(Photo: http://business.e800.com.cn/)
朋友S早前看到電視劇集這一幕：中年男子躺在沙發看深宵電視節目，不知不覺睡著了，醒來電視台已「收台」，電視畫面只有「雪花」和發出「沙沙」的聲響，煞時為這一幕添了不小氣氛。S不禁婉惜說：「已經很久沒有在現實生活看到電視雪花了！」
S也說得沒錯，這一幕的確脫離了現實，現在電視台大多二十四小時廣播，在深夜最低收視率的時候，好歹都會有「粵語長片」撐撐場。（不知「魚樂無窮」是否還有播放。）
小時候，要轉換電視頻道都須要扭動按紐，在找到所需頻道前就總會出現「雪花」畫面，令人十分不耐煩。隨著科技日新月異，「雪花」畫面就只有在調較新電機的自動選台時才會看到。到現在數碼廣播時代，廣播信號就只有「收到」或「收不到」；「有聲」或「沒聲」，昔日存在頻道與頻道之間的「雪花」畫面再也找不到。
無可否認科技令事物更有序，界線更分明。但原來昔日討人厭、棲身在大氣電波中模糊地帶的「電視雪花」，在因科技進步而快將消失的時候，卻誘發了我們的懷舊情懷，甚至愆生出新的浪漫美意義。
My friend S saw this scene from a TV drama recently: Lying on a sofa, a lone middle-aged man watches TV after midnight. Not before long he dozes off. When he wakes up, the programming of the day has already finished. The TV screen has become snowy and is making a buzzing noise. The scene has turned atmospheric. “I really miss the snowy TV screen cos I haven’t seen it for real for ages,” F sighed.
S was quite right. This scene is a bit far-fetched. Most of the TV stations in Hong Kong nowadays broadcast round-the-clock. Even at the small hours when the ratings are in their trough, the dated Cantonese black-and-white films are on offer. (I am wondering if the late-night programme showing a static shot of a tank of colourful tropical fish is still on.)
I remember when I was small, we searched for our desired TV channel by turning a small knob on the TV set. As we were trying to tune to the right frequency, we always had to endure the annoying noisy snowy TV screen. With the advancement of technology, snowy TV screen could only be seen as we tried to set the TV channels of a newly bought TV with its automatic channel setting function. Under the auspices of the digital broadcast age, there is either “clear picture” or “no picture”; either “clear sound” or “no sound”. The snowy TV screen that used to exist in between the channels is no longer there.
Undeniably technology helps put things in order, line things up and demarcate things. In the past, the snowy TV screen humbly found its place in the fuzzy territory in the air waves. As it is about to go extinct in this technology age, it not only arouses a nostalgia in us, but also ascribes to itself a new romantic meaning.
