The Evolution of the Television
There has been a long line of modifications and advances in the field of television technology, with today’s massive high definition flat screen sets being worlds apart from the boxy, dinky sets originally released at the beginning of the 20th century. Nonetheless, many of the basic principles learned by companies experimenting with television technology is those early days are still applicable in television manufacturing today. All in all, the tv has evolved tremendously over the course of time, and is one of the most ubiquitous home electronics devices in the world, right alongside the telephone and the radio.
The beginnings of television were made possible by discoveries in radio technology, as a matter of fact—the first television sets were modifications of existing radio equipment, essentially. The world’s first television set (more or less) was created in 1884, actually, by a German inventor by the name of Paul Nipkow. What this young German inventor had done was put into practice the first successful image scanning technology in the world, and virtually all television technology to date has used scanning mechanisms (of increasing complexity as time went by) in order to function. By means of a pendulum-base device, a visual image was able to be converted into a stream of electrical pulses, a process that is known as "rasterization." Once the secret to rasterization had been unlocked, the door was open for the development and perfection of television technology.
Of course, the first TV sets were not able to reproduce moving images, only having capacity to display still images and with little or no sound and a very poor image definition. As time went by, these aspects changed: the quality of the image went up as more lines of resolution were added, going from a maximum of 30 lines in the 1920s to over 100 lines by the 1930s. A big step forward came in 1907 in the form of amplifier tube technology, which allowed for much better sound quality in television. Then, the next big step came in the form of a rotating mirror-drum scanner that served the purpose of capturing the desired image, and the cathode ray tube (from which the term "tube" for television originated) that served as a displaying device. By 1925, the first moving television images were achieved, bringing television technology into its modern era.
By around this time, innovation had led to the creation of entirely electronic television sets that required no additional power source other than the wall outlet. Amazingly enough, by the mid-1930s, a scientist had already published theories on the possibility of plasma television (yes, the kind we use today), showing how much room for improvement in the field there still was, as well as showing just how visionary people can be—that kind of technology was decades beyond the other varieties of the time.
Television sets were gigantic apparatuses during these first few decades, with very tiny screens—the complete opposite of what we all look for currently when buying a TV set. The trend was to build the TV into a piece of furniture, which eventually was discontinued as a design method as TVs got increasingly more compact and screen sizes also became larger and larger. Whereas in many of the first sets (form the 1920s and 1930s) screens were only a few inches across, and the units had all the appearance of a mini radio, by the post-WWII period the screens were getting larger (above 5 inches across) and sets were becoming much more portable. By the 1950s, sets had begun to take on the aspect of what we modern folk would recognize as a TV.
The 1950s was the decade when color television sets became available, but they were not immediately successful—due to their higher cost and the fact that people didn’t appreciate the difference all that much back then. To give a little evidence of exactly how important the 1950s were in the evolution of TV (as a mass media source), it is curious to note that when the decade began, less that 8% of American homes had TV sets in them; by the close of the decade, there were over 87% of American homes with TV sets in them…a phenomenal leap! The remote control was also developed during this period, which was hailed as a major event and which amazed consumers, allowing them to manipulate the tube from the couch—the beginning of the couch potato movement!
Over the decades from the 1940s to the 1960s, more and more countries began to broadcast public television stations over the airwaves, and by the 1960s the volume of different channels that could be had for free with any TV and antenna really made it an alluring item to have. Color TVs became increasingly popular, and with the creation of the world’s first video recording devices in the 1970s, TVs took on an entirely new dynamic and importance. Screen size continued to increase, and by the 1980s TVs were approaching the sizes that we consider standard today (though not near the maximum dimensions we currently enjoy). TV projector units became available during the 1980s, though their resolution was somewhat poor and lighting was a major issue; these devices were improved tremendously in the 1990s and offered image sizes way beyond what could be achieved with any monitor. Today, there are high definition TV projectors that are considered top of the line technology.
