The Development of the Television

Below is a timeline of the development of the television. Although television is a twentieth century invention, it is important to take into account discoveries during the nineteenth century, such as that of  the German Paul Nipkow.

In 1884, Paul Nipkow invented a system called the Nipkow disc. Although no one knew for sure if he'd built a working model, this system theoretically could scan an image by using a spinning disc with holes to direct light onto an image. The light beam would be converted into a electrical signal and was received by another disk.

1907: Boris Rosing was a Russian who experimented in St. Petersburg with the cathode ray tube invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun.

1908: A. A. Campbell-Swinton designed a system using cathode ray tubes at both ends. He published this idea in 1911. The system worked by scanning an image with a beam of electrons onto a photoelectric mosaic, which was fixed to one tube. Meanwhile, the electrical signal would be produced and would control the intensity of a second electron beam scanning the fluorescent screen.

1923: Vladimir Zworykin, one of Rosing's assistants, created the "Iconoscope." This round cathode-ray tube contained the first photoelectric mosaic made from metal particles applied to both sides of a sheet of mica. This system was not only user-friendly but more sensitive. The electron beam receives a photoelectric charge from the mosaic. Zworykin presented the iconoscope at New York in 1929 for an engineer's meeting. It was built by RCA in 1933 and scanned 120 lines at 24 frames per second.

1923-26: American Charles F. Jenkins developed a working tv system based on the Nipkow disk.

1925: In London, Scottish engineer John Logie Baird exhibited in Selfridges department store a machine which could reproduce a simple image- white letters on black background. Although the two discs were mounted on the same shaft, Baird did show that scanning was possible.

Baird and his primitive television in 1926

1926: Baird was able to reproduce the head of a person in his laboratory by scanning 30 lines at 5 frames a second.

1928: Dénes Mihály of Hungary presented his "Telehor" at the Berlin Radio Show. It scanned 30 lines at 10 frames per second. Rene' Bartholemy invented the "Semivisor" which used 30 line scanning in France.

Rene' Bartholemy

Around this time, the radio was taking root in America and tests with radio-electric transmission of television were being done. Some people built their own disc receivers and research became publicised.

1929: Baird marketed his first disc receivers, or "televisors." He continued to increase his line scanning capabilities.

1930: About this time, researchers developed the principle of interlaced scanning which explored odd-numbered, then even-numbered lines to stop flickering screens.

1931: In Germany, Manfred von Ardenne enabled transparencies to be scanned with the building of the first "flying spot" cathode-ray tube. The system was shown at the Berlin Radio Show and the scanning method was then used in all television systems. However, this system had to operate in a dimly lighted environment, therefore it's capabilities were limited.

1933: Receivers using the cathode ray tube became available on the market. Also this year, receivers using cathode ray tubes came into the market. This was because the industry had developed techniques to achieve a very great vacuum in tubes.

1934: 343-line definition was reached and interlacing was being used. Also, Isaac Schoenberg, a Russian emigrant, developed a camera tube similar to the iconoscope in the EMI company. The system was dubbed the Emitron and used interlacing. EMI was aiming at scanning more lines than RCS, as much as 405 lines.

Isaac Schoenberg

1935: Paris used a mechanical system to broadcast at 180 lines at 25 frames per second.

1936: The Berlin Olympic Games were broadcast by Electronic cameras.

"Iconoscope" camera at the Berlin Olympics, 1936

1940: Peter Goldmark of CBS came up with a sequential three-filter system for using three primary colors obtained by using three color filters placed in the light path before scanning. This system was not practical.

Goldmark's three-filter system

1953: Both RCA and Hazeltine laboratories discovered a compatible system. The National Television System Committee standardised it. The signal in transmitted as a combination of the primary colors and has a "luminance" signal that is compatible with black and white receivers. The color signal, ("chrominance") is combined with the "luminance" signal for transmission. The color is defined by three parameters: hue, saturation (pure or washed-out), and brightness.

