RESOURCES:  The following are only basic resources. You may have to search for others for additional information.

Basic definitions: A. http://whatis.techtarget.com/
B. http://www.atis.org/tg2k/
C. Basics of how almost all technologies work (How DVDs work, how digital television works, and much more).  You might start with the tabs “computer stuff ” or “electronic stuff,” or maybe do a search:  http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Each of the above has advantages and disadvantages. For example, A provides a definition for “frequency ” but not “frequency response” whereas C provides a definition for “frequency response.” A,B and C are good for simple definitions, but D is good for explaining the applications of technical devices.

Goal: More understanding of the details of how technologies work, their standards and why those standards exist.

I. Read about how analog is transferred to digital and vice versa. (Also pay attention to sampling and quantizing error.)

II. Read about compression.

III. Read about the implications of changing to DTV and HDTV: http://www.cybercollege.com/dtv_stans.htm and http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp009-2.htm

1. How is an analog signal changed into a digital signal?
2. How is compression achieved? Why is compression used? What are the disadvantages?
3. What are the old analog TV standards?
4. What are the new DTV standards? What are the implications of the standards?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of digital cinema?
6. Some people say that digital is not a faithful reproduction of audio and video. We lose information. They prefer analog to digital. Is analog better than digital? Why/why not?