93-711: The Maidstone Studios , formerly called TVS Television Centre , is the largest independent television studio complex in the United Kingdom, and is based at Vinters Park in Maidstone , Kent, England. It has been home to a varied selection of independent British television programming including Later... with Jools Holland , Jools' Annual Hootenanny , Take Me Out , Catchphrase , as well as popular children's shows such as Mister Maker and Let's Play for CBeebies , or Art Attack for TVS and later for ITV and Disney Channel . Other recent credits also include: Bang on
186-471: A maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at East Malling , about three miles west of Maidstone. East Malling's highest temperature of 37.4 °C (99.3 °F) was recorded in August 2003. The lowest temperature recorded is −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) during January 1947 and 1972. East Malling also holds
279-465: A shire moot , and religious organisations established an abbey at Boxley , hospitals and a college for priests . Today's suburb of Penenden Heath was a place of execution in medieval times. Maidstone played a key role during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The rebel priest, John Ball , had been imprisoned there and was freed by Kentish rebels under the command of Wat Tyler , who is reputed to have been
372-474: A 5:3 (1.67:1) aspect ratio and 60 Hz refresh rate. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), headed by Charles Ginsburg, became the testing and study authority for HDTV technology in the international theater. SMPTE would test HDTV systems from different companies from every conceivable perspective, but the problem of combining the different formats plagued the technology for many years. There were four major HDTV systems tested by SMPTE in
465-617: A clearer, more detailed picture. In addition, progressive scan and higher frame rates result in a picture with less flicker and better rendering of fast motion. Modern HDTV began broadcasting in 1989 in Japan, under the MUSE /Hi-Vision analog system. HDTV was widely adopted worldwide in the late 2000s. All modern high-definition broadcasts utilize digital television standards. The major digital television broadcast standards used for terrestrial, cable, satellite, and mobile devices are: These standards use
558-420: A comprehensive HDTV standard was not in the end established, agreement on the aspect ratio was achieved. Initially the existing 5:3 aspect ratio had been the main candidate but, due to the influence of widescreen cinema, the aspect ratio 16:9 (1.78) eventually emerged as being a reasonable compromise between 5:3 (1.67) and the common 1.85 widescreen cinema format. An aspect ratio of 16:9 was duly agreed upon at
651-718: A digital format from DVB. The first regular broadcasts began on January 1, 2004, when the Belgian company Euro1080 launched the HD1 channel with the traditional Vienna New Year's Concert . Test transmissions had been active since the IBC exhibition in September 2003, but the New Year's Day broadcast marked the official launch of the HD1 channel, and the official start of direct-to-home HDTV in Europe. Euro1080,
744-404: A division of the later defunct Belgian TV services company Alfacam, broadcast HDTV channels to break the pan-European stalemate of "no HD broadcasts mean no HD TVs bought means no HD broadcasts ..." and kick-start HDTV interest in Europe. The HD1 channel was initially free-to-air and mainly comprised sporting, dramatic, musical and other cultural events broadcast with a multi-lingual soundtrack on
837-556: A global recommendation for Analog HDTV. These recommendations, however, did not fit in the broadcasting bands which could reach home users. The standardization of MPEG-1 in 1993 led to the acceptance of recommendations ITU-R BT.709 . In anticipation of these standards, the DVB organization was formed. It was alliance of broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers and regulatory bodies. The DVB develops and agrees upon specifications which are formally standardised by ETSI . DVB created first
930-604: A local pub serving Invicta Park Barracks, The Hare and Hounds , was damaged by a bomb during an IRA campaign in England. Maidstone General Hospital opened on the outskirts of the town in 1983, replacing West Kent General Hospital, which opened 150 years earlier in Marsham Street. It is just to the north of Oakwood Hospital (originally the Kent County Asylum), which closed in the mid-1990s. Residents are employed in
1023-568: A low percentage in agriculture. According to the Office for National Statistics estimates, the average gross income of households between April 2001 and March 2002 was £595 per week (£31,000 per year). The town is served by 15 secondary schools, 23 primary schools, and two special schools. Non-selective secondary schools include Cornwallis Academy , The Maplesden Noakes School , New Line Learning Academy , St Augustine Academy , St. Simon Stock School and Valley Park School . Grammar schools serving
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#17328588998701116-400: A much wider set of frame rates: 59.94i, 60i, 23.976p, 24p, 29.97p, 30p, 59.94p and 60p. In the days of standard-definition television, the fractional rates were often rounded up to whole numbers, e.g. 23.976p was often called 24p, or 59.94i was often called 60i. Sixty Hertz high definition television supports both fractional and slightly different integer rates, therefore strict usage of notation
