantage of the high definition capabilities of the newer TVs.


From 2017 I started the first stage of wiring the house for Ethernet  This provided a fast and reliable link between the study computer and my laptop, but I also had in mind that this had the capability to carry HD TV pictures. We now have it in many parts of the house, as well as a strong Wi-Fi signal in most places.


Quite recently this year, a DVD recorder failed. This was the prompt to move the technology forward


We now have a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), with DLNA capability. It has a huge capacity hard drive and acts as a server.  TVs elsewhere in the house can connect through the network to it, as well as to the computer in the study, and view programmes stored there. It is much easier to program this central point than to fiddle with DVD recorders round the house, and of course easier to watch these recordings. We are now here as a result of planning and gradual upgrading over previous years.


I have not found compact discs and digital versatile discs to be reliable as archiving media; they deteriorate after a few years, even if stored unused in the dark. My current hopes are based on SD cards. They are useful as backup media for MP4 files stored on computer disk and are handy portable devices, which can plug into to smart TVs, PVRs, etc.


So now we have smart TVs, which can interface with the Internet, handle various vision standards and do many wonderful things as well as the basic reception of broadcast programmes. We have come a long way since Logie. How has society adapted to these developments, which will be successful and what of the future? I have chosen three technologies.

Stereo sound

This has been available on radio broadcasts since the early 1970s, and latterly on analogue TV using the NICAM system. We now have it on digital TV. But I reckon only a very tiny portion of listening is actually done in stereo. To do so on TV to good effect you need to send the sound signal to an amplifier feeding two speakers with the TV in between. I have a set-up like this in our lounge but the number of other homes where I have seen this I could count with the fingers of one hand. I am sure, and hope, that stereo broadcasting will continue but I don't see much increase in uptake.

High definition, and beyond

You would not believe (or would you perhaps?) the number of people with HD TVs who do not use the HD to full benefit. They stick to old ways - programmes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. for BBC1, BBC2, etc. thus viewing in standard definition. This is not made any easier by Sky, where programme 101, BBC1 HD on Freeview, is BBC1 standard on Sky. BBC1 HD on Sky is obscurely assigned to programme 115, well out of reach. If you were to believe Dr Digital in Radio Times, you would think that the "In Thing" is now Ultra High Definition (4K). There is however no commonly available broadcast service for this technology and it relies on portable media. It needs a very large screen to show any real advantage over HD, and in most households this would be either impracticable or over-intrusive. Having only recently realised the full potential of HD in our household, I am not yet enthusiastic to the idea of spending a lot more money on a technology that I would have very little use of.

Three dimensions

Pictures in three dimensions have been around for quite a while and new technologies have been introduced. The difficulty in this taking off has been even greater than that of UHD. Few people are prepared to spend a vast sum of money on a receiver when so little programme material is available. I personally am quite keen on 3D; it adds so much to the picture and I believe, and hope, that one day, despite earlier false starts, it will eventually take off.


Summing up, it seems to me that society is quite some way behind technology.

I should like to come into this more on the technical side and see how it fits with society. To begin I'll relate the development of TV systems in our household over the last 20 years.


In the early 2000s, we had TVs in various parts of the house, mostly linked to video cassette recorders, so programmes recorded in one place could be viewed in another if necessary. Our aerial fed into a satellite receiver, thence to the RF distribution amplifier, so satellite channels could be viewed in many parts of the house if desired. (In fact it still works this way, though of course not in high definition.)


From 2008, DVD recorders started to replace VCRs. I was not concerned at the time that some of the TV sets were becoming fairly elderly - they worked and of course the DVD recorders gave them the ability to screen the new digital channels.


In 2012, when the so-called digital switchover reached us, we purchased two new flat-screen TVs. The emphasis had now switched to modernising the TV set-up, and we purchased a third smart TV more recently. The arrangement of recording on DVDs in many parts of the house was now showing itself as limited. It was not convenient to record in various places and much of the time was spent poring over the Radio Times working out what could be put on the available space on each disk. And of course this did not take advantage of the high definition capabilities of the newer TVs.


From 2017 I started the first stage of wiring the house for Ethernet  This provided a fast and reliable link between the study computer and my laptop, but I also had in mind that this had the capability to carry HD TV pictures. We now have it in many parts of the house, as well as a strong Wi-Fi signal in most places.


Quite recently this year, a DVD recorder failed. This was the prompt to move the technology forward


We now have a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), with DLNA capability. It has a huge capacity hard drive and acts as a server.  TVs elsewhere in the house can connect through the network to it, as well as to the computer in the study, and view programmes stored there. It is much easier to program this central point than to fiddle with DVD recorders round the house, and of course easier to watch these recordings. We are now here as a result of planning and gradual upgrading over previous years.


I have not found compact discs and digital versatile discs to be reliable as archiving media; they deteriorate after a few years, even if stored unused in the dark. My current hopes are based on SD cards. They are useful as backup media for MP4 files stored on computer disk and are handy portable devices, which can plug into to smart TVs, PVRs, etc.


So now we have smart TVs, which can interface with the Internet, handle various vision standards and do many wonderful things as well as the basic reception of broadcast programmes. We have come a long way since Logie. How has society adapted to these developments, which will be successful and what of the future? I have chosen three technologies.

Stereo sound

This has been available on radio broadcasts since the early 1970s, and latterly on analogue TV using the NICAM system. We now have it on digital TV. But I reckon only a very tiny portion of listening is actually done in stereo. To do so on TV to good effect you need to send the sound signal to an amplifier feeding two speakers with the TV in between. I have a set-up like this in our lounge but the number of other homes where I have seen this I could count with the fingers of one hand. I am sure, and hope, that stereo broadcasting will continue but I don't see much increase in uptake.

High definition, and beyond

You would not believe (or would you perhaps?) the number of people with HD TVs who do not use the HD to full benefit. They stick to old ways - programmes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. for BBC1, BBC2, etc. thus viewing in standard definition. This is not made any easier by Sky, where programme 101, BBC1 HD on Freeview, is BBC1 standard on Sky. BBC1 HD on Sky is obscurely assigned to programme 115, well out of reach. If you were to believe Dr Digital in Radio Times, you would think that the "In Thing" is now Ultra High Definition (4K). There is however no commonly available broadcast service for this technology and it relies on portable media. It needs a very large screen to show any real advantage over HD, and in most households this would be either impracticable or over-intrusive. Having only recently realised the full potential of HD in our household, I am not yet enthusiastic to the idea of spending a lot more money on a technology that I would have very little use of.

Three dimensions

Pictures in three dimensions have been around for quite a while and new technologies have been introduced. The difficulty in this taking off has been even greater than that of UHD. Few people are prepared to spend a vast sum of money on a receiver when so little programme material is available. I personally am quite keen on 3D; it adds so much to the picture and I believe, and hope, that one day, despite earlier false starts, it will eventually take off.


Summing up, it seems to me that society is quite some way behind technology.