The history of television

The history of television

The history of television begins in 1884 when Paul Nipkow designs the disc that bears his name. In the search for devices for the transmission of moving images, initially called phototelegraphy, the German Paul Gottlieb Nipkow patented the mechanical disc. However, due to its mechanical characteristics, it presented problems in its effective operation with large sizes and high speeds.

In 1900, the word “television” is born. This term was first used by the Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi in a document read at the first International Congress of Electricity, held in Paris during the Universal Exhibition. It comes from the Greek word “Tele”, which means distance and the Latin “visio”, vision.

In 1923, the American physicist of Russian origin, Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, created the first satisfactory device for capturing images known as the Iconoscope. Later, American radio engineer Philo Taylor Farnsworth invented the image dissector tube, and these two inventions would later mark the beginnings of the electronic television system.

In the same year (1923), the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird, after some inventions and experiments, perfected Nipkow’s disc using selenium cells, and in 1926 invented a mechanical television system incorporating infrared rays to perceive images in the dark. In 1928, experimental transmissions were made by Jenkins from Washington’s W3XK station. John Logie Baird’s system was refined, and that same year he made the first transmission of images across the Atlantic, from London to New York. After achieving these transmissions, in 1929 the BBC (British Broadcast Company) focused on the system developed by John Logie Baird and announced a regular transmission service of images. However, the interest shown in the invention was not very effective, as the BBC did not see a practical and concrete use for the new invention. Official broadcasts began on September 30, 1929, and on December 31, 1930, the first simultaneous transmission of audio and video was made, a milestone in the history of television.

Thus, at the end of the 1920s, the first broadcasts began, but it was only in the 1950s that the system was broadcast worldwide with black and white transmissions.

The BBC, CBS, and NBC in the United States were the first to make public television broadcasts, using mechanical systems. These programs were not broadcast on a regular schedule; it was not until 1936 in England that regular broadcasts were made and in the United States in 1939. All of these broadcasts were interrupted by World War II.

The inventions of Vladimir Kosma Zworykin revolutionized the system, the cathode ray tube and the development of the iconoscope led to the advent of color television and the creative competition to make it a success. Vladimir suggested standardizing the systems that were being developed worldwide, and taking the word of the Russian scientist, the United States created the “National Television System Committee (NTSC)” in 1940, which regulated the manufacturing standards for television mechanisms to make them compatible among different American companies. In 1942, the standardization of the system valid in the United States was achieved.

In the 1970s, a major event occurred that would forever mark the history of television, the advent of color w as achieved, and its system quickly improved as technologies advanced and became more and more perfected with more channels and production companies. Starting in the 1980s, satellite television appeared, reaching a wide dispersal worldwide. For Latin America, from 1984, the use by Televisa of the Panamsat satellite for its worldwide transmissions, allows the Spanish signal to cover all five continents.

In the 1990s, signals from television productions and channels from around the world began to be received, giving access to different cultures, economies, customs, and events worldwide through this medium.

This process of positioning television as a means of communication and entertainment throughout its history shows a development with technological advances that has become a very important medium for society and its convergence with other related media. All this has had an impact on the improvement of television operation until today, being comfortable and versatile for all of us. Since 2012, the most popular TVs are 3D and touch with motion sensors.

The World Television Day is celebrated on November 21st in commemoration of the date of the first World Television Forum in 1996 at the United Nations.