1209-411: A prominent feature of the landscape. Maidstone has continued to grow. In doing so it has incorporated hitherto separate settlements , villages and hamlets within its boundaries. These include Allington , Barming , Bearsted , Penenden Heath, Sandling , Tovil and Weavering Street. Housing estates include Grove Green , Harbourland, Ringlestone , Roseacre, Shepway, Senacre and Vinters Park. Maidstone
1302-454: A resident of the town. Maidstone's charter as a town was granted in 1549; although briefly revoked, a new charter in 1551 created the town as a borough. The charter was ratified in 1619 under James I , and the coat of arms was designed, bearing a golden lion and a representation of the river (in heraldic terms: Or, a fess wavy Azure between three roundels Gules, on a chief Gules a leopard passant gardant Or ). Recently to these arms were added
1395-434: A rolling schedule of four or five hours per day. These first European HDTV broadcasts used the 1080i format with MPEG-2 compression on a DVB-S signal from SES 's Astra 1H satellite. Euro1080 transmissions later changed to MPEG-4/AVC compression on a DVB-S2 signal in line with subsequent broadcast channels in Europe. Despite delays in some countries, the number of European HD channels and viewers has risen steadily since
1488-551: A top broadcasting administrator in Japan admitted failure of its analog-based HDTV system, saying the U.S. digital format would be more likely a worldwide standard. However this announcement drew angry protests from broadcasters and electronic companies who invested heavily into the analog system. As a result, he took back his statement the next day saying that the government will continue to promote Hi-Vision/MUSE. That year NHK started development of digital television in an attempt to catch back up to America and Europe. This resulted in
1581-510: A trampoline park), and the town's market square. The leisure industry is a key contributor with the night-time economy worth £75m per annum. In the 2001 UK census, 45.2% of residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 12.7% part-time, 7.6% self-employed and 2.5% unemployed, while 2.3% were students with jobs, 3.0% without jobs, 12.9% retired, 6.6% looking after home or family, 3.8% permanently sick or disabled and 3.2% economically inactive for other reasons. These figures were roughly in line with
1674-458: A variety of video codecs , some of which are also used for internet video . The term high definition once described a series of television systems first announced in 1933 and launched starting in August 1936; however, these systems were only high definition when compared to earlier systems that were based on mechanical systems with as few as 30 lines of resolution. The ongoing competition between companies and nations to create true HDTV spanned
1767-699: A victory for the Parliamentarians . Andrew Broughton , who was Mayor of Maidstone in 1649 (and also Clerk to the High Court of Justice) was responsible for declaring the death sentence on Charles I , and today a plaque in Maidstone Town Centre memorialises Broughton as 'Mayor and Regicide '. Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the cloth industry have all flourished here. The paper maker James Whatman and his son invented wove paper (Whatman paper) at Turkey Mill from 1740, an important development in
1860-473: Is also held, with Maidstone and Beauvais taking it in turns to host the event. The BBC Local Radio station which broadcast to the town is BBC Radio Kent , on 96.7 FM. High-definition television High-definition television ( HDTV ) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it refers to
1953-445: Is elected every four years: Maidstone elects nine representatives, and villages are in the four rural wards. The town is the main town of Maidstone borough , which includes the surrounding rural areas except to the north-west. The town is divided into the 12 local government wards of Allington, Bridge, Downswood and Otham, East, Fant, Heath, High Street, Park Wood, Shepway North, Shepway South, South, and North. These wards have 30 of
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#17328588998702046-486: Is no single standard for HDTV color support. Colors are typically broadcast using a (10-bits per channel) YUV color space but, depending on the underlying image generating technologies of the receiver, are then subsequently converted to a RGB color space using standardized algorithms. When transmitted directly through the Internet, the colors are typically pre-converted to 8-bit RGB channels for additional storage savings with
2139-491: Is not the first HDTV service over digital terrestrial television in Europe; Italy's RAI started broadcasting in 1080i on April 24, 2008, using the DVB-T transmission standard. In October 2008, France deployed five high definition channels using DVB-T transmission standard on digital terrestrial distribution. HDTV broadcast systems are identified with three major parameters: If all three parameters are used, they are specified in
2232-437: Is required to avoid ambiguity. Nevertheless, 29.97p/59.94i is almost universally called 60i, likewise 23.976p is called 24p. For the commercial naming of a product, the frame rate is often dropped and is implied from context (e.g., a 1080i television set ). A frame rate can also be specified without a resolution. For example, 24p means 24 progressive scan frames per second, and 50i means 25 interlaced frames per second. There