NTSC system: Today, we continue to create new and better ways of viewing television, yet the old systems, such as the NTSC, are used as basic structure to improve upon, such as HDTV. HDTV is defined as a television system that differs from current television systems in that it's five times the increase in visual information detail, 10 times the color information, more than double the horizontal and vertical resolution, substantial improvement in picture brightness, over a one-third increase in aspect ratio, and sound quality equivalent to digital compact disc audio

Cable television

Cable television, formerly known as Community Antenna Television or CATV, was born in the mountains of Pennsylvania in 1948. Community antenna television was started by John Walson and Margaret Walson in the spring of 1948. 

John Walson has been recognized by the U.S. Congress and the National Cable Television Association as the founder of the cable television industry. John Walson was also the first cable operator to use microwave to import distant television stations, the first to use coaxial cable for improved picture quality, and the first to distribute pay television programming (HBO). 

The very first prototype for a plasma display monitor was invented in July 1964 at the University of Illinois by professors Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow, and then graduate student Robert Willson. However, it was not until after the advent of digital and other technologies that successful plasma televisions became possible.

During the early sixties, the University of Illinois used regular televisons as computer monitors for their in-house computer network. By July of 1964, the team had built the first plasma display panel with one single cell. Today's plasma televisions use millions of cells.

After 1964, television broadcast companies considered developing plasma television as an alternative to televisions using cathode ray tubes. However, LCD or liquid crystal displays made possible flat screen television that squelched the further commercial development of plasma display. It took many years for plasma televisons to became successful and they finally did due to the efforts of Larry Weber. University of Illinois author Jamie Hutchinson wrote that Larry Weber's prototype sixty inch plasma display, developed for Matsushita and bearing the Panasonic label, combined the size and resolution necessary for HDTV with the addition of thinness.

IPTV technology supports the transmission of standard television video programs over the Internet and Internet Protocol (IP). IPTV allows a television service to be integrated with a broadband Internet services and share the same home Internet connections.  IPTV requires high-speed Internet connectivity due to the high bandwidth requirements of digital video. Being connected to the Internet would in theory allow IPTV users more control over their television programming and ability to customize it to their preferences. 

More than just technology, the term "IPTV" represents a broad-based effort in the telecommunications and media industry to build a worldwide video creation and distribution environment.

Web Television: The History of WebTV WebTV was invented in 1996 by Diba Inc and Zenith Electronics.

"Zenith Electronics is planning a television set that will incorporate a microprocessor and modem. Also Diba Inc planned to developed a  technology that allows viewers to surf the Web via a remote control device." 

In April of 1997, Microsoft bought the WebTV network for $425 million dollars and have trademarked the name. Today, webtv is an add-on device that compliments a regular television, usually a box that provides the internet connection and conversion of web pages for viewing on your own television screen with an added special remote control and keyboard so that you can surf from your sofa in comfort.

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TV History

The television has become such an integral part of homes in the modern world that it is hard to imagine life without television. The television provides entertainment to people of all ages. Not just for entertainment value, but TV is also a valuable resource for advertising and different kinds of programming.

Different experiments by various people, in the field of electricity and radio, led to the development of basic technologies and ideas that laid the foundation for the invention of television. 

These are just some of the many firsts that were, and continue to be associated with the television industry. 

Television was not invented or created by any one person. The ideas and innovations of several people led to the invention of television.  Although it is virtually impossible to say who invented television, there were significant contributions by some people in this field, because of which they have got the distinction of being called pioneers in the invention of TV. Here’s a look at some of these early inventors of TV

In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a student in Germany, developed the first ever mechanical module of television. He succeeded in sending images through wires with the help of a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the ‘electric telescope’ that had 18 lines of resolution. It is called by mechanical television. Around 1907, two separate inventors, A.A. Campbell-Swinton from England and Russian scientist Boris Rosing, used the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical scanner system, to create a new television system.

 From the experiments of Nipkow and Rosing, two types of television systems came into existence: mechanical and electronic television.  By 1934, all television systems had converted into the electronic system, which is what is being used even today.

