7. Digital Television/Set Top Boxes - Part 1

Television transmissions received via a terrestrial antenna are fairly vulnerable to interference. The situation is somewhat better with cable television, as the entire cable network is adequately shielded. Digital transmission technology makes it possible to compensate for interference using error-correction algorithms to eliminate image display and audio losses, provided the signal level doesn't exceed a critical limit. Digital television can claim a further big advantage with respect to the required bandwidth: due to high compression rates, it is possible to transmit up to 8 different TV channels in superior quality using the bandwidth of a single analog channel.

A set top box can be used to receive digital television transmissions via cable or satellite.