Television

Television

The television has become such an integral part of homes in the modern world that it is hard to imagine life without television. The boob tube, as television is also referred to, provides entertainment to people of all ages. Not just for entertainment value, but TV is also a valuable resource for advertising and different kinds of programming. Different experiments by various people, in the field of electricity and radio, led to the development of basic technologies and ideas that laid the foundation for the invention of television. In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a student in Germany, developed the first ever mechanical module of television. He succeeded in sending images through wires with the help of a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the electric telescope that had 18 lines of resolution. Around 1907, two separate inventors, A.A. Campbell-Swinton from England and Russian scientist Boris Rosing, used the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical scanner system, to create a new television system. From the experiments of Nipkow and Rosing, two types of television systems came into existence: mechanical television and electronic television.

Mechanical Television History In 1923, an American inventor called Charles Jenkins used the disk idea of Nipkow to invent the first ever practical mechanical television system. By 1931, his Radiovisor Model 100 was being sold in a complete kit as a mechanical television. In 1926, just a little after Jenkins, a British inventor known as John Logie Baird, was the first person to have succeeded in transmitting moving pictures through the mechanical disk system started by Nipkow. He also started the first ever TV studio. From 1926 till 1931, the mechanical television system saw many innovations. Although the discoveries of these men in the department of mechanical television were very innovative, by 1934, all television systems had converted into the electronic system, which is what is being used even today.

Electronic Television History

The experiments of Swinton in 1907, with the cathode ray tube for electronic television held great potential but were not converted into reality. Finally, in 1927, Philo Taylor Farnsworth was able to invent a working model of electronic television that was based on Swintons ideas. His experiments had started when he was just a little boy of 14 years. By the time he became 21, Philo had created the first electronic television system, which did away with the rotating disks and other mechanical aspects of mechanical television. Thus was born the television system which is the basis of all modern TVs. All the early television systems were black and white, with color television being invented much later on. Since the early invention of television in the beginning of the 1900s, history has seen many firsts in the area of television.

Television Facts:Firsts In The TV IndustryThe television has come a long way from its initial avatar, that of a radio with visual projection capabilities. Since then, till now, the television industry has witnessed many firsts. Heres looking at some first facts on television. First Facts On Television Stations and Television Sets

The first mechanical television station in America was called W3XK. This station was the brainchild of Charles Francis Jenkins, who is also remembered as the father of American television. The station aired its first broadcast on 2nd July, 1928. WRGB television station in New York is the first American station that has the honor of being a continuously operating station from 1926, when television was invented, till date. The station began as W2XB, but the name was changed to WRGB in 1942, in memory of Mr. Walter R. G. Baker, who was a leader in the radio and television industry. The first commercially produced television sets were based on the mechanical television system. These sets were made from John Bairds designs for television. The sets were shown to the public in September of 1928. The first ever American electronic television sets were produced in 1938 and were an instant hit. The first ever remote control for television was invented in 1948. Known as the Tele Zoom, it cannot be called a remote control in the true sense of the word, as the device could only enlarge the picture on the tube and not change any channels or turn the television set on and off. The Flash-matic from Zenith, produced in 1955, was the first ever real remote control that could do all of the above and was completely wireless.

First Facts On Television Programming and Advertisements

The Queens Messenger is believed to be the first television program in America. It was broadcast by WRGB station in 1928. We say believed because the program was broadcast to only 4 television sets in existence at the time, and thus the ambiguity. 1st July, 1941 is the day when the first ever commercial broadcast took place in America. All broadcasts prior to this day were regarded as experimental by the FCC, thus making this day very important in American TV history. 1st July, 1941 is also the day when the first American advertisement was aired. The commercial was for a Bulova Watch and lasted all of 10 seconds. It was aired on the NBC network.

The Inventors of the Television

Television was not invented or created by any one person. There was no single Eureka moment in the invention of television, instead there were many such moments for various people. The ideas and innovations of several people led to the invention of televisioPaul Nipkow: In 1884, Paul Nipkow was the first person to create a rotating disk as a mechanical scanner, which was the chief basis of mechanical television. He conceptualized the idea of the rotating disk that was used as a scanning device to scan images. One rotation of the disk was equal to one frame on television. The picture resolution was only 18 lines and thus very poor. Whether or not Paul actually developed a working model of a mechanical television is still unclear, but what is certain is that the Nipkow disk was the very foundation of mechanical television systems. Charles Jenkins: This man is known as the father of mechanical television in America. Charles Jenkins and his association with television began in 1894, when he first described a method to electrically transmit images and pictures. By 1920, Jenkins had developed a device known as the prismatic rings, which was the main aspect of his Radiovisor television kits. This invention was basically a radio that had visual capabilities and projected pictures with a resolution of 40 to 48 lines. Charles Jenkins also started the first television station in Maryland. John Logie Baird: Baird also used the Nipkow disk principle to invent a practical model of a mechanical television. He was the first person to succeed in transmitting live images on TV. It can be said that Baird did for British television what Jenkins did for American television. In 1925, Baird created the first televised image of a human face. For his many inventions since then, he is considered as one of the pioneers of the mechanical television system. Alan A. Campbell-Swinton: Swinton, a British engineer, came up with the idea of using cathode ray tubes in the invention of television. Although he envisaged the idea, he could not develop a working model of his ideas, which were eventually used by Vladimir K. Zworykin and Philo T. Farnsworth to create practical systems of electronic television. John Logie Baird: Baird also used the Nipkow disk principle to invent a practical model of a mechanical television. He was the first person to succeed in transmitting live images on TV. It can be said that Baird did for British television what Jenkins did for American television. In 1925, Baird created the first televised image of a human face. For his many inventions since then, he is considered as one of the pioneers of the mechanical television system. Alan A. Campbell-Swinton: Swinton, a British engineer, came up with the idea of using cathode ray tubes in the invention of television. Although he envisaged the idea, he could not develop a working model of his ideas, which were eventually used by Vladimir K. Zworykin and Philo T. Farnsworth to create practical systems of electronic television. Philo Farnsworth: Philo was an American inventor who was born on August 19, 1906, in Utah. When Philo was in high school, he experimented with transmission of TV images and became keenly interested in electronic television invention. Farnsworth is the inventor of the dissector tube, which is still the foundation of all electronic televisions. Vladimir Zworykin, the inventor of the iconoscope in 1923 and the kinescope in 1929, is said to have been inspired in his creations from the designs of Philo Farnsworth.

Submitted byPriya Jose