Digitalisation

This interview with Stuart Cunningham was recorded for the website From Wireless to Web, produced in 2005.

Stuart Cunningham is Professor and Director of the Creative Industries Research & Applications Centre at the Queensland University of Technology. You can view his full biography at From Wireless to Web

The website is a selective history of broadcast media in Australia. Decade by decade, from radio and newsreels to TV and the internet, this history shows how the Australian broadcast media developed and shaped the way Australians see themselves.

From Wireless to Web is a Film Australia production in association with Roar Film.

Area of study 2. Technologies of Representation

This area of study focuses on the production of representations by students in two or more media forms. Students then compare how the application of the different media technologies affects the meanings that can be created in the representations. The implications for the distribution and/or consumption of these representations are also discussed.

Different media technologies represent the world in different ways. Each, through its technology, materials, techniques, applications and processes, produces a particular representation of the world. While the different forms of media (for example, television, radio and the internet) have practices that are common, they also have features that result in the production of media products with characteristics that are unique. The use of codes and conventions to convey ideas and meaning in the representations is considered in the context of the media forms in which the technologies were applied and with reference to the specific forms and characteristics of the representations produced.

Digital broadcasting provides higher-quality viewing and more television services by using the same digital technology used in computers, compact discs and mobile phones. Australia’s full conversion from analog to digital television will be complete in 2008.

The change from analog to digital television will give viewers more choice with multi-channel programming as well as broadcasts with cinema quality images and surround sound. Digital TV will also let viewers receive 'enhanced television services’ such as subtitles, captioning, datacasting and a choice of viewing angles, plus Internet features like email, web-browsing and access to online services – all via their television set.

The difference between analog (traditional) and digital television lies in the way the information is carried from the source (the transmitter) to the receiver (the television). With analog broadcasting the signal is in the form of a continuous wave, whereas digital is in the form of discrete bits of information.

Answer the following questions from the Video Clip Context and the video clip itself:

1. Where do you think Stuart Cunningham sees personal media technology heading in the future?
2. Personal media devices such as ipods, mp3 players and personal DVD players seem to be making us, as a society, more isolated from each other. Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why?
3. Design a personal media device that you would like to own. You should incorporate at least four different media forms such as a phone, camera, television and radio. Is there something similar being produced or how long do you think it will be before it is made?

Go to From Wireless to Web for more about the history of broadcast media in Australia.