Television Is Not Just A Piece Of Furniture
Television is something we are all familiar with. TVs can be found in practically every house in the world. TVs come in many different sizes and shapes and even colors. There are flat screens, plasma screens, big screens, under the cabinet TVs and more. You can find TVs in virtually any room of the house, even the garage and you can even find TVs in automobiles and handheld versions that a person can carry in their pocket. The television has even acquired several nicknames such as idiot box, boob tube and goggle box.
Although most people may not be able to remember a time before there was TV, they are actually a fairly recent invention. The first TV was patented in 1928 and after laboratory tweaking and perfecting, the TV became available to the consumer market in 1945. The first TVs were in black and white and were expensive. The average home could not afford one.
Now we have color TVs of every shape and size in virtually every house. TV programs are broadcast either live or prerecorded. Most shows today are prerecorded. Some things are still shown live such as sports games. For prerecorded shows, videotape is the principle method of recording. Although the quality of videotape and equipment has progressed over the years, the basic idea is the same.
If you have an older TV, can remember the older TVs or still use an antenna to pick up your stations, you may be familiar with VHF and UHF. These were used on older television dials to choose the channel before digital and remote use came along. VHF stands for very high frequency and UHF is ultra high frequency. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated 12 channels to VHF and 56 channels to UHF.
Today, most people use a cable connection to pick up their channels. Cable offers a much clearer reception. We have hundreds of television channels and networks now. We have many channels dedicated just to cartoons, just for sports, for the news, for the weather, for cooking and more. There is BET (Black Entertainment Television), MTV (Music Television), WE (Women's Entertainment) and many more. If you can think of it, they probably have a network dedicated to it.
There are also channels such as Cinemax, HBO and Showtime that are dedicated to movies. They were originally created just for the broadcast of movies on television but most of them now have their own sitcoms and series as well. With so many options, it seems we could watch television for ever. Of course, TV is no substitute for exercise and other forms of entertainment. When it is enjoyed in moderation, it is that much better when you watch it.
J
About the author: June Tolbert (name) is founder of All About Television an excellent resource site dedicated to information on Televison.