TELEVISION & CHANGE IN HOUSEHOLD

Television & Change in Household

Television & Change in Household

Arguably, the greatest and most influential invention of the 20th century, perhaps with the exception of the Internet, the television began with humble beginnings and was met with skepticism. However, since its inception, almost 75 years ago, the United States has been captivated. Now, according to USA Today and Nielson Media Research, the average American home has 2.71 televisions and 2.55 people. There are more TVs in the average home than there are people. (Yunus 1999)

At the turn of the century, the TV as we know it today was only a dream in the eyes of inventors. Many believed they could take the basic concepts applied to the transmission of sound and apply them to the transmission of pictures. It would be unfair to say the invention of the television is attributed to one person. Philo T. Farnsworth, Vladimir Zworykin, Charles Jenkins and John Baird all attributed greatly to the invention of the modern television each supplying their own piece of the puzzle. Zworykin especially, when he used a small piece of technology called cathode ray tube (CRT) in the receiver. Although seen as primitive compared to modern television advancements like Plasma and LCD, the CRT is still used in TV sets today. (Wapner 1996)

DVD players take over the home theater experience. Much like the VCR, DVD players were introduced a decade earlier, but took some time to gain momentum. At the beginning of the decade, DVD players were in approximately seven percent of homes; in less than 10 years, more than 80 percent of homes had a DVD player.

Thin is in. Advances in LCD and Plasma technology enable television manufacturers to produce a better picture, larger screen sizes and save space. The “home theater” experience was in the ...