| 520 |
|
|
|b Introduction & Research Problem: Similar to the rest of the world, the Egyptian people now are more eager and welling than ever before to depend on various sorts of visual services and visual information resources, especially television. Today, many Egyptian viewers are receiving their news, entertainment, education, religion, etc. through television screens. Moreover, the Egyptian markets are full now with many new types and endless brands of television displays available for the Egyptian viewer to buy. Flat panel widescreen televisions, as an example, represent today a large share of the home television viewing market in Egypt with more people adopting them every day and discarding their old traditional televisions. These important changes in the way Egyptian people are using and treating television are taking place side by side with the Egyptian Government's preparation to convert the terrestrial analogue television broadcasting to a digital one "i.e., DTV." A conversion that is expected to affect every television household in Egypt. For example, and besides enhancing the quality of the television picture delivered to Egyptian viewers, the potential of "DTV" to provide interactivity will transform the way those viewers use television. Interactivity turns television into a true two-way communication medium starting from simple selection facilities, such as an electronic program guide, to program related information such as multilingual captioning, sports statistics, and more advanced interactive services such as shopping, banking, e-mailing, etc... Despite of all that, however, there is almost no robust academic study that investigate those new phenomena and their effects on the Egyptian society. As such, the current research paper is focused on studying how the new digital technologies of transmitting and displaying television could affect Egyptian viewers' viewing practice, reactions and attitudes towards television and the form and concept of the televisual communication medium itself. Research Aim: In brief, this study aims to help in opening the door for investigating the adoption and employment of modern digital transmission and display technologies in Egypt, and the impact of such new technologies on Egyptian audience's viewing practice, attitude and enjoyment of viewing, and on changing the form and concept of the television communication medium in Egypt as well. Study Layout: This study covers many related areas of knowledge. First, the researcher is discussing digital technologies used in television and the crucial role of digital signal compression. The differences between the new digital ways of television terrestrial and satellite broadcasting and the old analog methods are then presented with reflections on how the new digital transmission is supposed to benefit the Egyptian people. The paper is focused next on High Definition Television "HDTV," its technology, and the impacts of applying an HDTV system in Egypt. In the second section of the study, the researcher is examining different display technologies widely spread now in Egypt and used by Egyptian viewers to receive and watch television. Such technologies include flat panel widescreen televisions capable of displaying "DTV" and "HDTV," different types of "3DTV" screens, and receiving television broadcast on computers with the help of satellite cards and through the Internet. The characteristics of these new display technologies and their impact on Egyptian viewers' media consumption, attention and viewing practice are presented. The study ends with identifying and presenting the generated results and recommendations. Summary of Results & Recommendations: In sum, the findings of this study suggest that the new digital technologies of transmitting and displaying television, widely adopted and used in Egypt now, could make a significant change in the Egyptian audience's television viewing practice, attention and absorption of programmers content. The findings indicate also that such technologies could have more technical and social uses in the life of Egyptian audience than their preceding analog ones.
|
