As I sat down to watch the “zenith” of my home theatre, I began to think of when this adventure began.
The first TV I had viewed was a 1950s Dumont, (bought way before I was around) that my family had kept for a couple of decades. It was a ten inch “round” TV, built into a piece of furniture that also had a AM/FM radio and a record player. I was told it cost $1000 in 1950s money (This was way before my time!) Believe or not, TV were originally NOT just sold in appliance shops but in furniture stores!
The TV did not have a “dial” to change channel. You rotated a “tuner” and there was a second dial for “fine tuning.” There were also knobs on the front to adjust the horizontal and vertical.
For the next few years the evolution of TV was mostly seen in growing screen size. When we got a 15 incher it came with an early remote. The remote used a “bell” sound to change the channels and worked very badly.
Our neighbors, about 1965, got a 25 inch color TV. Added to the knobs were ones for color and hue that had to be adjusted all the time. Son at this time was realising small TV's to watch lying down.
In 1975 or so, the Betamax VCR came out. The Betamax had a TV tuner built in and an external timer, making it useful for home use. (Video cassettes had previously been released). I recall it being about $1,000 and takes $25. Originally it taped one hour, but eventually the Betas could tape three hours at a slower speed and longer tapes. It attached to the TV using the antenna input.
About 1978 General Electric released a “computerized” VIR system, as I recall. This automatically tuned TVs, eventually leading to the removal of those color and horizontal and vertical knobs.
About 1980, a cheaper and more universal VCR system, VHS was introduced. And after the Supreme Court ruled VCRs were legal, it took off. TV soon added direct video and audio inputs, making the sound and pictures must better. Soon, there would be Super-VHS and a special TV input for that.
Also at about 1980, Video Laser Discs were released. They first used “analog” sound, then CD sound and they were the first to bring stereo into home movie viewing. Lasers also introduced the concept of “bonus” material, including commentary. I think the first commentary I heard was on “War of the Roses.”
1985: TV shows begin broadcasting in stereo. I think the Tonight show as one of the first.
My next step up was the DVD, released 1995 or so. It was still a 480i picture, but with better sound and video than tape.
The early 2000s began the slow evolution to HD TV, (1080i) it didn’t all happen at once, of course. In my neck of the woods, TV Broadcasting was first then cable TV. Originally, the old fashioned TV big box were the first to have HD and home projectors were introduced. (I remember projectors had expensive upscaling devices that could be bought.) Soon the thin plasmas and LED and OLED took over. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Blue Ray technology, 1080P, had been introduced. Of course now we have 4k.
Home video, TV is just 80 years old. While technological advances now come much quicker, we should realize that we are actually at the beginning of this technology, not at its end.
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