When 1946, the Second World War Black and white television was thought of as old and it was time to do something new. This is when color television systems first began to be considered seriously. 

In America, the color television war was fought by two giants in the television industry CBS and RCA. CBS was the first to develop a color television system that was mechanical. This system was inspired by John Baird’s ideas of color TV. Color television was thus a reality, but this first system was not compatible with any black and white television sets.

By 1950, the FCC had announced the CBS color system as the national standard, and by 1951, CBS had started color broadcasts in the East Coast of the US. Not to be left behind, RCA sued CBS as their system could not be used with the millions of black and white televisions across America, most of which were RCA sets. 

The Korean War and the very public television war gave RCA time to develop a better color TV system than CBS. Their system was not mechanical like that of CBS but electronic and far superior. Finally, by 1953, FCC gave the nod to their color television system and color TV sets of RCA were available to the buying public from 1954 onwards. 

The television has come a long way from its initial avatar, that of a radio with visual projection capabilities. Since then, till now, the television industry has witnessed many firsts. Here’s looking at some first facts on television.

First Facts On Television Stations and Television Sets

• The first mechanical television station in America was called W3XK. This station was the brainchild of Charles Francis Jenkins, who is also remembered as the father of American television. The station aired its first broadcast on 2nd July, 1928. 
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• WRGB television station in New York is the first American station that has the honor of being a continuously operating station from 1926, when television was invented, till date. The station began as W2XB, but the name was changed to WRGB in 1942, in memory of Mr. Walter R. G. Baker, who was a leader in the radio and television industry. 
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• The first commercially produced television sets were based on the mechanical television system. These sets were made from John Baird’s designs for television. The sets were shown to the public in September of 1928.
• The first ever American electronic television sets were produced in 1938 and were an instant hit. 
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• The first ever remote control for television was invented in 1948. Known as the ‘Tele Zoom’, it cannot be called a remote control in the true sense of the word, as the device could only enlarge the picture on the tube and not change any channels or turn the television set on and off. The Flash-matic from Zenith, produced in 1955, was the first ever real remote control that could do all of the above and was completely wireless. 
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•  ‘The Queen’s Messenger’ is believed to be the first television program in America. It was broadcast by WRGB station in 1928. We say believed because the program was broadcast to only 4 television sets in existence at the time, and thus the ambiguity.
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• 1st July, 1941 is the day when the first ever commercial broadcast took place in America. The FCC, day were regarded as experimental thus making this day very important in American TV history. 
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• 1st July, 1941 is also the day when the first American advertisement was aired. The commercial was for a Bulova Watch and lasted all of 10 seconds. It was aired on the NBC network.

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SPIRAL OF SILENCE

 It is introduced by Elizabeth Noelle and Neumann in 1984. It is very important and controversial  theory also and a form of   Agenda Setting Theory.

SPIRAL OF SILENCE http://rodrigo75.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/the-spiral-of-silence-and-selective-mutism/

Public opinion is the concept of the Spiral of Silence also  it describe the process of public opinion formation.    It Focused on Macro level rather than micro level consequences. 

 It may find out the view he hold or losing ground. Observations made in one context spread to another and encouraged people either to proclaim their views or swallow them to keep quiet until. 

A spiral of Silence is a process here the one view dominated the public scene and the other disappeared from public awareness as it supporter became mute.  In other words because of people when they are in the minority, fear of isolation or separation from those around them, they tend to keep their attitudes to themselves.

Reason for Spiral of Silence

The Media because of a variety of factors, tend to present one side of an issue to uncover and register that opposing view Which further encourages those people to keep quiet. 

Strength of Spiral of Silence

It has Macro and Micro level explanatory theory. 

It is dynamic theory.

Accounts for in Public Opinion especially during campaign.

Raises important questions concerning the role and responsibility of news media

Weakness

It has overly pessimistic view of media influence on average people.

Ignores other simpler explanations of silencing

Ignore possible demographic in cultural differences in the silencing effect

Degrade power of community to counteract than silencing effect.

