History of Invention of Television


The invention of television history and all the pioneers with their innovations and brilliant ideas changed the way the world would work forever. Today, education, entertainment and lazy afternoons are all learned and spent in front of the television.

Television evolved from black and white screens with no sound, to 42” plasma screens with surround sound! There have, of course, been many years of technology and bright minds in between, but the person who was the first to think of and develop something so great was truly an innovator.

There are many contributors to the invention of the television but the history of the invention of the television lies with Philo Farnsworth. Born in 1906, Philo was an American engineer who was interested in picture transmission and had thought of the idea at the tender age of 14. He was the very first inventor to transmit a television image in 1927.

The transmission of the television image was done using a dissector tube. It would, however, be unfair to say that the history of the television lies with one sole inventor; in fact, history of the invention of the television dates on a timeline. Different people with various ideas and inventions together created the phenomenon we know today.

Mechanical television history started back in 1884 where a man by the name of Paul Nipkow developed a rotating-disc technology that could send pictures over wire. This was the very first electromechanical television scanning system but was rejected due to improved inventions.

On June 14, 1923, Charles Jenkins claimed to have invented a way to transmit silhouette images. In 1897, Karl Braun invented the cathode ray tube, still used in television sets to this day. The history of invention of television can be contributed to many great minds. It was not just a single idea that came to the fore, but rather a combination of pioneers’ inventions.

Colour Television’s invention history began in the early 1900’s and received a German patent in 1904. It did not however generate great interest until 1925 when Zworykin filed a patent for an electronic color television. Louis Parker received a patent for a changeable television receiver in 1948 and cable television started in Pennsylvania in the late 1940’s.

Whilst discussing the history of invention of television, one should also take care to mention about the extra ‘equipment’ we cannot go without. The remote control, known as ‘Lazy Bones’ was developed in 1950 by a company called Zenith Radio Corporation. Since then, history of invention of television has continued, from the black and white screens to the plasma screens, the history of inventions for television will never end, and technology will always improve.