The Evolution of Television

“TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn't time for it.” ~Author Unknown, from New York Times, 1939

Paul NipkowO Regarded as the inventor of the TV setO Born: 22 August 1860 O Died: 24 August 1940O Patented the Nipkow Disk in 1884

Philo FarnsworthO Invented a fully functional all-electronic image pickup deviceO Born: August 19, 1906O Died: March 11, 1971O In 1929, he transmitted the first live human image (3.5 inch pic of wife Pem)

Commercial Television Sets

O Cathode Ray Tubes were manufactured in Germany starting in 1934

O Sold beginning in 1938 in AmericaO 3-inch screen: US $125 (equivalent to

US $2020)O 12-inch screen: US $445 (equivalent to

US $7200)O Approximately 7000-8000 sets made in

America before WWII

1938 Dupont Model 180

After WWIIO Television usage skyrocketedO 0.5% of U.S. households had a

television set in 1946O 55.7% had one in 1954O 90% by 1962O In 1947, Motorola introduced the VT-

71 television for $189.95 (affordable)

1946/1947 RCA 630-TS

Motorola VT-71

Colour TelevisionO On February 28th, 1954, the

Westinghouse H840CK15 became available in New York

O It cost $1295 (equivalent to $11 400)O Available at 60 stores, not a single

sale was reported

Westinghouse H840CK15

High DefinitionO In the late 1980s, HDTV technology was

introduced in the United StatesO In 1993, it was official by the Digital HDTV

Grand AllianceO On July 23rd, 1996, WRAL-TV became the

first to broadcast a digital television signalO HDTV sets became available in the U.S. in

1998 O In November 1998, the first public HDTV

broadcast occurred (Discovery space shuttle launch)

1995 HDTV Meeting

Evolution