What Is Cable Television? Cable television is a type of delivery system for video programming. It is provided by a cable operator to people that pay for it - called “subscribers”. The video program is sent to the subscriber’s television using coaxial cable or fiber optics. Cable companies often use coaxial cable to transmit or send television shows to your television. Coaxial cable is a wire with a stiff copper as the core, surrounded by an insulating material to protect the wire. This insulation is covered by a conductor, which often consists of a closely woven braided mesh. The conductor allows the video signal to move through the coaxial cable and into your television set. The conductor is protected by a plastic covering.
Fiber Optic lines or optical fibers can also be used as a delivery system for cable video programming. They are made of glass, which is made from sand or silicon and other, inexpensive raw material. The glass used for modern fibers is so transparent that if the oceans were full of it instead of water, the seabed would be as visible from the surface as the ground is visible from an airplane on a clear day. Video programming can also be delivered without a wire via satellite "cable television" under the Commission's definitions.
Why is the 555 exchange used on television shows? You may have noticed that, when characters in television shows use a telephone number the prefix is always 555. 555 is used only on television shows and is not a prefix to a real telephone number. This “fake” prefix ensures that a viewer can not dial the number and bother the subscriber to whom that telephone number is assigned. Fictitious numbers for movies and television use 555-0100 to 555-0199. Before the 555 exchange was established, prefixes such as GRAMERCY, PLAZA or KLONDIKE were used.
What is a V-Chip? The V-chip is a technology that lets parents block television programming they don't want their children to watch. http://www.fcc.gov/parents/
How does a V-Chip work? The V-Chip electronically reads television-programming ratings and allows parents to block programs they believe are unsuitable for their children. (Ratings appear in the corner of your television screen during the first 15 seconds of a program and in TV programming guides). This rating is encoded into the program, and the V-chip technology reads the encoded information and blocks shows accordingly. Using the remote control, parents can program the V-chip to block certain shows based on their ratings.
What is Digital Television (DTV)? Digital Television is a new system of bringing TV signals to your TV set. The DTV signals sent
from TV stations are in digital modulation format rather than in the analog modulation format which has been used since
television began. You can see digital TV sets on sale at most electronics and large appliance stores right now. They are
the ones with the wide screens similar in shape to the screen in a movie theater. Most of these DTV sets are still pretty
expensive but the prices are coming down rapidly. DTV allows TV stations to provide you with new and different services
that were not available with the old analog system. Probably the most important DTV service is the delivery to your home
of High Definition TV (HDTV) signals. Pictures on a DTV set with an HDTV signal provide you with an unusually bright,
clear, sharp and lifelike picture in a wide screen format with surround sound audio capability. All full-power TV broadcast
stations were required to switch from analog to digital broadcasting by June 12, 2009.
What is unacceptable language for radio and television? It is a violation of federal law to broadcast obscene programming at any time. It is also a violation of federal law to broadcast indecent programming during certain hours. Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the responsibility for administratively enforcing the law that governs these types of broadcasts. The Commission may revoke a station license, impose a monetary forfeiture, or issue a warning, for the broadcast of obscene or indecent material. www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html
What is Obscene Speech? Obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment and cannot be broadcast at any time. To be obscene, material must meet a three-prong test: (1) an average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) the material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and (3) the material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
More info... Note: This feature is for educational purposes only. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the FCC. The results of the survey will not be used in any FCC proceeding without notice.
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