The Origin of Television (TV)

There is controversy surrounding the invention of one of the most popular 21st century devices: the Television. It took several decades for many inventors and engineers in various countries to develop the modern television. However; two important people whose names are associated with the invention of television are Vladimir Zworykin, and Philo Farnsworth. Although prior to 1922, the concept of television was already in existence, it was primarily due to the efforts of these two people that the concept of electronic scanning of images, which forms the bases of modern day television, was introduced. Both Zworykin and Farnsworth had applied for the same patent during the year 1923 and 1927 respectively. The fact that Zworykin had filed for the patent earlier, he is often termed as the father of television. Nonetheless, the work of Farnsworth cannot be underestimated. In fact, many believe that at least six of his basic patents are being utilized in the manufacture of modern day television. On the same list, is John Logie Baird—a Scot living in England who is recognized as the first to demonstrate an operational television in March of 1925. Baird transmitted the first televised pictures of moving objects in 1924, the first televised human face in 1925, and the first real-time moving object in 1926. However, it was electronics inventor Philo Farnsworth who is credited with inventing the first completely electronic television. The difficulty in deciding who invented the first television centers on the fact that there were several discoveries or inventions all of which were added up to make the complete TV set. Indeed, the historical development of the TV is a complex series of events, and proclaiming any one man as the sole TV set’s inventor seems inaccurate at best. For those who still ask, “What’s the answer to ‘Who invented TV’?” –there is no clear inventor, since there were several inventions created by different people that were merged to make the televisions we so dearly can’t live with today. martin.bishop18@yahoo.com