PHILO T. FARNSWORTH: "Dr. X's" Instant Images
One fine day in a field of hay, an Idaho farm boy dreams up electronic television
Milestones
1949 Community Antenna Television, the forerunner of cable, begins operating. CATV brings TV to the Appalachians and to Pacific Northwest mountain areas unable to receive line-of-sight signals.
1954 Regular color TV broadcasts start. RCA's problem-plagued early color sets flop with the public, but sales take off in the 1960s when better, bigger sets become available from several manufacturers.
1956 Ampex builds a practical videocassette recorder, the VRX-1000. CBS inaugurates tape-delayed broadcasts, scheduling Douglas Edwards and the News later for the Western states.
1965 The first commercial telecommunications satellite, Early Bird (Intelsat I), is launched. Broadcasters can now transmit live coverage of news and sports. Vietnam becomes a "living-room war."
1975 Sony introduces Betamax, the first home-use videocassette recorder using 1/2-inch tape. VHS, eventual winner in the format wars, launches in 1976. The first home color TV video cameras are sold in 1977.
1996 A high-definition-TV signal is broadcast in Washington, D.C., test. Broadcasters, TV manufacturers, and computer makers set standards. (First broadcasts set for November 1998.)
With Richard A. Folkers
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