Television and its History
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Television or T.V, as it has grown to be called is an ingenius idea and was invented in 1925 by a incredibly intellegent man named John Logie Baird. His research was based mainly on earlier works by people such as Willoughby Smith and Vladimir Zwyorkin. Their combined research led to regular broadcasting in Germany in 1935. The picture however was very poor. The BBC chose Baird's idea and became the first high-quality black-and-white broadcasting company in 1937. shortly afterwards, in 1938 Baird patented a photo-mechanical colour television system but his works were not viable untill 1953, when the USA came up with a standardized electronic system compatible with existing black-and-white receivers.This system, known as the NSTC system, is currently used in the USA and Japan. Elsewhere two other systems--SECAM (used in France and the Soviet Union) and PAL (used by most of Europe)--have been developed. More recent developments in television technology include the growth of cable television; the introduction of stereo sound; and satellite television, in which microwave transmissions are broadcast via communications satellites either directly to domestic satellite dishes, or to ground stations for relay via cable. . The increased bandwidth of satellite and cable systems has led to tens of television channels often being available to viewers. New developments include high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasting, in which the television images are made up of over 1,000 scanning lines instead of the current 525 or 625, and the transmission of television pictures as digital rather than analog signals. Japanese analog HDTV (Hi-Vision) television receivers were first sold in 1990. Television has now become the most important of the entertainment mass media today.
