Telekinephotocasting in Illuminatia
Telekinephotocasting is a nascent but thriving segment of the mass media industry in Illuminatia, transmitting moving picture along with sound wirelessly through the airwaves, and contributing to a resurgence in the broader cultural obsession with entertainment media, information freedom, and educational access throughout the continent.
Initial telekinephotocasting operations in Illuminatia began at approximately AI 170, following the full deployment and maturity of wireless audio broadcasting in the ULW and MW bands. While the technology that would make telekinephotocasting possible was known from the outset of Illuminatian settlement, the capability to economically produce and develop the technology of the wireless moving picture could not be realized until Illuminatia was more fully populated. As such, broadcasters intentionally held-off on pursuit of telekinephotocasting until the economy and labor force supported it.
The telekinephotocasting system in Illuminatia is dominated by system of several continent-wide broadcasting networks, the most successful of which include publicly-funded TI networks, and the for-profit VB networks, GWB, ABN, and FUN. The largest networks operate a system of sub-networks catering to telekinephotocasting sub-genre and sub-format focuses. These networks employ numerous locally owned and operated local stations in each of Illuminatia's media markets to reach a continent-wide audience.
Standard telekinephotocasting occupies the Short Wave (SW) band at frequencies, located higher than the Medium Wave band used for MW broadcasting. Telekinephotocasting originally occupied a total of nine channels—numbered 0 through 8—but was soon expanded to channel 17 for a total of 18 channels, utilizing the majority of the Short Wave band. Following the maturity of telekinephotocasting, telekinephotron sets were equipped with the ability to receive channels in the Very Short Wave (VSW) band up to channel 35, with the capacity to be expanded upward past channel 53 in the future demand dictates.
As with all broadcasting in Illuminatia, the technical standards of telekinephotocasting are entirely analogue, allowing for the full aesthetic and patina of the analogue visual picture. Each telekinephotocasting channel occupies a bandwidth of 9.7 MRU for the visual portion of the broadcast, with channels spaced 10 MRU apart. All telekinephotocasts are broadcast in color with a vertical resolution of 700 lines and an image ratio of 1.618:1 which happens to match the golden ratio, and all telekinephotron receivers and telekinescope image capturing devices are manufactured to this specification. While all stations broadcast in color, the full-color visual encoding allows for receipt of a grayscale image devoid of chromatic information in the event of a poor signal. The audio portion of the signal is encoded using the same frequency modulation standard as is used for MW broadcasting.
Individual telekinephotocasting transmitters are assigned a unique identifying sequences of letters, referred to as call signs. These call signs begin with the letter "Q" followed by two or three additional letters. Repeater stations, which are heavily used in thinly-populated regions, are assigned call signs beginning with "Δ."