What makes digital television so special? A digital image isn't inherently better than an analog image, and in some cases it can be worse. An HDTV picture doesn't have to be digital either; Japanese HDTV is broadcast over an analog signal. There has to be another reason why the United States is choosing to go through the pain of switching from analog to digital.

In fact, there are several good reasons to go digital, including: how much data it can transmit, how consistent the data stays over distance, and what type of data the signal can carry. For the same amount of bandwidth, you can stuff a lot more information into a digital signal than an analog signal. A digital signal doesn't produce the same problems with the picture we see on a distant analog television, either. And television in the digital age won't be limited to video and audio; our televisions will become truly interactive. Combined with HDTV and digital sound, this means a better picture, better sound, and digital data. But how are we going to fit all this into the same amount of frequency?

Bandwidth Squeeze