2325-499: Is the use of highly efficient modulation techniques for further reducing bandwidth, and foremost for reducing receiver-hardware and antenna requirements. In 1983, the International Telecommunication Union's radio telecommunications sector (ITU-R) set up a working party (IWP11/6) with the aim of setting a single international HDTV standard. One of the thornier issues concerned a suitable frame/field refresh rate,
2418-468: Is used in all digital HDTV storage and transmission systems will distort the received picture when compared to the uncompressed source. ATSC and DVB define the following frame rates for use with the various broadcast standards: The optimum format for a broadcast depends upon the type of videographic recording medium used and the image's characteristics. For best fidelity to the source, the transmitted field ratio, lines, and frame rate should match those of
2511-417: Is via the studio's scene dock area. The studios do not currently have any camera equipment other than a limited number of tripods and pedestals, and hence visiting productions are required to hire-in equipment from elsewhere. Maidstone also has four edit suites, one dubbing suite, dressing rooms and green rooms, production and wardrobe departments, scenery departments, transmission and playback facilities. On
2604-545: The Domesday Book of 1086, with possible variation Mayndenstan in 1396. The modern name appeared by 1610. It has been suggested that the name derives from stones set into the river to allow clothes to be rinsed in the cleaner water away from the banks. Neolithic finds have revealed the earliest occupation of the area, and the Romans have left their mark in the road through the town and evidence of villas. The Normans set up
2697-506: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because of their higher bandwidth requirements. At this time, the number of television channels was growing rapidly and bandwidth was already a problem. A new standard had to be more efficient, needing less bandwidth for HDTV than the existing NTSC. The limited standardization of analog HDTV in the 1990s did not lead to global HDTV adoption as technical and economic constraints at
2790-535: The ISDB format. Japan started digital satellite and HDTV broadcasting in December 2000. High-definition digital television was not possible with uncompressed video , which requires a bandwidth exceeding 1 Gbit/s for studio-quality HD digital video . Digital HDTV was made possible by the development of discrete cosine transform (DCT) video compression . DCT coding is a lossy image compression technique that
2883-457: The 240-line with its 25 Hz frame rate. The 240-line system could have doubled its frame rate but this would have meant that the transmitted signal would have doubled in bandwidth, an unacceptable option as the video baseband bandwidth was required to be not more than 3 MHz. Color broadcasts started at similar line counts, first with the US NTSC color system in 1953, which was compatible with
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2976-515: The 55 seats on Borough Council. Maidstone Borough Council is responsible for services such as recreation, refuse collection, most planning decisions and social housing . The town is six miles downstream from where the River Medway , having flowed in a generally west–east direction, is joined by the Rivers Teise and Beult at Yalding and changes its course to a northerly one. It cuts through
3069-448: The CMTT and ETSI, along with research by Italian broadcaster RAI , developed a DCT video codec that broadcast near-studio-quality HDTV transmission at about 70–140 Mbit/s. The first HDTV transmissions in Europe, albeit not direct-to-home, began in 1990, when RAI broadcast the 1990 FIFA World Cup using several experimental HDTV technologies, including the digital DCT-based EU 256 codec,
3162-568: The Creative Arts (formerly Kent Institute of Art & Design ) at which Turner Prize nominated artist Tracey Emin , fashion designer Karen Millen and television personality and artist Tony Hart studied, has a campus at the Maidstone TV Studios . In the 2001 census, 15.7% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or equivalent, below the national average of 19.9%. 27.5% had no academic qualifications, compared to
3255-517: The Japanese public broadcaster NHK first developed consumer high-definition television with a 5:3 display aspect ratio. The system, known as Hi-Vision or MUSE after its multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding (MUSE) for encoding the signal, required about twice the bandwidth of the existing NTSC system but provided about four times the resolution (1035i/1125 lines). In 1981, the MUSE system was demonstrated for
3348-518: The Maidstone Studios premises is a data centre that offers rack space for servers for local, national and international companies. Other studios on the site: Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent , England, of which it is the county town . Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of
