television

Simplified block diagram of a complete colour television system transmitting and receiving. The camera separates the picture into three colours red, blue, green by using filters and different camera tubes for each colour. The audio signal is produced separately from the video signal. Both signals are transmitted from the same aerial using a special coupling device called a diplexer. There are four sections in the receiver: the aerial, the tuners, the decoders, and the display. As in the transmitter, the audio and video signals are processed separately. The signals are amplified at various points.

Reproduction of visual images at a distance using radio waves. For transmission, a television camera converts the pattern of light it takes in into a pattern of electrical charges. This is scanned line by line by a beam of electrons from an electron gun, resulting in variable electrical signals that represent the picture. These signals are combined with a radio carrier wave and broadcast as electromagnetic waves. The receiving aerial (antenna) or satellite dish picks up the wave and feeds it to the receiver (TV set). This separates out the vision signals, which pass to the display device. This is usually a cathode-ray tube) in which a beam of electrons is made to scan across the screen line by line, mirroring the action of the electron gun in the TV camera. The result is a recreation of the pattern of light that entered the camera. Thirty pictures are built up each second with interlaced scanning in North America (25 in Europe), with a total of 525 lines in North America and Japan (625 lines in Europe).

Receiving antennas
Because the wavelength of terrestrial-broadcast television signals is short, a resonant antenna becomes possible, and this usually consists of a half-wave antenna made of light alloy or steel tube, fed at the centre with low-impedance coaxial or balanced cable. Greater gain is obtained if a reflector element is added, and quite complicated arrays are used in areas of weak signal strength. These antennas are mounted either vertically or horizontally to conform with the polarization of the transmitting antennas. Tubing is used for the elements, since an antenna made of wire would be too sharply resonant, with resulting loss of bandwidth, and therefore poor picture definition. Signals from TV satellites are collected by a fixed dish pointed toward the satellite, which is in geostationary orbit.

Television channels
In addition to transmissions received by all viewers, the 1970s and 1980s saw the growth of pay-television cable networks, which are received only by subscribers, and of systems that allow the viewers' opinions to be transmitted instantaneously to the studio, so that, for example, a home viewing audience can vote in a talent competition. The number of programme channels continues to increase, following the introduction of satellite-beamed TV signals and digital television. Further use of TV sets has been brought about by videotext and the use of video recorders to tape programs for playback later or to play prerecorded videocassettes, and by their use as computer screens and for security systems. Extended-definition television gives a clear enlargement from a microscopic camera and was first used 1989 in neurosurgery to enable medical students to watch brain operations.

History
In 1873 it was realized that, since the electrical properties of the non-metallic chemical element selenium vary according to the amount of light to which it is exposed, light could be converted into electrical impulses, making it possible to transmit such impulses over a distance and then reconvert them into light. The chief difficulty was seen to be the splitting of the picture so that the infinite variety of light and shade values might be transmitted and reproduced. In 1908 it was found that cathode-ray tubes would best effect transmission and reception. Mechanical devices were used at the first practical demonstration of television, given by John Logie Baird in London on January 27, 1926, and cathode-ray tubes were used experimentally in the UK from 1934. The world's first public television service was started from the BBC station at Alexandra Palace in North London, on November 2, 1936. In the USA, TV technology was pioneered by David Sarnoff and Philo Taylor Farnsworth (19061971) and sets became available in the 1930s, but few performances were televised until the late 1940s, when local and network shows were scheduled in major cities and, by coaxial cable, across the nation. Live performances gave way to videotaped shows by the late 1950s, and color sets became popular from the 1960s.

Color television
Baird gave a demonstration of color TV in London in 1928, but it was not until December 1953 that the first successful system was adopted for broadcasting, in the USA. This is called the NTSC system, since it was developed by the National Television System Committee, and variations of it have been developed in Europe; for example, SECAM (sequential and memory) in France and PAL (phase alternation by line) in West Germany. The three differ only in the way color signals are prepared for transmission. When there was no agreement on a universal European system in 1964, in 1967 the UK, West Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland adopted PAL while France and the USSR adopted SECAM. In 1989 the European Community (now the European Union) agreed to harmonize TV channels from 1991, allowing any station to show programs anywhere in the EC. The method of color reproduction uses the principle that any colors can be made by mixing the primary colors red, green, and blue in appropriate proportions. (This is different from the mixing of paints, where the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.) In color television the receiver reproduces only three basic colors: red, green, and blue. The effect of yellow, for example, is reproduced by combining equal amounts of red and green light, while white is formed by a mixture of all three basic colors. Signals indicate the amounts of red, green, and blue light to be generated at the receiver. To transmit each of these three signals in the same way as the single brightness signal in black-and-white television would need three times the normal band width and reduce the number of possible stations and programs to one-third of that possible with monochrome television. The three signals are therefore coded into one complex signal, which is transmitted as a more or less normal black-and-white signal and produces a satisfactory or compatible picture on black-and-white receivers. A fraction of each primary red, green, and blue signal is added together to produce the normal brightness, or luminance, signal. The minimum of extra coloring information is then sent by a special subcarrier signal, which is superimposed on the brightness signal. This extra coloring information corresponds to the hue and saturation of the transmitted color, but without any of the fine detail of the picture. The impression of sharpness is conveyed only by the brightness signal, the coloring being added as a broad color wash. The various color systems differ only in

