We have all had TV in our lives almost since we were born. In some cases, people have never experienced a world without TV. This means that it can be tough to imagine a world where TV was new and had just been invented. It wasn’t all that long ago that TV was just a dream, however.
If you are curious about the invention of TV and where it took place, then you need to keep reading. TV has its own unique story, and knowing more about the process of inventing this cool technology can be really interesting.
Where Was TV Invented?
If you thought that TV was invented on the East Coast, you would be wrong. Surprisingly to many people, TV hails from the West Coast. The first TV was successfully demonstrated in action in San Francisco in 1927. This was long before TV would become a reality in people’s homes, and there was no color TV yet.
The concept was still very experimental, and certainly, no one who has seen modern TV would be impressed with the image that this TV could make. This is a really interesting aspect of the growth of TV technology. People used to be happy with just a few channels with poor resolution. Things have certainly changed a lot, and the advent of HD and many other cool technologies has made TV almost more impressive than seeing things in real life.
The first TVs that actually broadcast to other sets in houses and businesses were in use by 1941. This took place in New York, and the audience of the short newscast that was played was very small. These humbled beginnings were then overshadowed by the events of World War II, but TV rebounded after the war stronger than ever.
Commercial TV was a reality by 1951 and had been offered in smaller formats in the late 40s already. Some of the technology that was invented during the war became useful in the race to make really exciting and effective TV sets. The course of TV might have been very different without the race to win the war.
TV originally didn’t run 24 hours a day. The local stations in your area would share some shows with you for a few hours every day, and then you would only be able to watch static until programming resumed. Most of the process of showing TV was done manually at this time, which was why 24-hour TV was not a reality. It was probably both more boring and also more peaceful when the TV wasn’t interesting for most of the evening and early morning hours.
TV Has Been Around for Years
Televisions were not a daily reality for many people until the 1950s. Even then, TV sets were rudimentary and showed black-and-white programming. Things would change exponentially during the 1970s, and TV was part of daily life by the 1980s. Imagine a reality where you could not just watch programming on your phone, tablet, or any size TV that you wanted to buy. Things have changed a lot since TV was born in San Francisco in the 1920s!
This article was last updated on August 15, 2023 .
