Part I concentrates on the structure of the actual programming data that must be transmitted. The structure is the digital transport stream and is the same format for digital terrestrial, satellite and cable alike. Part II then looks in detail at the actual transmission mechanism for digital terrestrial signal transmissions as defined by the DVB-T for transmissions first adopted in Europe. Part III goes on to describe the actual architecture (hardware and software) of the set top boxes needed to receive and decode the DVB signals. Included here is an introduction to the very complex MHP middleware. Part IV then looks at the US ATSC system for the transmission of digital TV, employing the 8-VSB technology. The DVB-T and the ATSC systems are then compared technically in part V. Part VI then describes the programming formats such as HDTV. Part VII gives some standard theory underlying the techniques. In particular Fourier transform theory is detailed here.