"Spectrum"
is one of many technical terms which are often used in this debate. It may sound technical, but the idea is really very simple:

"Spectrum" refers to the electromagnetic spectrum, the entire range of frequencies at which electromagnetic waves can travel.

Any electronic devices which operate at a distance from their transmitters, such as radios, TVs, cellular phones, cordless phones, pagers, and walkie-talkies, work because they use spectrum, i.e. because the transmitter sends out information using electromagnetic waves at a specific frequency or small range of frequencies.

Spectrum is a natural resource that is in short supply because two transmitters cannot use the same range of frequencies in the same place without causing interference.

"Broadcast Spectrum" refers to the range of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum which has been set aside by the FCC for use by broadcast television or AM and FM radio.

"Digital Spectrum" refers to the pieces of the broadcast spectrum that broadcasters would like to use for digital TV. It is not a separate range of frequencies, nor does it send waves through space any differently than "analog" spectrum.

The difference is that the waves that broadcasters send would portray a digitized stream of 1s and 0s.

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This page last modified 8/24/00.