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The Invention of the Radio and Its Impact on Entertainment
How radio grew from point-to-point wireless signals into a mass medium of news, drama and music in the 1920s, and how it reshaped home entertainment.
Communication and Computing
Radio and Television
Broadcasting from wireless signals to the living room screen.
The Development of the Radio: From Marconi to Modern FM
Edwin Armstrong's frequency modulation, the slow move from AM to FM broadcasting, and where Marconi fits among several wireless pioneers.
The Development of the Satellite Radio: A Wireless Revolution
How subscription radio from orbit developed from the late 1900s, how it reaches cars and homes, and how it differs from terrestrial AM and FM broadcasting.
The Development of the Television: From Black and White to Color
The competing color systems of the 1950s, the compatibility battle between CBS and RCA, and why color sets took years to spread through homes.
The Development of the Television: From Mechanical to Digital
A broad timeline of television technology, from mechanical scanning discs through analog broadcasts to digital transmission, compression and flat panels.
The History of the Radio: From Wireless Telegraphy to FM
The technical steps from spark-gap wireless signals to amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, and who worked on each, with credit often disputed.
The History of the Television Camera: From Mechanical to Digital
How studio television cameras evolved from scanning discs to iconoscope and image orthicon tubes, then to vidicon-type tubes and solid-state CCD sensors.
The History of the Television Remote Control: From Mechanical to Digital
How remote controls moved from cabled and light-beam designs to ultrasonic clickers and infrared digital handsets, and what changed inside the controller.
The History of the Television: From Mechanical to Digital
How countries switched from analog to digital television broadcasting, the DVB, ATSC and ISDB standards, and the programs that retired analog signals.
The History of the Television: From Mechanical to Flat-Screen
How the cathode-ray tube gave way to plasma and LCD panels, and how thinner screens, wider shapes and bigger sizes changed the living room.
The Invention of the Radio: A Wave of Innovation
Maxwell's theory, Hertz's experiments, and the work of Marconi, Tesla, Lodge and others in the science of wireless transmission and the credit dispute.
The Invention of the Television Remote Control: A Convenient Innovation
How TV remote controls developed from wired and ultrasonic designs to infrared controllers, who built them, and how they changed viewing habits.
The Invention of the Television: A Revolution in Entertainment
How television moved from experimental sets to regular broadcast services in the 1930s and 1940s, and became a household entertainment medium in the 1950s.
The Invention of the Television: A Visual Revolution
Mechanical scanning disks versus the electronic systems of Farnsworth and Zworykin, the cathode ray tube, and why no single person invented television.
The Story of the Television Antenna: A Brief History
Rooftop aerials, rabbit ears and the later shift to cable and satellite dishes: how television signals reached the set and why antennas changed shape.
The Story of the Television Broadcast: A History of Entertainment
What early television actually showed: the first program types, live drama and variety, news, and how the daily schedule took shape from the 1930s to the 1950s.
The Story of the Television Broadcasting Network: A History of Entertainment
The business of linking local stations into national television networks, from radio chains and DuMont to ABC, CBS and NBC and the sponsors behind them.
The Story of the Television Broadcasting: A History of Entertainment
The technical side of sending pictures over the air, from the first experimental transmissions to relays, satellites and live coverage of major events.
The Story of the Television Network: A History of Entertainment
How network affiliates, regulation, cable and public channels shaped who controlled television programming and how the choice of channels grew.
The Story of the Television Remote Control: A Convenient Innovation
How the remote changed viewing: channel surfing, muting commercials, shared control of the set, and the way programmers and advertisers adapted.
The Story of the Television Studio: A History of Entertainment
How television studios developed: early cramped stages, camera layouts, hot lighting, control rooms and the shift from live production to tape and digital.
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