What Is the HDTV Frequency Band?
By Gerry Poulos
The transition to digital television brought new technologies to consumers. One of the most popular was the ability to broadcast and receive different video formats, including standard- , enhanced- and high-definition TV. The frequencies for these broadcast formats are a mystery to most consumers.
Modulation
In digital television, just as in analog, a station broadcasts on a radio frequency. This frequency is modulated, or varied. These variations are what transfer information. Since the beginning of analog TV, the way these modulation were done remained unchanged. DTV updated these modulations to modern standards, making them more efficient and able to carry information for everything from multicasting to HDTV.
VHF
Television stations on channels 2 through 13 broadcast in the VHF band, which ranges from 54 megahertz (MHz) to 216 MHz. The FCC assigns each station a specific frequency band for its main carrier signal to ensure stations don't overlap. Each individual VHF station's HDTV broadcasts are transmitted within the station's assigned frequency band.
UHF
Stations on channels 14 and up broadcast on the UHF band, which is from 470 MHz to 806 MHz. Like VHF stations, UHF stations are assigned a specific frequency band in which to broadcast their main carrier signals which, also like VHF, carries all that station's broadcasts, including HDTV.
References
Writer Bio
Living in Ohio, Gerry Poulos began writing professionally in 1999. He has been a columnist for the Nation News Bureau, a contributing editor for “Protoculture Addicts Magazine,” an accomplished freelance journalist and photographer, a Web author and is the author of several books. Poulos attended Syracuse University and holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical and mechanical engineering.