Criticism 

Product of Bandwagon effect or Production

Depend upon the individual factors, if you feel very strongly about the issue you might not want to remain silent even if isolation  is a threat.

It is faulted and underestimating the power of the people communities organization

Noelle Newman’s research to the American Situation and the media can actually move people to speak up rather than remain silent.

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ROLE OF COMMUNICATION

MASS COMMUNICATION

Mass communication means simultaneous communication with the masses.  The vehicles of mass communication are known as mass media.  The mass media mainly belong to two major categories.

1)    Print Media

2)   Electronic Media

The print media include newspapers, books, pamphlets, while radio, TV, Satellite, CTV, Cinema, multimedia websites etc are the part of electronic media.

Roles of mass media:

            The communication scholars and researchers have identified four basic roles for the media.

            Surveilance,   Interpretation,         Socialization and      Entertainment

1)    Surveilance: This refers to the news and information role of mass media. This role can be sub divided into

 1) Warning surveillance

Warning Surveillance: associated with news media such as information about flood military attack and depressed economic conditions.

2)Instrumental surveillance: It is associated with both news and popular media.

2)   Interpretation: it is the function of media. It provides a context for new information and commentary about its significance and meaning. Traditionally newspapers provided such interpretation in their editorial and commentary sections.  Vast amount of television reporting seems to have blended the news reporting and commentary function.

3)   Socialization: Socialization roles have the transmission of values within a society.  Also media have to modeling of appropriate behavior and attitudes.  The socialization role for the media gives people a common discussion topic.

Media can be quote influential particularly on young people regarding common taste in fashion, hair styles, art, music.

Television and film have the greatest potential for socialization because they seem to be the most realistic.

It educates people and makes them capable on various fronts.

It generates enthusiasm in the minds of the specific subject and modify views on particular issues.

It provides information.

It helps in social revolution and transformation.

4)   Entertainment: it is related to the function of mass media.  Otherwise it is called the diversion function, because it diverts the audience from real world through film, television, paints have been able to attract audiences around the globe.

It has been subdivided into following three categories.

a)    Stimulation

b)   Relaxation

c)    Release

Other Functions:

Education:

Media upgrades the human knowledge by adding the new information through both conventional as well as unconventional methods; media enables the spread of education.

In the individual context

·         It provides knowledge

·         It gives way to commercial success

·         It enforces and adjusts behavioral pattern

·         It helps in socialization

·         It creates legends

Public watch Dog or Establishment of Democracy:

Mass media’s functions of shaping, guiding and reflecting the people is opinion has helps in establishment democracy.  This sort of use of media asserts critical awareness among the mass.

Safeguarding democrazy:

Mass media plays a very important role in political scenario access to public opinion is only possible through media.  Media is essential for both leaders and public.

In the organizational context:

It Serves as an essential tool for direction

It assists in decision making

It builds good employer and employee relations

It facilitates the basic management process

It promotes leadership effectiveness

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Communication Science and theories !

Communication is a study of part of human communication.  According to Berger and Chaffee, 'communication science' defined  as Communication science seeks to understand the production, processing, and effects of symbol and signal systems by developing testable theories, containing lawful generalizations, that explain phenomena associated with production, processing, and effects.

It is difficult to defining the field because the developments of technology that have blurred the line between public and private communication and between mass and interpersonal communication.

According to Mcquil the study of communication has to be interdisciplinary and must adopt varied approaches and methods.

For instance, studying the speaking style of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in an attempt to understand how he was able to become the leader of the civil rights movement is not, in our terms, an activity of communication science. But when the same scholar examines a large number of leaders of social movements in the hope of drawing a generalization about the relationship between communication style and effectiveness, the scholar is acting in the role of scientist. 

The key issue here is that science seeks to explain by developing general principles that can be used to account for specific events or classes of events. We ourselves are only engaged part of the time in communication science; much of our work is devoted to extra scientific concerns about communication activities and institutions in society.