By the late 1990s, everything had changed: digital and high definition television was becoming the latest and greatest thing, and the aura of amazement surrounding TV technologies reached unprecedented levels. The first plasma screens were produced in 1997, and a few years later came the LCD screen, both of which are varieties of HD screens. HD television has been all the rave for over a decade now, and whereas HD sets weren’t available in sizes much beyond 30 inches, today there are sets achieving over 100 inches across. Having a flat screen tv has also become hugely popular, as they are more convenient when it comes to finding a space in the home to install them, there are a variety of TV stands available on the market.
were made possible by discoveries in radio technology, as a matter of fact—the first television sets were modifications of existing radio equipment, essentially. The world’s first television set (more or less) was created in 1884, actually, by a German inventor by the name of Paul Nipkow. What this young German inventor had done was put into practice the first successful image scanning technology in the world, and virtually all television technology to date has used scanning mechanisms (of increasing complexity as time went by) in order to function. By means of a pendulum-base device, a visual image was able to be converted into a stream of electrical pulses, a process that is known as "rasterization." Once the secret to rasterization had been unlocked, the door was open for the development and perfection of television technology.
Of course, the first tv sets were not able to reproduce moving images, only having capacity to display still images and with little or no sound and a very poor image definition. As time went by, these aspects changed: the quality of the image went up as more lines of resolution were added, going from a maximum of 30 lines in the 1920s to over 100 lines by the 1930s. A big step forward came in 1907 in the form of amplifier tube technology, which allowed for much better sound quality in television. Then, the next big step came in the form of a rotating mirror-drum scanner that served the purpose of capturing the desired image, and the cathode ray tube (from which the term "tube" for television originated) that served as a displaying device. By 1925, the first moving television images were achieved, bringing television technology into its modern era.
By around this time, innovation had led to the creation of entirely electronic television sets that required no additional power source other than the wall outlet. Amazingly enough, by the mid-1930s, a scientist had already published theories on the possibility of plasma television (yes, the kind we use today), showing how much room for improvement in the field there still was, as well as showing just how visionary people can be—that kind of technology was decades beyond the other varieties of the time.
Television sets were gigantic apparatuses during these first few decades, with very tiny screens—the complete opposite of what we all look for currently when buying a TV set. The trend was to build the TV into a piece of furniture, which eventually was discontinued as a design method as TVs got increasingly more compact and screen sizes also became larger and larger. Whereas in many of the first sets (form the 1920s and 1930s) screens were only a few inches across, and the units had all the appearance of a mini radio, by the post-WWII period the screens were getting larger (above 5 inches across) and sets were becoming much more portable. By the 1950s, sets had begun to take on the aspect of what we modern folk would recognize as a TV.
The 1950s was the decade when color television sets became available, but they were not immediately successful—due to their higher cost and the fact that people didn’t appreciate the difference all that much back then. To give a little evidence of exactly how important the 1950s were in the evolution of TV (as a mass media source), it is curious to note that when the decade began, less that 8% of American homes had TV sets in them; by the close of the decade, there were over 87% of American homes with TV sets in them…a phenomenal leap! The remote control was also developed during this period, which was hailed as a major event and which amazed consumers, allowing them to manipulate the tube from the couch—the beginning of the couch potato movement!
Over the decades from the 1940s to the 1960s, more and more countries began to broadcast public television stations over the airwaves, and by the 1960s the volume of different channels that could be had for free with any TV and antenna really made it an alluring item to have. Color TVs became increasingly popular, and with the creation of the world’s first video recording devices in the 1970s, TVs took on an entirely new dynamic and importance. Screen size continued to increase, and by the 1980s TVs were approaching the sizes that we consider standard today (though not near the maximum dimensions we currently enjoy). TV projector units became available during the 1980s, though their resolution was somewhat poor and lighting was a major issue; these devices were improved tremendously in the 1990s and offered image sizes way beyond what could be achieved with any monitor. Today, there are high definition TV projectors that are considered top of the line technology.
