A Brief Introduction To The History Of Television

Television, often referred to as the ‘idiot box’, has become one of the basic necessities of modern living. One cannot imagine how much influence it has had on everyone’s life since its invention. Famous talk shows like the Oprah Winfrey’s show or that of David Letterman has become part of the staple diet of Americans. Hollywood would not be as thriving as it is today without the emergence of television that has created a large audience for its movies. The ‘TV’ is ubiquitous in its presence and is part of nearly every American home. The television industry has given rise to a host of related activity, from production of ‘software or content’ for the TV shows to ‘hardware’ like TV components, TV broadcasting and the like. The history of television is a long one with several theories and inventions contributing to the present day device.

Timeline of the history of television

The basic foundations of modern day television broadcasting were laid as far back as 1831 when Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry discovered electromagnetism that later led to the discovery of electronic communication. Many other scientists worked on how to transmit static images electronically in the years 1862 and 1900.

May and Smith showed in 1873 how to convert the light reflected from static images to electronic signals using selenium. The idea of cathode ray tubes which converted electronic signals back into images then emerged and Eugen Goldstein is credited with first using the term cathode rays.

In 1884, Paul Nipkow created a mechanical TV using rotating disk with lamp as the light source. This TV had a resolution of eighteen lines and he called it electric telescope. The word ‘television’ was first used by the Russian Constantin Perskyi in 1900 at the first International Electricity Congress held as part of World Fair in Paris. We may consider this as the beginning of the history of television as we know today. Many theories like the electromagnetic wave theory put forth by scientists then contributed to the idea of transmission of continuous images over wires but there were many hurdles like absence of necessary field for transmission.

The invention of iconoscope, which functioned like a TV camera, in 1923 by Vladimir Zworkin laid the foundations of modern TV technology. It was based on the concept of sending images using cathode ray tubes put forth by Campbell Swinton and Boris Rosing. Since then the history of television has seen efforts being targeted at increasing the image resolution, starting from 30 lines initially. This screen definition was of poor quality with small details being ignored. Higher and higher definition screens have been produced since 1926 and broadcasting companies began to emerge that could broadcast high quality images.

Sri Lanka television station attacked (Denver Post)

Armed men attacked a private Sri Lankan television station Tuesday, tossing hand grenades, shooting out TV screens and starting a fire that caused heavy damage, witnesses and police said.

National Television Festival opens (Nhân Dân)

Nhan Dan Online- The 28th National Television Festival was opened in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province on January 6, 2009. According to organisers, the festival draws the participation of over 700 entries in 11 genres from 82 television stations.

Hispanic Television Landscape Could Shift in Los Angeles Trial (FOX 11 News Los Angeles)

In a trial that could change the landscape of Hispanic television in the U.S., broadcasting giant Univision Communications Inc. squared off Tuesday against the supplier of its popular telenovelas, Grupo Televisa SA.

Funding causes trouble for Feb. television switch (Eastern Shore News)

SALISBURY, Md. -- As if the upcoming conversion to all-digital television broadcasting wasn't already overwhelming, the Federal Communications Commission late Friday threw something else in the mix.

The power of television is becoming a drain (CTV Winnipeg)

When you leave a room do you turn off the lights in a bid to save energy and do something good for the environment? It might be a better idea to turn off your television instead.

Kiddie Kangaroo selected for National Television Showcase (Reno Gazette-Journal)

Local Company selected to debut product on National Television's Moms-for-Profit Showcase

MaxLinear's MxL5007T Silicon Tuner Chosen for Stylish Digital Stream MUON Portable LCD Television (Broadcast Newsroom)

CARLSBAD, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/06/09 -- MaxLinear, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company at the forefront of developing all-CMOS broadband radio frequency (RF) ICs for consumer markets, announced that its revolutionary MxL5007T digital terrestrial silicon tuner has been designed into the Digital Stream MUON ATSC portable LCD television.

Power Team, Doug and Jackie Christie, Launch New Internet Television Network, 'Christie TV' (Broadcast Newsroom)

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. , Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneurs, Doug and Jackie Christie launch an Internet Television Network, 'Christie TV' at www.christietvonline.com . Christie TV will have programs covering content ranging from major and indie artist interviews, tutorials and "How-To's," producer and music executive tips, documentaries, movies, reality TV, as well as sports broadcast and much ...

Digital Television Conversion is Coming (KFDM Beaumont)

In less than a month the biggest change in television history will be happening across the country. Are you ready? Digital television is coming to the TV set in your living room.

Newer television sets can cost you more monthly (ABC 7 El Paso)

As we're approaching the transition to all-digital broadcasting, many are upgrading from their older television sets to new ones. While the newer TV's may be bigger and better, you're certainly paying for it.