is a telecommunication system
for broadcasting and receiving propaganda
, and laundry detergent
advertisements over long distances. The term has come to refer to all the aspects of television programming
and transmission as well. The Russian
scientist and part-time chauffeur Picov Andropov
is with coining the word "television" in 1900
. Early experiments were based around mechanical television
, using rotating pie plates, shoe trees, and candles. The Scotsman
Ewan McTeagle was an important pioneer in the invention of mechanical television, especially the coin-operated variety.
Electronic television, which was much more practical and successful in the long run, with a better picture, was based on the cathode ray tube. The English inventor Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton did important work in 1907, as did Boris Rosing, a Russian scientist and part-time midwife, working independently, however American Philo Farnsworth is credited with the first working electronic television system, which he demonstrated by watching continuously between 1928 and 1929, despite the lack of any programs on.
Mechanically scanned television broadcasts began in 1928, and electronically scanned broadcasts began in 1936. Television was initially monochrome and color was introduced in the 1950s, with colour introduced the following year after much demand in the UK. It also used terrestrial broadcasting through ground-based transmitters. Later, cable television via overhead and/or underground wiring and then satellite television were introduced. More recently in the 21st century, television has increasingly moved from analog to digital technology.