By the late 1990s, everything had changed: digital and high definition television was becoming the latest and greatest thing, and the aura of amazement surrounding TV technologies reached unprecedented levels. The first plasma screens were produced in 1997, and a few years later came the LCD screen, both of which are varieties of HD screens. HD television has been all the rave for over a decade now, and whereas HD sets weren’t available in sizes much beyond 30 inches, today there are sets achieving over 100 inches across. Having a flat screen tv has also become hugely popular, as they are more convenient when it comes to finding a space in the home to install them, there are a variety of TV stands available on the market.
sets were not able to reproduce moving images, only having capacity to display still images and with little or no sound and a very poor image definition. As time went by, these aspects changed: the quality of the image went up as more lines of resolution were added, going from a maximum of 30 lines in the 1920s to over 100 lines by the 1930s. A big step forward came in 1907 in the form of amplifier tube technology, which allowed for much better sound quality in television. Then, the next big step came in the form of a rotating mirror-drum scanner that served the purpose of capturing the desired image, and the cathode ray tube (from which the term "tube" for television originated) that served as a displaying device. By 1925, the first moving television images were achieved, bringing television technology into its modern era.
By around this time, innovation had led to the creation of entirely electronic television sets that required no additional power source other than the wall outlet. Amazingly enough, by the mid-1930s, a scientist had already published theories on the possibility of plasma television (yes, the kind we use today), showing how much room for improvement in the field there still was, as well as showing just how visionary people can be—that kind of technology was decades beyond the other varieties of the time.
Television sets were gigantic apparatuses during these first few decades, with very tiny screens—the complete opposite of what we all look for currently when buying a TV set. The trend was to build the TV into a piece of furniture, which eventually was discontinued as a design method as TVs got increasingly more compact and screen sizes also became larger and larger. Whereas in many of the first sets (form the 1920s and 1930s) screens were only a few inches across, and the units had all the appearance of a mini radio, by the post-WWII period the screens were getting larger (above 5 inches across) and sets were becoming much more portable. By the 1950s, sets had begun to take on the aspect of what we modern folk would recognize as a TV.
The 1950s was the decade when color television sets became available, but they were not immediately successful—due to their higher cost and the fact that people didn’t appreciate the difference all that much back then. To give a little evidence of exactly how important the 1950s were in the evolution of TV (as a mass media source), it is curious to note that when the decade began, less that 8% of American homes had TV sets in them; by the close of the decade, there were over 87% of American homes with TV sets in them…a phenomenal leap! The remote control was also developed during this period, which was hailed as a major event and which amazed consumers, allowing them to manipulate the tube from the couch—the beginning of the couch potato movement!
Over the decades from the 1940s to the 1960s, more and more countries began to broadcast public television stations over the airwaves, and by the 1960s the volume of different channels that could be had for free with any TV and antenna really made it an alluring item to have. Color TVs became increasingly popular, and with the creation of the world’s first video recording devices in the 1970s, TVs took on an entirely new dynamic and importance. Screen size continued to increase, and by the 1980s TVs were approaching the sizes that we consider standard today (though not near the maximum dimensions we currently enjoy). TV projector units became available during the 1980s, though their resolution was somewhat poor and lighting was a major issue; these devices were improved tremendously in the 1990s and offered image sizes way beyond what could be achieved with any monitor. Today, there are high definition TV projectors that are considered top of the line technology.
By the late 1990s, everything had changed: digital and high definition television was becoming the latest and greatest thing, and the aura of amazement surrounding TV technologies reached unprecedented levels. The first plasma screens were produced in 1997, and a few years later came the LCD screen, both of which are varieties of HD screens. HD television has been all the rave for over a decade now, and whereas HD sets weren’t available in sizes much beyond 30 inches, today there are sets achieving over 100 inches across. Having a flat screen tv has also become hugely popular, as they are more convenient when it comes to finding a space in the home to install them, there are a variety of TV stands available on the market.
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