The V Chip Essays (2687 words) - Television Technology, V-chip

The V Chip ?The V-Chip' America's Answer to Desensitizing On February 8, 1996, President Clinton1 signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 19962, which will dramatically alter the telecommunications industry over the next several years. One of the most controversial sections of the bill was Section 551, titled Parental Choice in Television Programming, which calls for manufacturers to include a V-chip in every new TV set 13 inches or larger. The V-chip is a device that will enable viewers to program their televisions to block out content with a common rating. Proponents of the system say that it will enable parents to protect their children from viewing violent and explicit material. Opponents say it violates the First Amendment rights of the broadcasters, and enforces government censorship on the television industry. The provision gives broadcasters, cable operators, and other video distributors one year to develop a voluntary rating system for programming that contains sexual, violent, o r other indecent material. If the industry fails to agree on a rating system within that time, the FCC is to develop a rating system based on an advisory board's recommendations.16 The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 19903 required all new televisions sold in the United States to contain a chip to decode closed-captioning4 signals. The basic technology needed to implement the V-chip is the same as that currently used for closed-captioning. Program rating information would be transmitted along with the television signal, and be decoded by a chip in each television. The chip would then compare the rating codes to values preset by the viewer. If the rating codes are higher than the preset values, the television signal would be blocked, and a blank screen would be displayed. Closed-captioning data is transmitted on line 21 of the vertical blanking interval, or VBI5. The VBI consists of 24 lines of a regular picture scan in which the beam is turned off to return to the top of the scr een before painting the next frame. These 24 lines represent dead air time, in which no image information is sent.5 Each line of the VBI is capable of transmitting 256 bits (32 bytes) of data. Since the VBI appears once per frame, or 30 times per second, this means that each line of the VBI is capable of sustaining a bit rate of 7680 bits per second.5 The tentative plan for implementing the V-chip is to add the program rating information to line 21 of the VBI, along with the closed-captioning information. The difficulty is that line 21 is also being used for newer extended data services (XDS) that will be capable of providing such things as scheduling information and station call letters to the viewers. Fitting all three of these data signals into the 7.68 kbps of line 21 is one of the primary difficulties in designing the V-chip implementation.12 The magnitude of the problem will be determined by the complexity of the rating system chosen by the broadcasters. If a relatively simple rating scheme is used, small modifications could be made to the existing closed-captioning decoders to receive the rating data and block the programs. This would require no change in the architecture of the televisions, and would be almost free of cost to install. Electronic Industries Association6 (EIA) engineer, Tom Mock, says that the existing closed-captioning chips have enough memory to support a system of up to three content categories, such as sex, violence, and mature content, with four levels of blocking each.12 If the broadcasting industry selects a system of more complexity, it would be far more difficult to implement. Each television would require additional circuitry to handle the decoding of the ratings. This would mean that television designers would have to alter the internal layouts of the television components, adding up to $40 to the cost of the television, depending on the manufacturer and model of television.12 Similarly, line 21 of the VBI may not have enough available bandwidth to transmit the desired programming codes if they are too complex. This would cause a more drastic departure from the closed-captioning technology. Another line of the VBI would have to be used which could complicate things tremendously. The demand for use of the VBI is growing

Why Students Should Study Sample Essays on Customer Service

Why Students Should Study Sample Essays on Customer ServiceThe sample essay on customer service is useful for students as well as teachers. It can be used in the college classroom, while getting your degree or while trying to get a job. One of the reasons why a great essay must be studied is because it tells the student everything that is needed to know about the subject matter.High school students often take their essay writing courses when they become bored with other classes. They don't spend a lot of time in class, so they need a variety of topics that are interesting to them. If the student comes into an essay course with a sample essay on customer service on hand, they have a head start on reading the material.Students who take a literature class will use this essay to help them write their first novel. They use it as a guide, to make sure that they have all the elements needed to make a successful story. When they are done, they will feel comfortable writing a novel, knowing w hat to write and how to structure it. It will also give them a taste of what is to come.Essays on customer service are great for teachers who want to develop their teaching skills. The students get to interact with a professor, get feedback on their work and make some friends. A good teacher is one who is able to build a relationship with his or her students.Some writers use their sample essay on customer service as a test of their own writing skills. It can be helpful to them if they get a break after a long day. Writing an essay is a great way to refresh themselves and calm their nerves.Everyone has experienced situations where they felt uncomfortable in a situation where they wrote about customer service. The student who is writing the essay will relate their story and see what they can learn from it. After all, it is the experiences that are valuable.Teachers are not always happy with their students, but the students can tell their teacher that they have learned something from t heir experience. Sometimes they do not even realize that they have taken a lesson away from the assignment. The student who wrote the essay will get more credit for the work and the teacher will feel better about the grade.The writer of the essay must be careful to use only positive aspects of customer service. He or she must be realistic about the situation and keep it in perspective. Writing an essay on customer service can help students gain the knowledge that they need to be successful in their career or education.