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INSPIRATION

World Television Day: Dumb Box to Smart Chrome Cast

Television is no more a mere gateway of entertainment but it is also a pool of information and one of the necessities in every household. 21st November is celebrated as World Television Day every year. In December 1996 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this day as World Television Day celebrating the date on which the first World Television Forum was held in 1996. World Television Day is a day to revamp governments’, organizations’ and individuals’ commitments to support the development of television in providing impartial information about important issues and events The 2018 World Television day shall fall on a Wednesday and will be celebrated with the same vision all over the world.

In the primitive day’s television was called the idiot box or the dumb box as it was believed that people rely on whatever the TV shows them. Although this is true to a great extent and the mass communication theories such as the Bullet Theory and the Agenda Setting theory are based on this very concept yet with the passing time people have developed a better insight as to what to believe and what to ignore on their TV screens.

From the back and white TV Screens to the HD quality TV screens today the television industry has come a long way. Gone are the days of black and white screens with limited channels to view at low quality. Today there are thousands of regional as well as national channels for you to watch at HD quality along with the option of serial recording for you to watch later as per your preference. And with the variety in the number of channels, the audience has a wide range of options and cannot be fooled anymore.

Although for children, the term Idiot Box or Dumb Box seems pretty valid. It can be an eye-opener. Because most of the children are so addicted to watching TV, mostly cartoon channels, they lose their concentration from studies. They live in a fictional world rather than in true life. For them, TV surely is an idiot box.

Apart from the social concerns the television industry is growing at a rapid pace when it comes to the technical advancements. Television has been around in different forms since the early 1900s, but now it is catching up with the internet age.

TV is no longer just a dumb box of glass and wires. TV is getting smart -with the use of a special device, you can do internet browsing, play music and stream films and music apart from what your digital service provider has to offer. In many cases, you can get away from the regular channels and use streaming apps such as Netflix.

The new revolution: Chromecast

The world has changed and Google is not just a place where you browse information but it could also make your TV smart. Google’s Chromecast was amazing technique was released in 2014 and became the first devices on the market that reinvented the capabilities of television beyond digital and HD channels.

How does it work?

Chromecast plugs into your TV's HDMI port and provides you access to streaming apps such as Neflix, NOW TV, iPlayer and YouTube along with  a range of games. The best part is that you don’t require a remote control, instead, you control the content via the Google Home app on your smartphone or PC.

It allows you to cast web browsers from your phone on to the television screen, as well as the content such as your multimedia content stored on your smartphone.

Since 2014 several versions of Chromecast have been released. The first was shaped like a flash drive. The current version is disc shaped and supports displays of 1080 pixels, which gives more potential for placing it securely behind a television and up against a wall.

There is also a different Chromecast particularly for audio that turns your TV into a music player for apps such as Spotify and SoundCloud.

If you have a 4K television, then it is better if you use the Chromecast Ultra, which is set up for the more advanced TV models. Although this is pretty costly as compared to the other versions.

If you are an iPhone user, you will have to access Chromecast through you PC or laptop if you wish to use the Amazon Prime app with Chromecast. If you are an Android user, you can download the Amazon Prime Video App onto your phone, but the limitations are that you cannot use your phone while casting a show on TV.