3441-578: The Money , The Royals on E!, Ultimate Brain and Hetty Feather for CBBC , Davina McCall - Fitness DVDs, and The Coalition drama for Channel 4. The site was originally chosen by the now defunct ITV company Southern Television in 1979 for a proposed new studio facility should they win the contract from the Independent Broadcasting Authority (the UK television regulator at the time), for
3534-525: The Sharps toffee factory (later part of Cadbury Trebor Basset ), was in central Maidstone and provided a significant source of employment. Loudspeaker manufacturer KEF was founded in 1961 on the premises of the metal-working operation Kent Engineering & Foundry (hence KEF). KEF still occupies the same river-bank site. In the late 1990s KEF manufactured a loudspeaker called "the Maidstone". The town centre has
3627-489: The UK Family Channel business. During 2002 the new owner of Flextech, Telewest Communications, overhauled the structure of the operations which resulted in the disposal of the studios. The studios were bought in 2002 by a local consortium of businessmen under the name Dovedale Associates for £4.25 million, headed by ex-BBC producer Geoff Miles. In 2005 a £2 million refurbishment programme took place, as part of
3720-571: The United Kingdom became the first European country to deploy high-definition content using the new DVB-T2 transmission standard, as specified in the Digital TV Group (DTG) D-book , on digital terrestrial television. The Freeview HD service contains 13 HD channels (as of April 2016 ) and was rolled out region by region across the UK in accordance with the digital switchover process, finally being completed in October 2012. However, Freeview HD
3813-742: The United States occurred on July 23, 1996, when the Raleigh, North Carolina television station WRAL-HD began broadcasting from the existing tower of WRAL-TV southeast of Raleigh, winning a race to be first with the HD Model Station in Washington, D.C. , which began broadcasting July 31, 1996 with the callsign WHD-TV, based out of the facilities of NBC owned and operated station WRC-TV . The American Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) HDTV system had its public launch on October 29, 1998, during
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3906-465: The United States saw Hi-Vision/MUSE as an outdated system and had already made it clear that it would develop an all-digital system. Experts thought the commercial Hi-Vision system in 1992 was already eclipsed by digital technology developed in the U.S. since 1990. This was an American victory against the Japanese in terms of technological dominance. By mid-1993 prices of receivers were still as high as 1.5 million yen (US$ 15,000). On February 23, 1994,
3999-588: The Weald is Conservative Helen Grant . Previous MPs include Ann Widdecombe , Sir John Wells , Sir Alfred Bossom and Benjamin Disraeli . Since 2015 the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent has been Conservative Helen Whately . Prior to the 2015 election, the MP was Conservative Sir Hugh Robertson . Kent County Council is responsible for social services, education, maintenance of and new infrastructure, fire services and minerals. It
4092-514: The assumption that it will only be viewed only on a ( sRGB ) computer screen. As an added benefit to the original broadcasters, the losses of the pre-conversion essentially make these files unsuitable for professional TV re-broadcasting. Most HDTV systems support resolutions and frame rates defined either in the ATSC table 3, or in EBU specification. The most common are noted below. At a minimum, HDTV has twice
4185-493: The building as a production centre for the south east edition of Meridian Tonight , before moving to its own centre at nearby New Hythe between 1994 and 2004. The Meridian newsgathering operation returned to Maidstone Studios in 2004, though the studio for the programme moved to Meridian's new base at Whiteley in Hampshire. TVS, including the Maidstone Studios, was quickly bought by International Family Entertainment Inc. and
4278-414: The colour logo device had been re-registered to lighting cameraman Keith Jacobsen, who traded as an independent production company with no links to the original. The 'new' TVS ceased trading on 9 March 2012, but as of May 2017 is owned by another independent production company. The area including car-parks and outbuildings to the east of the studio premises were bought by Hillreed Homes – planning permission
4371-702: The earlier monochrome systems and therefore had the same 525 lines per frame. European standards did not follow until the 1960s, when the PAL and SECAM color systems were added to the monochrome 625-line broadcasts. The NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) began researching to "unlock the fundamental mechanism of video and sound interactions with the five human senses" in 1964, after the Tokyo Olympics. NHK set out to create an HDTV system that scored much higher in subjective tests than NTSC's previously dubbed HDTV . This new system, NHK Color, created in 1972, included 1125 lines,
4464-651: The electricity industry in 1948 ownership of the station passed to the British Electricity Authority and then to the Central Electricity Generating Board. In 1966 the power station had a generating capacity of 13.125 MW and delivered 6,921 MWh of electricity. The CEGB later closed the station and it was demolished in 1973. The town is ranked in the top five shopping centres in the south-east of England for shopping yields and, with more than one million square feet of retail floor space, in