 The scientists seek to predict and explain phenomena in addition to describing them. To accomplish the objective of explanation, theory is necessary. 

"What Communication Scientists Do," Berger and Chaffee offer a working definition of theory as "a set of constructs that are linked together by relational statements that are internally consistent with each other". Thus, theories provide a framework or model for explanations and predictions. The constructs included in them have to be defined "operationally" to enable testing them. 

In their view, agenda setting theory is a good example in that it can be measured—the hypothesis "that topics emphasized in the press would be topics people thing are important" was tested in the 1968 election campaign by McCombs and Shaw. 

According to Mc Quail  the study of communication has to be interdisciplinary   and must adopt varied approaches and methods.

Theories of communication
It provides the most basic and also most general ideas about mass communication with the particular reference to the many relations that exist between media and social and cultural life. 

There are different kinds of theory based on observation and logical argument. The main purpose of theory is to make sense of an observed reality and guide the collection and evaluation of evidence.

Theory deals with what media thought to be doing or not doing why they do what they do. There are five kinds of theory which are relevant to mass communication. These can be described as social, scientific, cultural, normative operation and every day theory.

Communication Pyramid

—At each descending level of the pyramid indicated, there is as increasing number of cases to be found. Each level presents its own particular set of problems for research and theorizing.

There are several different kinds of communication network.

Below this level, there are even more and more varied types of communication network based on some shared feature of daily life on environment, an interest(music) need

—According to this criterion, mass communication involved several society wide communication process.

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Mass Communication

Mass Communication

Mass communication is the extensive tool of group communication by the tools of mass communication such as books, the press, the cinema, radio, television, video and the internet. The term  mass communication came into use in the late 1930.

Daniel Lerner termed mass media  as mobility of multipliers and

  Wilbur Schramm considers them to be magic multipliers.

     

 Mass Communication is a communication at a distance with technology meditations, production transmission and reception.

Mass communication is characterized by the transmission of complex messages to large and diverse audiences using sophisticated technology and communication.

Mass media refers to the institution that provides such message, newspaper, magazines, television, radio film and multimedia websites.

Mass communication means different things to people.

Elements of mass communication:

•      Source

•      Message

•      Channel

•      Audience

•      Feedback

•      Noise

    1.   Source:The source of mass communication message, generally is a person or group operating within an organizational setting or a multiple entity.

Examples of sources are news reporters, television producers and magazine editors, film company ( work of different entity).

     2.   Messages:  Mass media messages are sophisticated and complex. The message in interpersonal communication may be simple words short sentences and elaborate. Eg. A magazine article, novel , newspaper colums, music, video and bill board advertisement.

     3.   Channels: Channels of mass media also called mass vehicle. It involves one or more  aspects of technology.

Camera , cable, modems and satellites

4.Audiences: Audiences are heterogeneous means that they are both large and diverse. They are made up of groups of people with dissimilar back ground, demographics and social, political 

5.Feedback:  It is minimal in mass media message is flow typically one way from source to receiver.

6.Noise: The noise  exists in the mass context. Noise may be sematic environmental or mechanical . It may be called as Barriers.Barriers are any abstacles or difficulties that come in the way of commercial.

Characteristics.

Mass media spread over a vast geographic area. Such audiences are brought together  by a single share interest in the particular message available through the mass medium.

The audience essentially remain anonymous but selfselected who turn to a particular television or who read particular magazine.

The most obvious features of the mass media is that they are designed to reach the many of more or anonymous audiences. There is exist only asymmetrical relation.

In here the sender is often the organisation it self or professional communicators(Journalist, producer, entertainer).  

The content or message of mass communication is typically manufactured in standardized ways and is used and repeated in identical forms. 

It has generally lost its uniqueness and originating through reproduction and over use.

Large scale distribution and reception.

One directional flow.

The key features of mass communication  is to reach the entire population rapidly and with much the same information, opinions and entertainment. Also the audience get stimulation in equal means of great impact and influence.

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