the way in which the coloring information is sent on the subcarrier signal. The color receiver has to amplify the complex signal and decode it back to the basic red, green, and blue signals; these primary signals are then applied to a color cathode-ray tube. The color display tube is the heart of any color receiver. Many designs of color picture tubes have been invented; the most successful of these is known as the shadow mask tube. It operates on similar electronic principles to the black-and-white television picture tube, but the screen is composed of a fine mosaic of over 1 million dots arranged in an orderly fashion. One-third of the dots glow red when bombarded by electrons, one-third glow green, and one-third blue. There are three sources of electrons, respectively modulated by the red, green, and blue signals. The tube is arranged so that the shadow mask allows only the red signals to hit red dots, the green signals to hit green dots, and the blue signals to hit blue dots. The glowing dots are so small that from a normal viewing distance the colors merge into one another and a picture with a full range of colors is seen. High-definition television (HDTV) offers a significantly greater number of scanning lines, and therefore a clearer picture, than the 525/625 lines of established television systems. In 1989 the Japanese broadcasting station NHK and a consortium of manufacturers launched the Hi-Vision HDTV system, with 1,125 lines and a wide-screen format. The Eureka research project gathered together 30 European electronics companies, research laboratories, and broadcasting authorities to provide a common 1,250line system for Europe by 1993. The first high-definition television sets in the USA went on sale in August 1998 in San Diego, California. Digital television (DTV) is a system of producing, transmitting, storing, and displaying television programmes in digital codes. Until the late 1980s it was considered impossible to convert a TV signal into digital code because of the amount of information needed to represent a visual image. However, the development of data compression techniques made it possible to develop a digital technology in the 1990s that offered sharper and wider pictures with superior image quality. A common world standard for DTV, the MPEG-2, was agreed in April 1993 at a meeting of engineers representing manufacturers and broadcasters from 18 countries. The advent of DTV constitutes a revolutionary overhaul of television, making a wider variety of programming available and improving the quality of image and sound. It is expected that DTV will have superseded the analog television system by 2006. By this time, industry experts hope, multiplexing (where more than one television program can share the same bandwidth) of both HDTV and SDTV (standard definition) programs will have been widely adopted, as will the broadcast of nontelevision data, such as Web content and stock-market information.
This article is Research Machines plc 2009. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.

television - events
30 November 1878 18 October 1922 19291935 1929 3 June 1931 22 August10 September 1932 11 October 1932 25 December United Kingdom USA United UK UK United Kingdom USA English chemist and physicist William Crookes describes an early form of the cathode-ray tube, now known as Crooke's tube, to the Royal Society. It is a forerunner of the television tube. The privately owned British Broadcasting Company (BBC) is established.It is nationalized as the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1925. Experimental television broadcasting begins in England. NBC begins operating the first public television broadcasting station in the USA; 60 lines are scanned at 20 frames per second. The Epsom Derby horse race is the first sporting event to be televised in Britain. In collaboration with Baird Company, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins the first regular television service, with transmissions between 11 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. The Democratic Party gives the first party political television broadcast, in New York City. King George V of Britain makes the first Christmas broadcast by a British