4557-457: The entire 20th century, as each new system became higher definition than the last. In the early 21st century, this race has continued with 4K , 5K and 8K systems. The British high-definition TV service started trials in August 1936 and a regular service on 2 November 1936 using both the (mechanical) Baird 240 line sequential scan (later referred to as progressive ) and the (electronic) Marconi-EMI 405 line interlaced systems. The Baird system
4650-453: The first HDTV broadcasts, with SES's annual Satellite Monitor market survey for 2010 reporting more than 200 commercial channels broadcasting in HD from Astra satellites, 185 million HD capable TVs sold in Europe (£60 million in 2010 alone), and 20 million households (27% of all European digital satellite TV homes) watching HD satellite broadcasts (16 million via Astra satellites). In December 2009,
4743-536: The first daily high-definition programs in the world, with regular testing starting on November 25, 1991, or "Hi-Vision Day" – dated exactly to refer to its 1,125-lines resolution. Regular broadcasting of BS -9ch commenced on November 25, 1994, which featured commercial and NHK programming. Several systems were proposed as the new standard for the US, including the Japanese MUSE system, but all were rejected by
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#17328588998704836-631: The first meeting of the IWP11/6 working party at the BBC's Research and Development establishment in Kingswood Warren. The resulting ITU-R Recommendation ITU-R BT.709-2 (" Rec. 709 ") includes the 16:9 aspect ratio, a specified colorimetry , and the scan modes 1080i (1,080 actively interlaced lines of resolution) and 1080p (1,080 progressively scanned lines). The British Freeview HD trials used MBAFF , which contains both progressive and interlaced content in
4929-465: The first time in the United States, using the same 5:3 aspect ratio as the Japanese system. Upon visiting a demonstration of MUSE in Washington, US President Ronald Reagan was impressed and officially declared it "a matter of national interest" to introduce HDTV to the US. NHK taped the 1984 Summer Olympics with a Hi-Vision camera, weighing 40 kg. Satellite test broadcasts started June 4, 1989,
5022-1084: The following form: [frame size][scanning system][frame or field rate] or [frame size]/[frame or field rate][scanning system] . Often, frame size or frame rate can be dropped if its value is implied from context. In this case, the remaining numeric parameter is specified first, followed by the scanning system. For example, 1920×1080p25 identifies progressive scanning format with 25 frames per second, each frame being 1,920 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels high. The 1080i25 or 1080i50 notation identifies interlaced scanning format with 25 frames (50 fields) per second, each frame being 1,920 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels high. The 1080i30 or 1080i60 notation identifies interlaced scanning format with 30 frames (60 fields) per second, each frame being 1,920 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels high. The 720p60 notation identifies progressive scanning format with 60 frames per second, each frame being 720 pixels high; 1,280 pixels horizontally are implied. Systems using 50 Hz support three scanning rates: 50i, 25p and 50p, while 60 Hz systems support
5115-420: The generation following standard-definition television (SDTV). It is the standard video format used in most broadcasts: terrestrial broadcast television , cable television , satellite television . HDTV may be transmitted in various formats: When transmitted at two megapixels per frame, HDTV provides about five times as many pixels as SD (standard-definition television). The increased resolution provides for
5208-638: The head of a white horse (representing Invicta , the motto of the county of Kent), a golden lion and an iguanodon . The iguanodon relates to the discovery in the 19th century of the fossilised remains of that dinosaur , now in the Natural History Museum in London. Maidstone has had the right to a town gaol since 1604. During the English Civil War , the Battle of Maidstone took place in 1648, resulting in
5301-401: The history of printing. A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of cavalry barracks in 1798. Invicta Park Barracks is now home to the 36 Engineer Regiment . Maidstone Prison is north of the town centre and was completed in 1819. In 1897-1898 the Maidstone typhoid epidemic killed at least 132 people, and was the largest typhoid epidemic at
5394-411: The intended definition. All of these systems used interlacing and a 4:3 aspect ratio except the 240-line system which was progressive (actually described at the time by the technically correct term sequential ) and the 405-line system which started as 5:4 and later changed to 4:3. The 405-line system adopted the (at that time) revolutionary idea of interlaced scanning to overcome the flicker problem of
5487-454: The largest office centre in the county and the area is a base for the paper and packaging industry. Many high-technology firms have set up in surrounding business parks. Southern Water and Mid Kent Water operate the Maidstone water system. Maidstone Borough Corporation began construction of Maidstone power station at Fairmeadow in 1900 and supplied electricity from 1901, firstly for street lighting then other uses. Upon nationalisation of
