Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.
On March 25, 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave a demonstration of televised silhouette images in motion at Selfridge's Department Store in London. But if television is defined as the transmission of live, moving, half-tone (grayscale) images, and not silhouette, duotone, or still images, Baird first achieved this privately on October 2, 1925.[2] Then he gave the world's first public demonstration of a working television system to members of the Royal Institution and a newspaper reporter on January 26, 1926 at his laboratory in London. Unlike later electronic systems with several hundred lines of resolution, Baird's vertically scanned image, using a scanning disk embedded with a double spiral of lenses, had only 30 lines, just enough to reproduce a recognizable human face.
In 1927 Baird transmitted a signal over 438 miles of telephone line between London and Glasgow. In 1928 Baird's company (Baird Television Development Company / Cinema Television) broadcast the first transatlantic television signal, between London and New York, and the first shore-to-ship transmission. He also demonstrated an electromechanical color, infrared (dubbed "Noctovision"), and stereoscopic television, using additional lenses, disks and filters. In parallel he developed a video disk recording system dubbed "Phonovision"; a number of the Phonovision [1] recordings, dating back to 1927, still exist. In 1929 he became involved in the first experimental electromechanical television service in Germany. In 1931 he made the first live transmission, of the Epsom Derby. In 1932 he demonstrated ultra-short wave television. Baird's electromechanical system reached a peak of 240 lines of resolution on BBC television broadcasts in 1936, before being discontinued in favor of a 405-line all-electronic system developed by Marconi-EMI.
Source: Wikipedia
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor. He is best known for inventing the first completely electronic television. In particular, he was the first to make a working electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), and the first to demonstrate an all-electronic television system to the public.
Source: Wikipedia
Television (1939): written and directed by Frederic Ullman Jr.. Plot Summary: One of many "Reelisms" shorts produced by Frederic Ullman Jr. and Frank Donovan for RKO in the late-30's on various subjects, this is a clinical look at the inner-workings of television, including the manufacture of the tubes, lab experiments and an actual telecast.
Source: IMDb
One of the reasons people campaign against TV is because of the activities people are not doing during the time that they watch it. Many campaigners believe that using up 3.5 hours a day on TV (UK and American average) is not worthwhile. While only 3% of American minors own personal TV's, it is estimated that the daily viewing average among 12-17 yr olds exceeds 4 hours, with this figure being dramatically higher in parts of the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
A couch potato refers to a person who spends most of his/her free time sitting or lying on a couch. This stereotype often refers to lazy and overweight men who watch a lot of television, sometimes in their underwear and sometimes drinking beer. Generally speaking, the term refers to a lifestyle in which children or adults don't get enough physical activity. The term "Couch Potato" was first coined in 1976 by American underground comics artist Robert Armstrong. In the early-1980s, he would register the term as a trademark with the US government; he would also co-author a book with Jack Mingo, called The Official Couch Potato Handbook, which delve into the lives and secrets of Couch Potatoes.
Source: Wikipedia
Throw Away Your Television by Red Hot Chili Peppers
See lyrics
Chip Douglas (played by Jim Carrey) is a cable TV installer in the 1996 dark comedy film The Cable Guy. After installing Steven Kovacs' (Matthew Broderick) cable television service and illegally giving Steven free pay channels, Chip believes he and Steven have struck up a friendship. Although Chip behaves in an offputting manner, Steven comes to like his new pal. Chip shows his affection in odd ways such as arranging a duel between the two, giving Steven a massive entertainment system, and paying for a gorgeous prostitute to have sex with Steven. But not long passes before Chip's bizarre behavior exhausts Steven's patience, leading him to forcefully break off their friendship. Chip snaps, and resorts to stalking Steven and his girlfriend Robin (Leslie Mann).
Source: Wikipedia
TV Cookies
See recipe
The following are all television-related (an amusing use of a word or phrase which has several meanings or which sounds like another word):
Years ago, changing TV channels from a sitting position was a remote possibility.
When the TV repairman got married, the reception was excellent.
Those who play musical instruments for radio or TV have to stay tuned.
He used to repair televisions, but his business went down the tubes.
Source: Creative Proverbs
Acting on television is like being asked by the captain to entertain the passengers while the ship goes down. (Peter Ustinov)
Cinema, radio, television, magazines are a school of inattention: people look without seeing, listen in without hearing. (Robert Bresson)
Every time you think television has hit its lowest ebb, a new . . . program comes along to make you wonder where you thought the ebb was. (Art Buchwald)
For tens of millions of people television has become habit-forming, brain-softening, taste-degrading. (Louis Kronenberger)
He who is created by television can be destroyed by television. (Theodore H. White)
I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book. (Groucho Marx)
I have never seen a bad television program, because I refuse to. God gave me a mind, and a wrist that turns things off. (Jack Paar)
In the age of television, image becomes more important than substance. (S. I. Hayakawa)
Source: Creative Quotations
Since the Nielson Ratings began in 1950, there have been 3 programmes which have been the annual top-rated show on 5 different occasions. These are All in the Family (1972-1976), The Bill Cosby Show (1986-1990) and 60 Minutes (1980, 1983, 1992-1994).
Source: Wikipedia
The first countries to have electronic television were Germany, the UK and the USA (1936), France and Poland (1937), the Soviet Union (1938), and Japan and Italy (1939).
Source: Wikipedia
Endemol is a television production company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Poland, Netherlands, India, South Africa, Lebanon, Morocco and Australia among others. Endemol was founded in 1994 by a merger of television production companies owned by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol, the name deriving from the combination of their surnames. One notable success has been the Big Brother "reality television" show, with versions in many countries after the initial Dutch version however the most profitable programme for Endemol is Deal or No Deal which has now been sold to over 100 countries. They specialise in inexpensive programming that is appealing to television executives in the modern multi-channel world, and other Endemol programmes in this vein include Changing Rooms, Ready Steady Cook, Ground Force, International King of Sports, Space Cadets and Fear Factor.
Source: Wikipedia
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