he first black and white television sets began appearing on the market. As quickly as black and white technology was introduced, engineers saw that color transmissions were the ultimate goal of this emerging visual medium. Zenith corporation introduced its first color television set into the U.S. market in 1961 and its price was comparable to that of a new automobile. Interestingly it took the color television 12 years after its introduction to begin outselling black and white sets. If HDTV projections are based upon similar projections it would correspond to an installed base of about $40 billion worldwide by the year 2000. Perhaps more important was the different selections of standards for achieving color broadcasting. Early on, Europe, lead by Britain, adopted the PAL standard while the U.S., in the late 50s, relied upon a committee to establish a new standard. The National Television Systems Committee agreed, in 1957, upon a standard that is still widely used today - apply referred to as the NTSC standard. These standards defined an analog broadcasting scheme that provided 525 lines of resolution for clarity and an aspect ration of 4 units wide by 3 units high. This aspect ration is why existing televisions don't have the same wide screen appearance that you would normally see in movie theaters.
             The first country to begin to realize the importance in HDTV technology leadership was Japan. The government in Japan viewed the development of the technology industry as a matter of national security. With strong backing from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Japan quickly became the early leader in HDTV technology. MITI's role was unquestionably a major factor in establishing the encouragement of Japanese firms to concentrate their efforts in this new marketplace. MITI controlled the foreign exchange and had the ability of block both imports and foreign direct investment. This coupled with a...