5580-507: The late 1970s, and in 1979 an SMPTE study group released A Study of High Definition Television Systems : Since the formal adoption of Digital Video Broadcasting's (DVB) widescreen HDTV transmission modes in the mid to late 2000s; the 525-line NTSC (and PAL-M ) systems, as well as the European 625-line PAL and SECAM systems, have been regarded as standard definition television systems. Early HDTV broadcasting used analog technology that
5673-491: The linear resolution of standard-definition television (SDTV), thus showing greater detail than either analog television or regular DVD . The technical standards for broadcasting HDTV also handle the 16:9 aspect ratio images without using letterboxing or anamorphic stretching, thus increasing the effective image resolution. A very high-resolution source may require more bandwidth than available in order to be transmitted without loss of fidelity. The lossy compression that
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#17328588998705766-543: The live coverage of astronaut John Glenn 's return mission to space on board the Space Shuttle Discovery . The signal was transmitted coast-to-coast, and was seen by the public in science centers, and other public theaters specially equipped to receive and display the broadcast. Between 1988 and 1991, several European organizations were working on discrete cosine transform (DCT) based digital video coding standards for both SDTV and HDTV. The EU 256 project by
5859-579: The mixed analog-digital HD-MAC technology, and the analog MUSE technology. The matches were shown in 8 cinemas in Italy, where the tournament was played, and 2 in Spain. The connection with Spain was made via the Olympus satellite link from Rome to Barcelona and then with a fiber optic connection from Barcelona to Madrid . After some HDTV transmissions in Europe, the standard was abandoned in 1993, to be replaced by
5952-442: The national average. Employment, by industry, was 19% retail; 13% real estate; 11% manufacturing; 9% construction; 7% transport and communications ; 10% health and social work ; 8% public administration ; 7% education; 5% finance; 4% hotels and restaurants; 1% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 5% other. Compared to national figures, Maidstone had a high percentage of workers in construction and public administration, and
6045-572: The national figure of 28.9%. Southeastern operates services at three railway stations: Bus services are provided by Arriva Kent and Surrey , Nu-Venture and Stagecoach South East . Routes connect the town with Ashford, Canterbury, Gillingham and Tunbridge Wells. The following roads connect Maidstone with nearby locations: In 2001, religions were 73.9% Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.14% Sikh and 0.11% Jewish. 15.8% had no religion, 0.6% had an alternative religion, while 7.7% did not state their religion. All Saints' Church in
6138-529: The new dual South and South-east of England region in 1981. As Southern Television lost their franchise, they sold the site to the successful applicant Television South (TVS) at a premium. It was part of the agreement between TVS and the IBA , that TVS needed to provide a separate studio facility for the South East region. The complex first opened in late 1982 providing broadcasting and production output for TVS. The site
6231-476: The new owner's plans for the complex. A new Studio 5 (now known as Studio 1) was opened, which covers 12,000 square feet (1,100 m) able to accommodate a 2,000-strong audience; it is now their flagship HD studio, and between April 2013 and December 2018 was the home of BBC2 's Later... with Jools Holland . From 2006 to 2012 a company called "TVS Television Productions Ltd" was based in offices at The Maidstone Studios. The name "Television South Ltd", "TVS" and
6324-761: The palace's tithe barn are all Grade I listed buildings . Jubilee Church is an independent Maidstone-based Christian church which forms partnerships not only in Kent, but in Canada and Ukraine . In Ukraine, it has held events with Ockert Potgieter of the Light of the World Church. A Twinning Association Committee meets every month. It organises annual trips to the Jeanne Hachette Festival in Beauvais. An annual sporting weekend
6417-731: The record for the mildest January day in South East England, 17.4 °C (63.3 °F), also set in 2003. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −10.7 °C (12.7 °F) on 20 December 2010. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate). In the 2001 UK census , Maidstone town wards had a population of 75,070, a density of 28 residents per hectare . The town had 31,142 households, of which 38% were married couples, 29% were individuals, 10% were cohabiting couples, and 9% were single-parent families. 14% of households had someone living alone of pensionable age. The ethnicity
6510-409: The retail, administrative or service sectors; there are industrial estates around the town providing employment. Some of the workforce commute to other towns, including to London. The town is divided between the constituencies of Maidstone and the Weald and Faversham and Mid Kent . Before 1997 Maidstone was in the county constituency of Maidstone . The Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and
