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.