What does the letter A mean on a TV screen?

Recently, there has been a tendency that television broadcasting is gradually moving from analogue broadcasting to digital. Recently, many viewers began to notice that the letter A sometimes appears on the TV screen.

The fact is that it was decided to apply markings to channels operating in analog format. The letter A is displayed next to the logo of the channel, which broadcasts in an analogue version. If the broadcast is digital, then this marking is absent.

If you see such a designation, it means that you have an outdated TV model, or the new TV is not configured to work with the new type of signal.

Concept

The analog broadcast format assumes that the data can take on any value within the acceptable range. It turns out that if we take L as the maximum, then the indicator can be absolutely anything, but not more than L.

U. Here's what it looks like on a graph:

The digital format does not allow itself such liberties. Its signal has clearly defined meanings:

Digital broadcasting has undeniable advantages over analogue. The most important thing is that it is possible to filter out interference and restore the original signal. Erroneous data does not accumulate in the channel. “Digital”, unlike its analogue, does not contain unnecessary data. It turns out that several digital signals can be transmitted over one channel, instead of just one analogue one.

Analogue television differs from digital television in that the signal is pre-digitized.

Once the data is prepared for transmission, it is sent to the end user via available transmission lines. The transmission medium itself can be anything, broadcast, cable or fiber optic.

To be able to view programs in digital format, the television receiver must be able to understand this signal.

How to check the availability of digital broadcasting

To make sure that your TV accepts digital signals, simply refer to the user manual. In addition, there is enough information on the Internet for all models. You can also determine the presence of a decoder visually. If you look closely at the communication panel, it should have a connector marked “digital input”, which means “digital input”.

If you have an older TV model, then it obviously does not have this feature. However, this does not mean that you need to take off and run to the store for a new TV. It is enough to buy a set-top box for your TV that will provide this opportunity.