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that took place between 1925 and 1945, when it was standardised, when people defined solutions for mass market deployment. That should only have taken 15 years, but they had a little thing called a war and a massive recession that destroyed investment in television, except for ministry applications. This was a long, drawn-out development,” Ian Nock explained. World War II led to a shutdown of television in the UK for the duration of the war, and resources redirected towards radar technology.
From then till now
Fast forward 100 years and it is astonishing that a single analogue device has endured as long as it has. From 1925 to 1990 and the advent of digital TV, analogue television was all that was available, and nothing really changed much at all. TVs got very, very small for a few years in the 80s, and then very very big, and gradually, very very flat (interrupted briefly by the now obsolete curved TV: “The 2010’s technological shooting star. Emerging on the scene and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. The TV nobody really asked for”, according to Spy.com). Now in 2025, the television world has switched off analogue and is looking ahead to a switch off of another kind altogether: from digital to IP. 2034 sounds a way off but it’s only nine years, and what seems like just another milestone is throwing up a multitude of technical, commercial, social, political and even existential considerations; against all of that, nine years seems like nowhere near enough time. The Current Landscape Discussing the evolution of television can’t be done in a vacuum. While technically not a lot changed from 1925 to 1998, after that everything changed. The late 20th century could have seen more technological progress, but the general public’s appetite for upgrading hardware was suffering from considerable fatigue by 1999, never mind confusion. The financial pressure to keep up with the barrage of formats inflicted on them, a new one every few years by the early 90s sounds ridiculous now; music alone during this period was available on vinyl, cassette, CD and minidisc, but by 2008 the iPod was dancing its way into our homes, introducing the world to mp3s, iTunes and later Spotify, heralding a new product
The television transmitter apparatus in operation at 22 Frith Street in early 1925 as would have been demonstrated for Selfridge and Bosdari. The ‘mask’ is visible at centre. To the right of it is the large double-8 lens disc, a smaller light interrupter disc, and the large 'monitor' disc, white at its outer edge, that was perforated with 16 rectangular holes. In the foreground is a wooden box with what looks like a drainage tube. Image source: Tiltman, Baird of Television, 1927
the actual invention happened, and that’s why when talking to SMPTE, IEEE, IET and the RTS there’s still a frisson of annoyance and competitiveness about who actually invented television. The invention was pure John Logie Baird, because he was the first, even only by a few weeks, to get it working fully.” Even now, Ian said, there’s a lot of sensitivity. “I was talking to an engineer and when they heard that the IET were marking the centenary on 2 October they told me, ‘That’s not the first date, it was the 26 January. I’m disgusted that someone like you would be doing that.” Disgust seems a bit strong, but there is obviously still enormous pride in the evolution of what the rest of us take completely for granted, and a reminder that history is often written in real time by the loudest voices, not necessarily because that’s what happened. Back to Soho; after that half-crown was handed over the milestones followed thick and fast, investors rolled in, big names took an interest, competition intensified. Baird and Farnsworth continue to innovate, becoming friends during this period as RCA and EMI battled for patents, market share and manufacturing dominance. Evolving on a fairly straight trajectory, it wasn’t as rapid as you might expect, given the pace and innovation of the late Industrial period. “The slow development of what became television
historical significance of this, had to be paid half a crown to cooperate. A few months later on January 26, 1926, Baird invited forty distinguished scientists from the Royal Institution to witness a slightly perfected transmission, recognising the importance of credibility in such a fiercely competitive environment. It was a cunning move and it worked; television’s life as a scientific innovation was officially underway and Logie Baird made history. Philo T Farnsworth was working on much the same concept in the US and on September 7, 1927 at a laboratory in San Francisco achieved the same, but this time as an electronic transmission. Interestingly, only two Stookie Bills have survived, Iain told me. A colleague of Logie Baird ended up with one, which was passed down through the family, stored in a cupboard for safe keeping over many decades until one Guy Fawkes night, “when they needed something to throw on the fire.” One can only imagine the dull realisation and ensuing, lifelong regret that followed. Documenting of history Ian Nock of Fairmile West, a technology consultant and SCTE Member said the history of television could be summed up by the phrase, “I only see so far because I am standing on the shoulders of giants,” adding “Patents were all defined before
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SEPTEMBER 2025 Volume 47 No.3
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