What is the major difference between television and cinema?

Concept

Media differ not only in the images and sounds they carry but also in their temporal relation to the event.

Liveness is a medium’s capacity to present an event while it is happening, creating immediacy or presentness for the audience.

Application

Television can transmit events as they occur; news, sports, debates, and ceremonies are common examples.

Cinema is conventionally produced as a recorded, edited work and exhibited after the event. The relevant contrast is therefore the liveness differential.

Contrast

• Eye movement is a viewer-perception process, not a temporal property of the medium.

• Sound reverberation is an acoustic property of a space, not the defining temporal relation between these media.

• Bandwidth is a transmission-capacity measure used by electronic systems; it does not express whether presentation is simultaneous with the event.

Cross-check

Ask whether the medium can make the audience temporally co-present with an unfolding event. Television has that defining live capability; conventional cinema does not.

Result

The major difference is liveness differential.