5 ms·

Why the static between changing channels. Analog TVs would change channels instantly.

by coin 3y ago

bombela 3y ago
Here is my guess. The author is most likely younger than you and I. And has never experienced the instant response of analog.
- krapp 3y ago
  It's so weird watching the era you grew up in fade into oblivion then return as an aesthetic.
- tgv 3y ago
  Do you think the TVs before that were digital or hydraulic? Or what does the world "analog" mean in this context?
  - krapp 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_television https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_television
    - tgv 3y ago
      That doesn't explain a thing. The "static" came from weak signals or not tuning properly. Before digital TVs were a thing, analog TVs already had digital tuners, and suppressed the display while switching channels. Analog TVs are not synonymous with static while changing channel.
- jojohack 3y ago
  Creator here. I add the static to mask the video buffering ( since each channel change triggers a video load ) I'm flattered though that you think of me as young. I very much was a child of the '80's :D
  - capableweb 3y ago
    You could add a "high bandwidth & low latency" mode, where when active, you load the current video + the next one. So when the user goes to the next channel, it's already playing but muted and not visible, and you start playing the next-next channel hidden again :)
boomboomsubban 3y ago
In my experience, it was fairly common for there to be (as an example) a channel 3 and a channel 5 but no 4, so if you were flipping through the channels on certain TV's you'd see static.
- jwells89 3y ago
  It was also a common experience for those of us who didn't have cable or satellite, with the only channels available being whatever came in over the air. Even in more densely populated areas there were blank channels you'd flip through, and where I grew up there were only two channels that came in most of the time with another 1-2 that'd briefly become available at certain times of day or during specific weather where atmospheric conditions boosted the signal strength of those stations.
- bombela 3y ago
  Except here, there is static before the content appears on the channel. Which is not the same as stumbling upon an empty channel. Very old TV's did not have memorized channels, and so you had to tune to find the next channel, which would give you a progression to static and back. Then TV had a memory for the channel frequency. It would switch instantaneously the video. So fast that sometimes you could see the first frame in black and white. Then color info would come (color TV is atop of black and white and spread over frames if I recall). Then mono sound would come in. Then stereo (like color, the stereo signal is an augmentation). Still all of that faster than any modern technology. Then came digital TVs (still receiving analog TV signal) which could have a second or two of digital lag during channel change, but it wouldn't display static, simply a blank (dark) screen.
  - anthk 3y ago
    By the 90s everyone in the Northerhn hemisphere got a decent TV with instant tuning. Once you tuned the channel and set it up to a button on the remote or the TV front panel, things went as fast as Linux switching TTY's todays. No joke.
    - 3y ago
adrianmonk 3y ago
That depends on the type of TV! The old kind had a manual rotary switch, and you had to move through all intermediate channels regardless of whether a station was broadcasting there, so you could see static when switching. For example, in my area, the main stations were at 4, 5, and 8. Switching from 5 to 4, I'd see no static because they're adjacent. Switching from 5 to 8, I'd see static while the knob was at 6 and 7. The 60s, 70s, and 80s TV sets on the site are the style I'm talking about. The 90s and 2000s TVs aren't. The best way to do it would be to use different transitions depending on the style of TV depicted. But the way they did it is not wrong for all analog TVs.
- xtracto 3y ago
  Ha! In the 80s I was the remote control. We had one of those TVs with rotary channel switch. And 7 year me had the important task of changing the channel whenever needed, and adjusting the antenna as well.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    The idea was to designate some hapless low status family member to hold the antenna at just the right angle to pick up the station.
  - jzb 3y ago
    I was the family remote control for years. This often led to arguments because I'd stop on what I wanted to watch instead of what my parents wanted to watch. "I said turn to channel 5!" "But I want to watch 'The Hulk!'" My teen complains about special effects in MCU shows sometimes. I'm like "I had to watch a bodybuilder painted green for superhero shows, and like it!" (RIP Bill Bixby...)