1932 1936 2 November 1936 24 December 1936 1937 12 May 1937 30 April 1939

Kingdom UK UK UK USA UK USA

26 August 1939 USA 1 September 1939 1940 UK USA

1 January 1941 USA 1945 1945 1 June 1946 7 June 1946 7 July 1946 12 July 1946 USA USA UK UK UK Italy

18 March 1947 UK 5 October 1947 USA 1948 29 July14 August 1948 25 January 1949 May 1949 USA UK USA England

head of state. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins the first public television broadcasts; the system used has 405-line pictures. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) starts the world's first public highdefinition television service from its transmitter at Alexandra Palace, London, England, using Logie Baird's mechanical system and EMI's electronic system. Harry Pringle's Old Veterans, a variety show in the UK, is the first television programme to have a studio audience. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) makes regular experimental television broadcasts in the USA. The televising of the Coronation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the first major outside broadcast in Britain and viewed by an estimated 50,000 people. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) makes the first public demonstration of television in the USA with President Roosevelt opening the New York World's Fair. The broadcast is seen by 1,000 people. Later in the year, NBC begins broadcasting for two hours a week. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) also starts to broadcast. The world's first regular advertisements on television are read live by the commentator in the interval of a baseball game in the USA. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stops television broadcasting in the UK for the duration of the war in the middle of a Mickey Mouse film. Service is resumed in 1946. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) demonstrates its colour-television system, making the world's first broadcast in colour from the Chrysler Building, New York City. The system is based on a three-colour rotating disc developed by US engineer Peter Goldmark. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) begins regular television broadcasting (in competition with NBC). Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in the USA is televised for the first time. After a delay caused by the war, television broadcasting in the USA begins on a regular basis. Television licences are introduced in the UK: around 7,500 are sold, at a cost of 2 each. Regular television broadcasts by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which have been interrupted for almost seven years by the war, are revived in the UK: at this stage there are fewer than 12,000 viewers. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launches the first children's television series For the Children: it is shown every week. Pius XII becomes the first pope to appear on television when the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) broadcasts a papal address from the Vatican. British prime minister Clement Attlee makes the first party political broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), under a scheme to give major parties equal access to radio (Anthony Eden replies for the Conservatives). US president Harry S Truman makes the first presidential address to the nation on television. One million homes have television sets in the USA, compared to 5,000 in 1945. The Olympic Games, hosted in London, England, is televised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the first time. Awards for television are inaugurated in the USA: the first Emmy awards are presented by Walter O'Keefe in Hollywood, California. EMI sets up the first permanent closed-circuit television system in Britain, in

29 July 1949 19501980

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23 February UK 1950 15 October USA 195124 June 1957 1952 USA 1952 1953 UK UK

Guy's Hospital in London, England. The first weather forecast is broadcast on British television: it consists of a voice-over only. Watch With Mother, a series for young children featuring favourite characters such as Andy Pandy, the Flowerpot Men, Rag, Tag, and Bobtail, and the Woodentops, is shown on British television. For the first time, British election returns are televised. I Love Lucy, US television's first smash hit situation comedy, is shown, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. There are 17 million television sets in US homes, up from around 7 million in 1950. The British children's television programme Watch With Mother introduces Bill and Ben, twin puppets made from flowerpots, in The Flowerpot Men. Panorama, currently the oldest established current affairs programme on British television, starts broadcasting. Originally a fortnightly general magazine programme, it soon develops into its long-term investigative journalism format, presented by Richard Dimbleby. Dwight D Eisenhower is inaugurated as 34th president of the USA. The ceremony is broadcast throughout the country on television for the first time. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is watched on televisions in homes and public places, such as church halls, by an estimated 20 million viewers in Britain. The event also stimulates the purchase of television sets. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) begins the first regular television broadcasts in colour, in the USA. The Television Act establishes the Independent Television Authority in Britain to manage the introduction of commercial television, which will begin in 1955, ending the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monopoly. BBC Television News, with newsreader Richard Baker, starts on British television. Initially, in the interests of impartiality, newsreaders were not allowed to be seen on screen and merely provided a voice-over. A meeting of the US cabinet is televised for first time. For the first time, newsreaders actually appear on screen on the BBC Television News. Early newsreaders include Kenneth Kendall, Robert Dougall, and Richard Baker. Previously the news had been read by a voiceover only. Barbara Mandell becomes the first woman newsreader on British television. Commercial television is introduced in Britain, supervised by the Independent Television Authority. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) counters commercial television's first evening by scheduling the death of Grace Archer, a leading character in the popular radio series The Archers, in a fire. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins to make experimental colour broadcasts. In addition to its successful run on radio, Hancock's Half-Hour, starring the comedian Tony Hancock, supported by Sid James, is shown on British television. It is scripted by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton. Detector vans are introduced in Britain by the General Post Office to identify television licence fee dodgers. The Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, is shown for the first time on British television.

