The Tube - TV Sets

TV sets or TV is an invention of several scientists whose discoveries date back to 1831 when Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetism.  Since that time, many scientists went through painstaking work to design a device that can produce both audio and visual images.  The "tube" as we call them today, is a telecommunication device used to display electronic images transmitted by a TV channel through radio waves.  The term TV comes from the Greek word "tele" meaning far, and Latin word "visio-n", meaning sight.

TV sets has become part of modern living since its inception around the 1940's.  In the United States, around 98% of households have at least one TV set while 61% subscribe to cable TV.  Aside from its entertainment purposes, TV sets have become educational tools, as well as advertising media.  The average American household watches TV seven hours a day.

TV sets images are actually the end result of a three way communication process.  From a source (say, TV stations), broadcast elements travel through waves and then received by TV sets' transmitters.  That's how images are produced.  TV images are composed of 525 horizontal lines shown on a screen.

TV Sets Elements

TV sets need to have a display device that converts electrical signals into light to form images.  A sound device converts electrical signals into sound that goes along the images reproduced on the display device; built-in speakers make these converted sounds heard.  A TV receiver picks up broadcast signals from a TV source while a transmitter is responsible in modulating image and sound information TV signals.

TV Sets Technology

From black and white screens, to colored TV screens, manufacturers recently produced wide screen TV sets with theater quality.  Although they are almost 10 times more expensive than the old colored screens, manufacturers claim the highest resolution and unprecedented image quality.  Wide TV screens begin at 27" up to 60".  New technology TV sets have four types: plasma, LCD, and rear projection CRT.

Plasma TV sets cost around $1000-$4000.  These TVs are digital with high resolutions.  LCD TVs are similar to a screen of a laptop.  They are much thinner (about an inch) than plasmas and screen sizes are limited to 40" only. 

Rear Projection CRTs have screen sizes 40" or more.  Rear projection CRTs are like a combination of a projector and screen into a TV set.  They are relatively cheaper compared with other wide screen TV sets but consumers would have to contend with the bulkiness of rear projection CRTs.