A Tale Of Evolution Of The “idiot Box” In The Entertainment Industry

By Author: Felicia Corrine
Total Articles: 11
Comment this article

I was watching the 3D movie “Avatar” on my high definition television. My TV viewing experience was astounding beyond words. With the booming sounds and crystal clear sound I had a feeling that I was watching the movie in a theater. Yes, such are the advancements in technology that you are able to sit at home and enjoy what you will get outside the world. It has been a long time I had gone to a theater. Why should I? I get to watch all my favorite shows and movies in my FiOS TV on Demand Titles.


Needless to say, television is one of the significant sources of entertainment and without it we will be bored to death. It is my television that entertains and sustains my soul during the cold winters when I get stuck at home. This kept me wondering about the people who lived in an era when there was no television. The huge television which was available only in black and white earlier, has now reformed and has become high definition, 3-Dimension, Flat screen and plasma television. Do you know who invented television and how it evolved? If no, then you need to know the efforts of the numerous brilliant minds whose ...
... contribution to technology has given birth to the television.


It maybe for the first time in history that a claim for an invention is so frantically disputed. There are numerous claims for the inventor of television. So, let us take a brief look at the various pioneers whose innovations led to the dawn of the era with television.


•Paul Nipkow, a German was the first to develop a rotating disk in 1884 with which he transmitted pictures through a wire. The disk came to be known as Nipkow disk. He discovered the Scanning principle and found that images could be successively transmitted through small portions of light intensities.

•John Logie, in 1920 made use of an array of transparent rod to transmit images. He demonstrated that images could be transmitted by reflected light and he transmitted a 30 line image.

•Charles Jenkins claims to have invented the mechanical television by transmitting moving images on June 14, 1923. He called his television as “Radio vision.”

•Karl Braun, a German scientist was the first to invent the cathode ray tube oscilloscope (CRT). With the introduction of cathode ray tubes in 1897, there was a major breakthrough in the history of television. This gave birth to electronic television and the cathode tube is the picture tube that we use in the present television. After that the advancements in television was tremendous.

•Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian made further betterments to the previous cathode-ray tube in 1929 and the new one came to be known as kinescope. He was the first to show to the world that television is a reality and he demonstrated a system with all the inherent features present today.

•In the 1927, Philo Farnsworth patented his television in which he transmitted a dollar symbol. He was the first to broadcast an image consisting of 60 horizontal lines. His discovery of the dissector tube made a major progress in the development of television. The dissector tube is the basic element that is used in the modern television sets.

•Louis Parker in 1948 invented the modern television receiver. It was Marvin Middlemark, who discovered the “V" shaped TV antennae. This came to be commonly addressed as “Rabbit Ears”


These are the former pioneers whose inventions led to the evolution of television. A color television was successfully broad casted on December 17, 1953. The cable television which we commonly use nowadays was previously known as Community Antenna Television or CATV.

Television has integrated itself into our lifestyle and a small electronic gadget is now controlling our lifestyle trends. This keeps me wondering why people call it an “idiot box.”

Felicia Corrine, is a freelance writer and active blogger, and loves sharing her views and experiences with world. She likes to source out some great services like the one offered by FiOS TV. I’m a very jovial person and love watching movies on my FiOS TV. The HD experience and the booming sound effects are simply amazing and I’m enjoying it.