Visual Digital Radio
by Pritam Sinha

From radio to TV to mobile… in analogue mode to digital mode the sight and sounds are changing fast around us. With satellite transmission via DTH and set top boxes going digital, now it is the turn of the radio to follow suit. All India Radio is coming up with a digital radio to enable us to experience high quality crystal clear audio. What is more, the radio set will have a displaying screen. This screen can be seen to change the way we have been hitherto perceiving radio as an instrument to listen to and enjoy while we rest our eyes. A visual radio – sounds odd enough, but actually it is going to be a reality soon in our country. After crystal clear digital TV signals being beamed all across it is now the turn of radio to benefit from the digital revolution. The state run All India Radio is planning to introduce digital quality radio signals soon in the country. Test signals are already on in this regard. AIR is planning to import more such gadgets to test them under Indian conditions. So, happy listening days are ahead for all of us. And it will be in sync with the digital revolution in other mediums.

One of the off shoots of this digital audio revolution is that we can actually view some information. Every digital radio set will have a small mobile like display screen where the listeners would be able to see information regarding the song being played like the film it is taken from, the singer, composer and the lyricist etc. So it will be very much captivating for the audience. Also, the role of the radio jockey/announcer in the traditional way will become obsolete. No longer will we have to wait for our favourite song while listening to the announcer saying that the following number has been taken from a film released in a particular year and it has been sung, composed and written by certain artistes. And the list of persons who would like to hear this particular song and the territory they belong to. All this mundane information which takes anything up to 3 minutes can be relayed on the display screen while the listener enjoys his nostalgic song.

In this way lots of additional time can be further utilized in playing more songs for the increasingly impatient city/metro listener. Also, this technology can be applied in various other ways such as request/feedback via SMSs. Additional revenue can also be generated by selling this display space for advertisements. Public utility messages can safely & repeatedly be displayed. News headlines can also be simultaneously running while the listener enjoys his/her song of choice, live cricket updates, a mishap in a particular area, if the listener is in a moving medium of transport, the traffic updates and the like can be immensely useful and time saving. Also, its usefulness for the rail, road or air passengers can’t be overestimated. Possibilities are seemingly endless if this upcoming revolution is properly utilized. Then we can term it as ‘eye catching’ instead of captivating digital radio. 

How it works? How do we see the information?

In golden olden days when we used to put on a LP to listen to our choice of song or dialogue in the Sholay era, we had to read the cover for any song/film related information. Then came the tape recorder revolution, still we have to read the cover for details. When Radio Jockeys arrived on the scene, they started to mutter much relevant and irrelevant stuff. Now it seems people are past that phase also. Now audio recordings come with related programmed information, all one needs is the proper gadget to hear as well as see them. Digital radio is one such equipment where we can view the in built information. It can read from the audio source. But apart from the related information, its use can be widespread as mentioned earlier.
  
Radio all around, one more?

We now have the choice to choose our listening medium. Be it the traditional way of holding a transistor set or the modern way to plug in an earpiece to listen to the FM of your choice on your mobile. The next logical step is being able to read some thing on your set while you enjoy the audio. Digital radio is one such revolution wherein you are just able to do exactly that. This innovation can also be put to use in other audio enabled mediums like mobile phones etc. And not only songs but many other necessary information like news, various public awareness campaigns, sports updates etc can also be broadcast over it. Mobile companies can make news headlines as caller tunes. All this means that we are witnessing a total audio revolution and digital radio is just a natural progression. The next step will be interesting to watch out for. 

Technology can be used on Mobile phones

As technology advances so does its utility and offshoots. Of late, mobile phones have changed the way we live in in this modern era perhaps forever. The display screen on the mobile phone is being used in several innovative ways as we all are witnessing. Gone are the days we had to simply talk picking up a receiver. Similarly the digital radio fitted with display screen is perhaps the space we have been waiting for to put to our good use. It can be a very far reaching invention. Its implications can be just mind boggling.

With some further research this digital radio with display space can be made to reach all mobile users. Then it truly would have arrived on the scene.         

Pritam Sinha is a research associate with Digital Empowerment Foundation