20 January 1953 2 June 1953 25 June 1953 1954 5 July 1954 25 October 1954 September 1955

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22 September UK 1955 22 September UK 1955 10 October 1955 19561961 UK UK

9 January 1957 UK 3 March 1957 Europe, UK

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1962

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4 February 1962 22 October 1962 1963

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1964 21 April 1964 10 October 1964 19651966 30 July 1966 1967

UK UK USA, Japan UK UK UK

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland gives her first Christmas talk to the Commonwealth on television. Blue Peter, a children's magazine programme, starts on British television. The original presenters include Leila Williams and Christopher Trace, and later Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves, and John Noakes. Grandstand, the world's longest-running live sports programme, starts on British television. It is presented by David Coleman and later Frank Bough and Desmond Lynam. 45.6 million households in the USA have television sets. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcasts the first transatlantic programme, from London, England, to Montreal, Canada, showing the departure of the queen and Prince Philip for Canada. A television monitoring group in Los Angeles records in one week's viewing of US television 144 murders and 143 attempted murders. The increase in portrayed violence has been caused by a ratings war between stations. Coronation Street, which will become Britain's most successful soap opera, starts on British television. Early members of the cast include Violet Carson, Doris Speed, Pat Phoenix, Jack Howarth, and William Roache. Following publication of the Pilkington Committee report, the British government authorizes the launching of a second British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) channel, the development of colour television, and the improvement in the line definition standard to 625 lines (thereby improving picture resolution, which is determined by the number of lines per (vertical) inch). It also makes provision for the number of adult education programmes on television to be increased. University Challenge, a quiz between teams from competing universities based on the US programme College Bowl, begins on British television. It is hosted by Bamber Gascoigne until 1987 and, after its revival in 1994, by Jeremy Paxman. The Sunday Times is the first newspaper in Britain to introduce a separate colour supplement, the Sunday Times Colour Section (which becomes the Sunday Times Magazine), an initiative followed by other newspapers. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F Kennedy of the USA delivers his ultimatum to the USSR in a television address. Doctor Who, a science fiction series for about a time-traveller, starts on British television. The original doctor is William Hartnell; the role is subsequently played by Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann. The series also features the Doctor's infamous enemies, the Daleks. Top of the Pops, to date the longest-running rock and pop music programme on British television, starts broadcasting. It has a significant influence on sales. BBC2 begins broadcasting, after a power-cut delays the launch by 24 hours. It broadcasts high-definition pictures, transmitting on 625 lines. US satellites Syncom 3 (launched 19 August 1964) in a synchronous orbit 37,000 km/23,000 mi above the Pacific Ocean, transmits the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, the first transpacific television pictures. Thunderbirds, a puppet animation series for children, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, featuring the International Rescue family the Traceys, is shown on British television The football World Cup final between England and Germany is watched by 33 million viewers in Britain. ITN's News at Ten, the first extended news programme to appear on a commercial channel, starts on British television.

1967

On British television, a colour service officially starts on 2 December, and first-night programmes on BBC2 include Billy Smart's Circus. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been broadcasting trial transmissions since 1962, but disagreement over standardizing the colour system throughout Europe has delayed development. 1968 UK The new ITV stations London Weekend, Yorkshire, HTV, and Thames are launched in Britain. 1969 UK The television channel BBC1 begins to broadcast a colour service in Britain. 1969 USA There are now 81 million television sets in the USA. 1969 UK The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launches The Old Grey Whistle Test, a music programme featuring British and US pop stars. In 1977 it is renamed Whistle Test. 20 July 1969 world, USA Over 700 million people worldwide watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the lander module from the US spacecraft Apollo 11 touch down on the Moon. October 1969 UK Monty Python's Flying Circus, an anarchic comedy sketch show starring John December Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and Terry 1974 Gilliam, is shown on British television. November USA Sesame Street, an educational programme for children funded by the Ford 1969 Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the US Office of Education, first appears on US television. The Muppet stars, created by Jim Henson, include Big Bird and Bert and Ernie. 1970 UK BBC2 begins broadcasting Open University programmes in Britain, to support students on the Open University distance learning courses. 1972 UK Mastermind, a general and specialist knowledge competition presented by Magnus Magnusson, begins on British television. 3 July 1972 UK The first paying cable television service in Britain is supplied by Greenwich Cablevision. Designed as a community television service, it has around 9,000 subscribers. 1 June 1973 UK Trevor MacDonald becomes the first black newsreader on national British television, appearing on ITN news broadcasts. 17 December UK Emergency measures introduced by the Conservative government in Britain 1973 during the energy crisis include a television blackout after 10.30 at night. 15 January USA The situation comedy Happy Days, about family life in the 1950s, premiers on 197412 July US television and runs for 11 seasons. 1984 11 September USA Little House on the Prairie , a popular television drama based on the classic 197421 March series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, starts on US television. It chronicles 1983 the Ingalls family's struggles in the American West in the 1870s. 23 September UK The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launches CEEFAX, a television 1974 information system, in Britain. 19751979 UK Fawlty Towers, a comedy series starring John Cleese as the rude and disaster-prone Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty, is shown on British television. It also stars Connie Booth, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs. 19761981 UK, USA The Muppet Show, featuring sketches and songs by Jim Henson's puppets including Kermit and Miss Piggy is shown on British and US television. 1976 USA, UK With the launch of videocassette recorders on the market by Sony and JVC, television advertising rates are hit, as viewers can now choose not to view commercials. 11 October UK For the first time there are more colour than black and white TV licences in 1976 Britain. 1977 USA In the USA, 84% of all travel is by private vehicle; 9% of the population walk to their destination, and only 2.4% use public transportation. June 1978 UK Manufactured by JVC in Japan and sold under licence by Ferguson, the first

