The program started with a brief history of television in our area and progress to the current plan for conversion to full digital television transmission in the future. The program was given by Bob Williams, Chief Engineer, WATE-Television. Bob's talk focused on the development of various digital TV formats and compression algorithms and "how" the local television stations are upgrading their facilities. He covered the various digital formats such as 1080i and 720P and the evolution of digital, high definition and widescreen. Bob told us how the local TV stations have designed and installed digital transmission equipment, and how they have solved the problems associated with the conversion. During the transition period and conversion to digital television, TV stations are operating both analog NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) and digital transmission facilities simultaneously. The talk concluded with a discussion regarding considerations for the final conversion to digital, and the deactivation of analog NTSC television.

During his long career in broadcasting, Bob Williams has been active in the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). He was also very involved in the East Tennessee WATTec technical conference and represented SBE as a member of the Sponsor's Committee. Bob was also a key organizer of the joint Tennessee Association of Broadcasters (TAB) and SBE/SMPTE technical conference in Nashville, Tennessee. A highlight of this conference was live audio conferencing participation by President Bill Clinton. Bob started in broadcasting during the monochrome television vacuum tube era, and has been actively involved as the technology has evolved to color, stereo and digital transmission. Bob brought some vintage items utilized in early television equipment such as the Image Orthicon tube for early studio cameras, and a quadruplex recording head used in the first broadcast videotape recorders.