Television has come a remarkably long way from the boxy black and white sets of the mid 20th century to the awe-inspiring 8K resolution models of today. Whether you grew up adjusting rabbit ears or streaming the latest shows on a 65-inch smart TV, taking a nostalgic trip back through TV history reveals just how revolutionary this technology has been.
In this 2,500 word guide, we’ll explore the various innovations that turned television from a grainy novelty into a central part of our entertainment lives. Let’s start from the very beginning – before people could even conceive watching video at home – all the way to present-day quantum dot LEDs. From mechanical disks to plasma displays, it‘s truly remarkable how many clever inventions built upon each other to create the vivid, immersive small screen experience we now take for granted.
The Race to Invent Television: Key Pioneers That Paved the Way
Pinpointing exactly who “invented” television poses quite the challenge. Unlike inventions such as the lightbulb or telephone that are credited primarily to single individuals, television technology evolved across decades through step-by-step contributions from forward-thinking scientists and engineers around the world.
By the late 1800s, major breakthroughs in electricity and electromagnetism sparked serious interest in the possibility of “seeing at a distance.” Early pioneers made huge strides towards this vision, transmitting images via cables or through rudimentary mechanically-scanned systems.
However, it wasn’t until the mid 1920s when the first complete all-electronic televisions began taking shape thanks to one exceptionally bright 21-year old inventor named Philo Farnsworth. His fully-functional TV system that could capture and reproduce live imagery smoothed over many limitations of earlier mechanical approaches.
Regarded by many as the “father of television,” Farnsworth earned well-deserved fame for his accomplishments. But his futuristic electronic television concept actually built upon critical contributions by other key pioneers over the prior 50 years that simply couldn’t be overlooked.
Spinning Discs and Stooky Bill: John Logie Baird’s Mechanical TV System
In 1923, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird succeeded in transmitting recognizable facial images across a short distance – the first major step towards true live television. His system utilized a brilliant mechanism dubbed the “Nipkow disk” combining spiraling holes in a spinning disk along with electric lamps and photocells to essentially “scan” images.
Baird tirelessly refined his mechanical TV model over the next years. By early 1925, he managed the impressive feat of clearly transmitting the scary painted face of a ventriloquist dummy named "Stooky Bill" across his lab. The press went wild over Stooky Bill’s “first television portrait” as Baird replaced the dummy with live human faces. Despite its novel approach, Baird’s system came saddled with serious limitations in image quality and distance that new electronic TV methods soon eclipsed. Still, his spinning Nipkow disk offered the very first glimpse into television’s incredible potential.
Harnessing Cathode Rays: The CRT That Changed Everything
Years before Philo Farnsworth wowed crowds with his fully-electronic television system, fellow scientists across the globe teased at the idea of beaming images via cathode ray tubes. Back in 1897, physicist J.J. Thomson’s work with cathode rays earned him recognition as the first to detect electrons, setting the whole field of electronics into motion.
Then in 1907, German physicist and Nobel Prize winner Karl Ferdinand Braun introduced an early prototype "Braun tube." Braun‘s cathode ray tube (CRT) displayed imagery by firing electron beams at a phosphor-coated screen. This key technology directly inspired the picture tubes soon incorporated into electronic television sets.
Although early CRT televisions came saddled with extremely small, blurry, monochrome displays, they could distribute video signals across far greater distances than clumsy mechanical systems. By the mid 1930s after improvements to camera and transmission methods, CRT-based TVs emerged as the definite technology to usher in practical television for the masses.
Early Television Sets: Bulky Black & White Wonders
Those grainy pre-WWII cathode ray tube televisions with postcard-sized screens hardly resemble the sets found in living rooms today. But when families gathered around these hulking pieces of furniture to gaze at jerky televised events, it ignited an excitement over the new medium’s potential like never before.
The very first commercially-made electronic TV set reached the market in 1928 courtesy of Westinghouse. The Westinghouse WR-5 featured a tiny 3-inch cathode ray picture tube inside a humongous cabinet housing all the components needed to receive experimental TV signals being broadcast in New York City. At an asking price equal to several thousand dollars today, only a select few could afford to bring home this revolutionary device.
By the late 1930s after improvements to cameras and broadcasting equipment, televised content expanded from simple tests to regular variety shows. NBC began beaming programs from their New York studios in 1941, although WWII placed mass production of televisions for consumers on hold.
Once manufacturing resumed as the 1940s drew to a close, eager buyers lined up to purchase their first black and white TV sets. Early models from RCA, GE, and other brands came housed inside substantially-sized wooden cabinets (25" or more in depth) concealing small 10” to 15” cathode ray tubes and interior components. These beasts tipped scales at a back-breaking 50-100 lbs!
Despite the tiny, blurry, monochrome displays, families happily gathered nightly to catch their favorite shows broadcast over the few available stations. The novelty of television, with its magical ability to bring distant scenes and celebrities right into the living room, proved simplytoo irresistible. By 1951, over 12 million households across America tuned into beloved comedies and dramas like I Love Lucy on their prized (if bulky) black and white sets.
Fiddle With the Rabbit Ears – It’s Showtime!
Early television relied on VHF/UHF signals received via separate whip or “rabbit ear” antennas. Frequently moving and adjusting these antennas coaxed in the best possible reception…that is, until someone walked across the room! Keeping the tenuous signal steady became a family chore.
Kids may remember being delegated the sacred duty of “antenna duty” – gently maneuvering the fickle rabbit ears to reduce as much snow and static as possible from the prized family TV set. Parental threats of “no TV for a week!” discouraged over-eager antenna twiddling that lost the channel completely.