Why the static between changing channels. Analog TVs would change channels instantly.

by coin 3y ago

Why the static between changing channels. Analog TVs would change channels instantly.

Here is my guess. The author is most likely younger than you and I. And has never experienced the instant response of analog.

krapp 3y ago
It's so weird watching the era you grew up in fade into oblivion then return as an aesthetic.
tgv 3y ago
Do you think the TVs before that were digital or hydraulic? Or what does the world "analog" mean in this context?
- krapp 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_transmission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_television https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_television
  - tgv 3y ago
    That doesn't explain a thing. The "static" came from weak signals or not tuning properly. Before digital TVs were a thing, analog TVs already had digital tuners, and suppressed the display while switching channels. Analog TVs are not synonymous with static while changing channel.
jojohack 3y ago
Creator here. I add the static to mask the video buffering ( since each channel change triggers a video load ) I'm flattered though that you think of me as young. I very much was a child of the '80's :D
- capableweb 3y ago
  You could add a "high bandwidth & low latency" mode, where when active, you load the current video + the next one. So when the user goes to the next channel, it's already playing but muted and not visible, and you start playing the next-next channel hidden again :)

boomboomsubban 3y ago

In my experience, it was fairly common for there to be (as an example) a channel 3 and a channel 5 but no 4, so if you were flipping through the channels on certain TV's you'd see static.

jwells89 3y ago
It was also a common experience for those of us who didn't have cable or satellite, with the only channels available being whatever came in over the air. Even in more densely populated areas there were blank channels you'd flip through, and where I grew up there were only two channels that came in most of the time with another 1-2 that'd briefly become available at certain times of day or during specific weather where atmospheric conditions boosted the signal strength of those stations.
bombela 3y ago
Except here, there is static before the content appears on the channel. Which is not the same as stumbling upon an empty channel. Very old TV's did not have memorized channels, and so you had to tune to find the next channel, which would give you a progression to static and back. Then TV had a memory for the channel frequency. It would switch instantaneously the video. So fast that sometimes you could see the first frame in black and white. Then color info would come (color TV is atop of black and white and spread over frames if I recall). Then mono sound would come in. Then stereo (like color, the stereo signal is an augmentation). Still all of that faster than any modern technology. Then came digital TVs (still receiving analog TV signal) which could have a second or two of digital lag during channel change, but it wouldn't display static, simply a blank (dark) screen.
- anthk 3y ago
  By the 90s everyone in the Northerhn hemisphere got a decent TV with instant tuning. Once you tuned the channel and set it up to a button on the remote or the TV front panel, things went as fast as Linux switching TTY's todays. No joke.
  - 3y ago

adrianmonk 3y ago

That depends on the type of TV! The old kind had a manual rotary switch, and you had to move through all intermediate channels regardless of whether a station was broadcasting there, so you could see static when switching. For example, in my area, the main stations were at 4, 5, and 8. Switching from 5 to 4, I'd see no static because they're adjacent. Switching from 5 to 8, I'd see static while the knob was at 6 and 7. The 60s, 70s, and 80s TV sets on the site are the style I'm talking about. The 90s and 2000s TVs aren't. The best way to do it would be to use different transitions depending on the style of TV depicted. But the way they did it is not wrong for all analog TVs.

xtracto 3y ago
Ha! In the 80s I was the remote control. We had one of those TVs with rotary channel switch. And 7 year me had the important task of changing the channel whenever needed, and adjusting the antenna as well.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  The idea was to designate some hapless low status family member to hold the antenna at just the right angle to pick up the station.
- jzb 3y ago
  I was the family remote control for years. This often led to arguments because I'd stop on what I wanted to watch instead of what my parents wanted to watch. "I said turn to channel 5!" "But I want to watch 'The Hulk!'" My teen complains about special effects in MCU shows sometimes. I'm like "I had to watch a bodybuilder painted green for superhero shows, and like it!" (RIP Bill Bixby...)