The First Twenty Years of HDTV: 1972–1992

Large-screen, high-definition television (HDTV) and high-resolution imaging (HRI) have become the subject of increasing public interest. Work under way in the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR)^1,2 branch of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)³ since 1972 has focused on establishing standards for high-definition production and the international exchange of programs, as well as the study of the methods of emission of high-definition television signals for terrestrial and satellite broadcasting. The work in the field of HDTV was assigned to Study Group 11 (television broadcasting), chaired by Mark I. Krivocheev (Russian Federation). This article is intended to serve as an information source for students of the communications industry, to preserve the historical heritage of the industry, and to contribute to the understanding of the development of HDTV. The author provides a brief historical overview focusing on the development of HDTV, using CCIR documents as the basis of the study. He has organized the work by assembling a collection of landmark CCIR documents and providing a narrative text on their importance. The perspective is therefore from an international point of view and provides an chronology of the critical developments in HDTV television during the period 1972–1992.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1993-10

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J15889