Television was
first introduced to the public in 1939, but did not make it onto the
consumer scene in a big way until the late 1940s/early 1950s. There
were two reasons for this. First was World War II.
The government
did not have to put a moratorium on television patents the way it
did with radio in World War I, but the introduction of television
sets was delayed as resources went into the development of television
as a military weapon.
After World War
II the mass development of television was further delayed by a "six-month
moratorium" on the issuing of television broadcasting licenses
by the Federal Communications Commission. That six-month moratorium
was designed to let the FCC essentially draw a road map for itself
on where it wanted television to go. Making the decisions of where
to go was more complicated than thought and the six-month moratorium
was extended to four years. It became known as the era of the Big
Freeze.
During the Big
Freeze many issues related to television were settled, but there were
four major ones:
1.
Utilization of UHF
It was clear
early that the very high frequency bands of the electromagnetic
spectrum would allow only 13 television channels in a given area,
even if all resources were used. And this simply was not going to
be enough to meet demand by those who wanted to become broadcasters.
Channels 1-13 were set aside for VHF broadcasts. Channel 1 was not
assigned to private licensees. Instead it was reserved for government
use, probably along the lines of today's C-SPAN cable channels.
The government never used the frequencies, though, and eventually
manufactures deleted Channel 1 from the dials on sets.
The remaining
channels were not enough, so the FCC wanted to look at the ultra
high frequency (UHF) band, which could be sliced into smaller chunks
and provide enough frequencies for channels 16-84. The problem was
that the UHF band was considered inferior and early TV sets did
not even allow for tuning into those channels. Those applying for
licenses complained when it was suggested they be issued UHF channels.
The FCC conducted
experiments in geographically isolated areas, such as California's
San Joaquin Valley, to check the viability of UFH. While those of
you who grew up in the Los Angeles area were used to Channels 3,
4, 7, 11, etc., those of use who grew up in the Fresno area lived
with channels 24, 30 and 47.
The experiments
showed that UHF was viable and the FCC decided to utilized it in
bigger markets along with VHF. So a compacted area theoretically
now could have channels
2 through 84. In reality, to make use of the UHF channels, allocated
had to be on an interlaced pattern. In other words, fewer frequencies
were allocated and there was space between each one. Not every frequency
would be used.
2. City-by-city
assignments
A related issue
was that the larger cities in the 1940s easily could have gobbled
up all available frequencies, leaving smaller cities out of luck
when they grew in the future.
The FCC instead
decided to reserve frequencies for future use. Smaller cities were
allocated UHF and VHF frequencies that would lie dormant until cities
could economically support them. Many of those frequencies still
lie dormant.
3. Assignment
of educational TV
And similar
to the city-by-city assignments issue was the allocation of educational
TV frequencies. Educational TV was the forerunner of public television.
The idea was to use those noncommercial stations for education.
The early licensees often were county boards of education. That
experiment failed and public television took over.
But the issue
during the Big Freeze was that frequencies needed to be reserved
for the future. Like the city-by-city assignments, regional reservations
were made mixing the UHF and VHF bands.
4. Choosing a color system
Perhaps the
most colorful issue, if you'll excuse the pun, was the adoption
of a color TV system. Keep in mind that black and white television
was still on hold in this country and the FCC was already talking
color. That's an example of how the manufacturing and development
of television was so far along by the time television actually hit
the consumer market.
There were
two competing systems.
- CBS system
-- The television network long had been involved in setting of
technical standards and developed a color system that used a spinning
disk. Think in terms of those color wheels you see splashing multicolored
light on a Christmas tree and you have an idea of what this system
was like. In that system a flood light is aimed a tree and color
wheel is placed in front of it. As the wheel spun slowly the light
projects through different colored gels, casting colored light
on the tree.
The CBS system used a similar system, though the wheel spun much
more rapidly, causing our brains to think it saw continuous color.
Because the wheel spun, it was mechanical and subject to breakdown.
And while the system produced a clear picture with good color,
it could not be used with existing monochrome (black and white)
sets. In other words, all existing transmitters and had to be
scrapped or there would be two television systems, color and monochrome.
You could not own a color set and receive those programs that
were broadcast in black and white. Likewise, if you had a monochrome
set, you could not receive programs broadcast in color, even in
black and white.
- RCA system
-- The second system was proffered by RCA, the stereo and television
manufacturing folks. Their system used an electronic process to
create the color picture. Because it was electronic and not mechanical,
it was less susceptible to breakdowns. Further, it was compatible
with current systems. You would need special transmitting equipment
to broadcast in color, but those with monochrome sets would see
the program in black and white and those with color sets could
receive black and white broadcasts. The picture was good, but
not as clear as the CBS system.
So what did
the FCC decide: Go with the incompatible system or the compatible
system. Well, if you own a television set today you might assume
they chose the RCA system because you can receive old black and
white shows on you TV. But you'd be wrong. Everyone was surprised
that the FCC chose to go with the mechanical, incompatible system.
The FCC chose the CBS system because of the superior picture it
created.
We'd be using
that system today were it not for the Korean War. The manufacture
of color television sets was delayed because of the war. In the meantime,
outraged broadcasters got together and formed the National Television
Systems Committee and worked to improve the picture of the RCA system.
They formed the NTSC system still used in America today.
Television
has actually been around for some time, though it did not really hit
the market and become a big success until the 1950s. Television was
first introduced to the American public at the 1939 World's Fair.
Philo
T. Farnsworth, who worked in Palo Alto up in what is now part of California's
Silicon Valley, is credited with inventing the cathode ray tube (the
television screen) that could decode the broadcast and render a somewhat
clear image.