6603-483: The ridge formed by the greensand , so that the town occupies a site on two opposite hills, the easterly one containing the town centre. Beyond that, and higher, is Penenden Heath . The River Len joins the Medway at Maidstone. Though a short river, it provided the water to drive numerous watermills . The Loose Stream , which rises at Langley and joins at Tovil , once powered over 30 mills. Mill ponds on these rivers are
6696-491: The same encoding. It also includes the alternative 1440×1152 HDMAC scan format. (According to some reports, a mooted 750-line (720p) format (720 progressively scanned lines) was viewed by some at the ITU as an enhanced television format rather than a true HDTV format, and so was not included, although 1920×1080i and 1280×720p systems for a range of frame and field rates were defined by several US SMPTE standards.) HDTV technology
6789-573: The standard for DVB-S digital satellite TV, DVB-C digital cable TV and DVB-T digital terrestrial TV. These broadcasting systems can be used for both SDTV and HDTV. In the US the Grand Alliance proposed ATSC as the new standard for SDTV and HDTV. Both ATSC and DVB were based on the MPEG-2 standard, although DVB systems may also be used to transmit video using the newer and more efficient H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression standards. Common for all DVB standards
6882-524: The studios were used as an independent production facility. IFE subsequently launched a UK version of The Family Channel based in The Maidstone Studios, using some elements of the TVS programme archive. Flextech was a partner in the venture, taking a 39% stake in the business. In 1996, the studio complex was sold by International Family Entertainment Inc. to Flextech when it acquired the remaining 61% of
6975-539: The time did not permit HDTV to use bandwidths greater than normal television. Early HDTV commercial experiments, such as NHK's MUSE, required over four times the bandwidth of a standard-definition broadcast. Despite efforts made to reduce analog HDTV to about twice the bandwidth of SDTV, these television formats were still distributable only by satellite. In Europe too, the HD-MAC standard was considered not technically viable. In addition, recording and reproducing an HDTV signal
7068-441: The time. Hundreds of nurses from around the country volunteered to care for the patients, and several nurses were sent by Eva Luckes , matron of The London Hospital , including Edith Cavell . Modern Maidstone incorporates a number of outlying villages and settlements (see Geography below). The county council offices to the north of the town centre were built of Portland stone between 1910 and 1913. On 29 September 1975
7161-467: The top 50 in the UK. Much of this space is located in the two main shopping centres in the town, the 535,000 square feet (49,700 m ) The Mall Maidstone (previously known as The Chequers Centre) and the 32,500 square metres (350,000 sq ft) Fremlin Walk which opened in 2005. Other recent developments include the riverside Lockmeadow Centre, with a multiplex cinema , restaurants, nightclubs (now
7254-571: The town centre was the collegiate church of the College of All Saints built in 1395 next to the Archbishop's Palace . It contains a monument to Sir Jacob Astley , the Royalist Civil War soldier and a memorial to Lawrence Washington, great-uncle of George Washington 's great-great-grandfather, that includes the stars and stripes in the family coat of arms The college, the church, the palace and
7347-529: The town include Maidstone Grammar School , Invicta Grammar School , Maidstone Grammar School for Girls and Oakwood Park Grammar School . Alumni of the oldest school, Maidstone Grammar School (founded 1549), include James Burke , television presenter, and Lord Beeching , of the British railway cuts of the 1960s . William Golding , author of Lord of the Flies was once a teacher at the school. The University for
7440-430: The town's economy has shifted from heavy industry towards light industry and services. Saxon charters dating back to c. 975 show the first recorded instances of the town's name, de maeides stana and maegdan stane , possibly meaning stone of the maidens or stone of the people . The latter meaning may refer to the nearby megalith around which gatherings took place. The name evolved through medestan/meddestane in
7533-566: The town, linking it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary . Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, which is known as the Garden of England . There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age . The town, part of the borough of Maidstone , had an approximate population of 100,000 in 2019. Since World War II ,
7626-424: The world already having split into two camps, 25/50 Hz and 30/60 Hz, largely due to the differences in mains frequency. The IWP11/6 working party considered many views and throughout the 1980s served to encourage development in a number of video digital processing areas, not least conversion between the two main frame/field rates using motion vectors , which led to further developments in other areas. While
7719-482: Was 96.6% white, 0.9% mixed race , 0.3% Chinese, 1.5% other Asian, 0.4% Black and 0.3% other. The place of birth was 94.1% United Kingdom (91.4% England), 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 1.3% other European countries, 1.7% Asia, 0.9% Africa and 0.8% elsewhere. Religion was 73.9% Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.14% Sikh and 0.11% Jewish. 15.8% had no religion, 0.6% had an alternative religion, and 7.7% did not state their religion. Until 1998,
