Who Invented the TV?

The television was one of the most important inventions in the twentieth century. It transformed culture and the way individuals spent their time. There is some controversy about who invented the television, and some say it may have two fathers. It is perhaps true that, through their individual efforts, two great but very different scientists, Philo Farnsworth and Vladimir Zworykin, gave us television as we know it today.

Before the television was perfected, a number of different models were tried. Models using optical, mechanical, and electronic technologies were all used to capture and display images. However, it quickly became clear that the optical and electronic models functioned more efficiently.

In the late 1800s, images were able to be electronically transmitted using early fax-type machines such as the pantelegraph. In 1878, the earliest concept of the television was suggested - the idea of electronically transmitted images in motion. This idea was sketched under the title “telephonoscope.”

Early Models

In 1884, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow patented the first electromechanical television system with a scanning disk. This was a rotating disk, drilled with a series of holes in a specific pattern, that functioned as a type of scanner when an image was projected onto it. Each hole captured a portion of the whole image. This design became important to the development of the television once amplifier tubes were created and advanced. When Nipkow first patented the invention, it was mainly used to transmit halftone images.

Advancements in Technology

In the 1920s, the development of the television truly began to take shape. In 1925, John Logie Baird was able to demonstrate that he could transmit the image of a silhouette, and then later he was able to transmit the images of moving, monochromatic pictures. His scanning disk was able to show an image of thirty lines resolution, which was just clear enough to discern certain details of the image if a double spiral of lenses was used.

In 1926, engineer Kalman Tihanyi created the design for a television system that used electronic scanning and display elements. He was able to use the idea of charge storage in his design, and used it within the scanning tube.

The year of 1927 was particularly important for the advancement and development of the television. In 1927, Leon Theremin invented a mirror-drum television system. This system used the concept of interlacing and was able to display an image resolution of one hundred lines, three times more than Baird's thirty-line resolution from just two years prior.

The year 1927 also saw Herbert E. Ives transmit a moving image across a cable between Washington D.C. and New York City. He used a fifty-aperture disc for the transmission, and the transmission operated at the speed of sixteen frames for every sixty seconds. The sizes of the screens that he transmitted to were about twenty-four by thirty inches. He was able to transmit a moving image using the radio from New Jersey.

Finally, in 1927, Philo Farnsworth created the first all-electric working television system that was able to electronically scan images into it and then display the images. Farnsworth success was demonstrated to the press in 1928. He was in competition with other inventors to be the first to perfect and deliver television. He patented his television in 1930.

RCA showed keen interest in Farnsworth's television and sent their TV scientist, Vladamir Zworykin, to see the television in action. Zworykin had invented and patented a television that used a cathode-ray tube in 1928 before he came to work for RCA in 1929. As RCA further perfected the television with Zworykin's help, a long running patent battle ensued between Farnsworth's labs and RCA. The courts sided with Farnsworth's labs, and RCA had to pay Farnsworth $1 million for patent violations.

Use of Television

Germany was the first country to recognize the practical use of the television for broadcasting to its public. The country used it for public broadcast as early as 1929.

In 1936, Germany broadcasted the Olympic games to the public. These games took place in Berlin, and the television broadcast of the games was part of Hitler’s attempt to show the dominance of the German people. The games were broadcast from Berlin to television stations in the cities of Berlin and Leipzig. The public could watch the games live from these areas.

The invention of the TV should be credited to a number of individuals who improved and perfected the design, leading to television as we know it today.