Defining Vision: How Broadcasters Lured the Government into Inciting a Revolution in Television, Updated and Expanded

High-definition television (HDTV) will dramatically increase the quality of the display of traditional television as well as the much-anticipated set-top-box computer/television hybrids. And every major electronics company--and the U.S. and Japanese governments--is already imagining the unimaginably large financial rewards to be reaped by those lucky enough to have perfected the right gear at the right time: just about every piece of hardware in the television industry will be replaced or supplanted, from your television to the international broadcast infrastructure.

Brinkley's book introduces us to the major institutions and individuals from industry, government, and academia involved in this frantic race, and does an admirable job of untangling their labyrinthine relations. My only quibble with the book is that it should have included at least a few color photos of HDTV compared to regular TV. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the future of television technology--before it happens.