7812-532: Was a research project and the system was never deployed by either the military or consumer broadcasting. In 1986, the European Community proposed HD-MAC , an analog HDTV system with 1,152 lines. A public demonstration took place for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. However HD-MAC was scrapped in 1993 and the DVB project was formed, which would foresee development of a digital HDTV standard. In 1979,
7905-677: Was a significant technical challenge in the early years of HDTV ( Sony HDVS ). Japan remained the only country with successful public broadcasting of analog HDTV, with seven broadcasters sharing a single channel. However, the Hi-Vision/MUSE system also faced commercial issues when it launched on November 25, 1991. Only 2,000 HDTV sets were sold by that day, rather than the enthusiastic 1.32 million estimation. Hi-Vision sets were very expensive, up to US$ 30,000 each, which contributed to its low consumer adaption. A Hi-Vision VCR from NEC released at Christmas time retailed for US$ 115,000. In addition,
7998-447: Was also used as a regional office and a newsgathering hub, broadcasting the South East daily edition of Coast to Coast . TVS continued to use Maidstone until the end of their franchise, which they lost in 1991. When TVS lost its franchise from ITV, the Maidstone facility was retained, with a view to TVS becoming an independent production company. The new south and south east ITV contractor, Meridian, initially continued to rent space in
8091-476: Was at one time a centre of industry, brewing and paper making being among the most important. Nowadays smaller industrial units encircle the town. The site of Fremlin's Brewery , once the largest in Kent, is now Fremlin Walk shopping centre. The pedestrianised areas of the High Street and King Street run up from the river crossing at Lockmeadow; Week Street and Gabriel's Hill bisect this route. Kent experiences
8184-489: Was discontinued in February 1937. In 1938 France followed with its own 441-line system, variants of which were also used by a number of other countries. The US NTSC 525-line system joined in 1941. In 1949 France introduced an even higher-resolution standard at 819 lines , a system that would have been high definition even by modern standards, but was monochrome only and had technical limitations that prevented it from achieving
8277-578: Was first proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972, and was later adapted into a motion-compensated DCT algorithm for video coding standards such as the H.26x formats from 1988 onwards and the MPEG formats from 1993 onwards. Motion-compensated DCT compression significantly reduces the amount of bandwidth required for a digital TV signal. By 1991, it had achieved data compression ratios from 8:1 to 14:1 for near-studio-quality HDTV transmission, down to 70–140 Mbit/s . Between 1988 and 1991, DCT video compression
8370-783: Was granted in 2014 for 77 dwellings, and work to redevelop the site started in 2017. It is planned for vehicular access to the studios (including for production trucks) to be retained through the new housing estate. As of October 2017, Maidstone Studios is only advertising its two largest studios, and is no longer advertising the three other studios on site. Studios 1 and 2 have room for audience seating as well as room for sets. Studio 1 can handle 2,400 standing, 1,200 seated; Studio 2 can handle 250 seated. Both have large production galleries, are fully air-conditioned and can operate in SD or HD . Studio 1 also includes two large scene dock doors to allow easy access for people, scenery and vehicles. Access to Stage 2
8463-594: Was introduced in the United States in the early 1990s and made official in 1993 by the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance , a group of television, electronic equipment, communications companies consisting of AT&T Bell Labs , General Instrument , Philips , Sarnoff , Thomson , Zenith and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Field testing of HDTV at 199 sites in the United States was completed August 14, 1994. The first public HDTV broadcast in
8556-630: Was later converted to digital television with video compression . In 1949, France started its transmissions with an 819 lines system (with 737 active lines). The system was monochrome only and was used only on VHF for the first French TV channel. It was discontinued in 1983. In 1958, the Soviet Union developed Тransformator ( Russian : Трансформатор , meaning Transformer ), the first high-resolution (definition) television system capable of producing an image composed of 1,125 lines of resolution aimed at providing teleconferencing for military command. It
8649-530: Was widely adopted as the video coding standard for HDTV implementations, enabling the development of practical digital HDTV. Dynamic random-access memory ( DRAM ) was also adopted as framebuffer semiconductor memory, with the DRAM semiconductor industry 's increased manufacturing and reducing prices important to the commercialization of HDTV. Since 1972, International Telecommunication Union 's radio telecommunications sector ( ITU-R ) had been working on creating
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