We’ve come a long way in 65 years so with our 65th anniversary coming up we’ve taken a look back at how technology has changed over the last six and a half decades and celebrate the top of the range gadgets we have today.
The first transistor radio was made and sold in 1948 and since then we’ve seen an explosion of technological advancements in the shape of cars, internet, the mobile phone and of course the television. There are so many gadgets we could write about, from Polaroid photography introduced in 1953 to microwave ovens and pocket calculators introduced in 1970, but we’ve chosen to take a closer look at arguably, aside from the internet, THE best and most influential invention of the 20th century, the TV.
When the TV was first introduced it was met with scepticism and no one really believed, or could of predicted, just how attached we would become to our TVs. But, TV has changed the way we view the world and everyone in it. It has led the way for other technologies like watching programming on computers and mobile phones and pushed manufacturers and broadcasters to continually find new ways to bring bigger and better entertainment to the small screen. Plus research shows that there are now more TVs in a household than there are people!
Starting out as carthode ray tube TV sets showing black and white images, the invention of the TV can’t really be attributed to just one person but inventors such as Vladimir Zworykin and John Baird all contributed towards the first TV sets that led the way to the modern ones that we are used to today.
Although it seems like the TV has come a long way in the last 65 years, and of course it has, it’s only really been the last few decades that have seen a spurt in its evolution. The economy after WWII was strong and paved the way for a boom in television production in the late 40’s and consumers could choose from two models, the table top and the console. After this, the mid 50’s saw Eugene Polley invent the very first remote control for the TV although it would be some years until most people had one.
Colour TV was then introduced in the UK in 1967 but again it would be some time until most families actually had a colour TV. Bizarrely Doctors began legally advertising cigarettes in the 60’s too!
By the end of the decade there were an estimated 200 million television sets around the world and 1978 was the last year Black and White TVs were made.
The 80’s was quite a quiet year for innovation of the TV but it was the decade that accessories like VCRs and game consoles like the Nintendo were first introduced. Viewers could, for the first time, record their favourite programmes and watch them whenever they liked.
The 90’s saw some of the original cathode ray tubes replaced by LCD and Plasma TVs for a much clearer picture, but these were still very much still in the experimental phases. TVs now had additional features like sleep timers and parental controls.
DVD players were introduced around 1996 but much like the VCR it took almost a decade for sales to gain momentum. At the start of the noughties less than 5% of homes had a DVD player but a decade later over 80% of homes owned one.
The mid noughties saw advances in Plasma and LCD technology pave the way for the thinner TVs were used to. With a better picture and bigger screen the thin TVs also saved a lot of space in the room compared to its chunky predecessors. The home cinema experience was at the forefront of designs and surround sound entered our homes. 2009 saw the beginning of the digital switchover which meant all analogue TVs would go black and networks would only broadcast programmes via a digital signal. It also saw the release of Blu-Ray players giving us a whole new way of watching movies with outstanding picture quality
The last five years has seen the TV go online via high speed internet connections, enabling Video streaming plus digital recoding and of course HDTV, 3D TV and in the last few months 4KTV (Or UltraHD), which has 4 times the picture quality of HD.
So, 65 years on and we have a fantastic selection of some of the best TV’s from the biggest names around. From 55″ 3D Full HDTVs to compact TVs for your kitchen or home office, all our TVs carry a 12 month guarantee. Plus our Sony and Panasonic TVs come with a 5 year parts and labour warranty – completely free!
We also have a fantastic range of home cinema kits and gadgets to help you make the most of your TV such as Off the Wall brackets to fix your TV to the wall or sleek TV stands. Check out our range of TVs online or speak to one of our in store experts to find out which TV is best for you.