UK

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UK, Saudi Arabia, USA USA USA UK

5 January9 UK February 1981 5 June 1981 UK 19821984 1982 26 April 1982 UK UK UK

30 September USA 1982 2 November UK 1982 19831989 UK

17 January 1983 June 1983 1 November 1983 19841994 1984

UK UK UK UK UK

16 January UK 1984 20 September 1984 1985 23 January 1985 1 June 1986 UK UK USA

video cassette recorders in the UK go on sale. The British programme Death of a Princess, about the execution of a Saudi princess for adultery, causes a rift between Saudi Arabia and Britain. Its broadcast in the USA on 12 May attracts a record audience. US entrepreneur Ted Turner launches the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour network in the world to focus solely on news. Dallas breaks existing television rating records when more than half the population of the USA watches the episode Who Shot JR?. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission is set up in Britain to deal with viewers' criticisms. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on Douglas Adams's book and starring Simon Jones, is shown on British television. Moira Stewart becomes the first black woman newsreader on British television. The Young Ones, a comedy series about four students in a shared house, is shown on British television. It stars Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Adrian Edmondson, and Christopher Ryan, and guest stars Alexei Sayle. The Tube, Britain's most influential television music programme of the 1980s, starts on BBC2, with presenters Paula Yates and Jools Holland. The first satellite television service is launched by Satellite Television in London, England, with broadcasts to Malta, Norway, and Finland. Cheers, a popular situation comedy about several characters who hang out in a bar in Boston, is shown on US television. The Channel 4 television station begins broadcasting in Britain.Financed by advertising and under the control of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, its role is to provide innovative independent programmes. The comedy Blackadder is shown on British television.Written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, it consists of four main series set in different historical periods the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan Age, the Regency Period, and the First World War and stars Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder. Selina Scott and Frank Bough present the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC's) Breakfast Time, Britain's first national breakfast television programme. Sony launches the first pocket television set in Britain. The Sony Watchman has a flat 5-cm/2-in screen. The Nottingham Building Society and the Bank of Scotland jointly launch Homelink, the first telephone banking system in Britain. Operating through the television, using Prestel technology, it also offers teleshopping. Spitting Image, a programme satirizing contemporary politics using puppets created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law, is shown on British television. Edgar Reitz's Heimat, an epic lasting almost 16 hours, is shown on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television in Britain. The Sky Channel, the first pay satellite television in Britain, begins broadcasting to 10,000 subscribers on Thorn-EMI's existing cable network. The Cosby Show, a situation comedy about a middle-class black family, begins on US television. It is the top-rated US television show during the 1980s. EastEnders, a soap opera set around Albert Square in the East End of London, England, starts on British television. Early stars include Wendy Richard, Leslie Grantham, Anita Dobson, and Susan Tully. The proceedings of the House of Lords are televised for first time in Britain. The US Senate allows its proceedings to be televised but discontinues in

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22 September USA 1994 22 September USA 1994 24 November USA 1998 30 July 2006 UK

July. French and Saunders, a comic sketch series starring comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, is shown on British television. The first advertisements for condoms appear on British television. The proceedings of the House of Commons are broadcast live on television in Britain for the first time, beginning with the debate on the Queen's Speech. The chancellor of the Exchequer's budget is televised for the first time in Britain. The Church of England broadcasts the first religious commercial on British television. The comedy Friends begins on US television. Based on the lives of six young friends in New York City, it stars Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Perry, Matt Le Blanc, and David Schwimmer. The medical drama ER begins on US television, starring George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, and Julianna Margulies. US chat show host Oprah Winfrey and two partners launch the first cable television station targeted exclusively at a female audience. British television's weekly pop music chart show Top of the Pops comes to an end after 42 years.