In 1952, a woman from Oregon with poor reception grew so fed up with constant antenna adjustments, she invented the first indoor directional TV antenna. The “Rabbit Ears Rotator” mounted on the set itself and rotated via dial to optimize signal. Her clever invention earned praise from viewers nationwide struggling with crummy reception.
The Dawn of Color TV
While early black and white television certainly made an impact, the concept of broadcasting in color attracted interest almost from the very beginning. Various attempts to transmit color started as far back as the early 20th century, although the great depression and WWII placed most research on hold.
By 1951 when stable coast-to-coast broadcasting had firmly taken root in the U.S., the push was on to convince increasingly-enthralled viewers to upgrade to color. Disputes between broadcasting companies CBS and RCA unfortunately delayed the standardization of color TV for several more years.
Finally, in 1953 the FCC declared RCA’s all-electronic “dot sequential” color system as the new US standard. This system transmitted black and white imagery along with phase and amplitude data allowing TV sets to recreate colors. Although complicated and expensive, RCA’s method unlocked practical coast-to-coast color broadcasting.
Within weeks of the FCC’s decision, NBC broadcast the first network program in color – an episode of The Marriage starring Mary Healy. Later that night, CBS experienced slight panic when schedule changes forced them to quickly rig color cameras to televise an episode of The Red Skelton Show “in spectacular living color!” Viewers required special converter gear to witness shows in color as very few all-electronic color TVs existed yet.
By 1954, television manufacturers offered the first consumer color television models featuring 15” screens. Prices hovered from $1,000 to over $1,500 putting them well out of reach for average families. Early models came saddled with frequent tuning issues too. But once Walt Disney began filming shows like Davy Crockett and Zorro in vibrant hues, the demand for color steadily increased.
Within a decade, black and white TV manufacturing ground to a halt as customers embraced 25” and larger color sets across America. In just 1964 alone, some 17 million color sets shipped as prices dropped under $400 for the first time. And by 1978, a whopping 25 million households (over half!) tuned into dazzling color programming. The radio and early B&W-only days were squarely antiquity.
Getting Big: Large-Screen TVs Arrive
As color television thoroughly dominated the 1960s/1970s, living rooms became accustomed to chunky 25" consoles. But some enterprising hobbyists weren’t content being limited to small screens. Before large televisions became mainstream, enthusiasts occasionally “hot-rodded” multiple TV sets together to form early DIY home theaters!
During the mid-1970s, projection televisions also emerged for creating theater-sized images at home. CRT projectors utilized three tubes – one for red, green and blue channels – to beam enlarged programming onto large separate screens. These costly projectors remained a rarity until the 1980s when some manufacturers offered rear-projection models for under $15,000.
Rear projection TVs (RPTVs) provided an early compromise between size and cost. They worked by expanding and projecting the image from a small CRT onto a large screen using mirrors. Technological innovations also led to “big screen” direct-view CRT televisions by the 1990s pushing 25”, 27” and even 32”. However bulky cabinets coupled with heavy tubes kept these direct-view sets under 40”.
So for the serious home theater buff, rear projection and expensive projectors represented the only route to the 50”-100”+ screen sizes. As RPTV prices slowly descended to just $3,000-$4,000, more consumers brought home these “super televisions” despite their bulkiness. Compact front/rear projectors also widened the path to bigger screens until sleeker technologies emerged on the scene.
Flatscreens Take Over: Plasmas & LCDs
By the late 1990s, hulking projection TVs dropping in price made larger screens more approachable while direct-view CRTs remained quite cumbersome. Picture quality saw notable improvements too. But the elephant in the room remained…televisions themselves were still gigantic, heavy, and ate up ample space no matter the screen size.
That finally changed when sleeker, lighter flat panel technologies spearheaded by plasmas and LCDs arrived right at the turn of the millennium. These displays rendered the familiar vacuum tube era obsolete through innovations in panel materials, specialized gases, and liquid crystals.
Plasma displays utilize charged ionized gases responding to precise voltages across hundreds of thousands of individual pixel cells. By exciting plasma within each cell, this display technology achieves incredible contrast and brightness without necessitating large projection appliances. Early plasma prototypes from Fujitsu and IBM wowed consumers in the mid-90s as the first viable flatscreens.
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) also utilize specialized layer materials and arrangement of crystals responding to electric signals. But rather than directly emitting light themselves, LCD crystals instead twist to precisely control light passage from a separate backlight through red, blue, and green color filters. While plasmas initially dominated flatscreens through the mid-2000s, LCDs saw massive improvements allowing them to overtake plasma TV sales by the late 2000s.
Although plasma TVs and later LCDs commanded premium prices exceeding well over $5,000 for larger models, they simply outclassed rear projection units with their sleek form factors, image clarity, and improved viewing angles. By the 2010s, LCD and plasma models thoroughly dominated the television landscape – from tiny 22” bedroom units to “supersized” 60”+ home theater displays.
However, with newer manufacturing techniques driving costs down significantly, even savvy shoppers need not pay outlandish prices for excellent performance anymore. Highly-rated LCD HDTVs at all sizes down to 32” can readily be purchased today for under $200 for casual viewing!
But whether you’re eyeing a budget 32” bedroom unit or an 85” showstopper for the home theater, television display technologies continue advancing at astounding rates. Modern quantum dot LEDs, microLEDs, and displays boasting 33 million+ pixels hint that even after a century of relentless innovation, the most exciting television transformations still lie ahead!
So if that dusty wood-paneled CRT TV tucked away in the garage still turns on, it may be time to gently blow off the cobwebs and remind yourself just how astonishing the long road towards today’s vivid flatscreens has been!
