SMPTE Historical Paper: The Evolution of High-Definition Television

The concept of “high definition” is not a new one to the field of television research and development. In the 1930's television engineers and inventors sought to achieve what they considered true high-definition images — about 240 horizontal scan lines. This article traces — through historical narrative and tables describing specific scanning devices — the evolution of television systems from “low” to “high” definition, primarily in the 1920's and the 1930's. A historical overview is given describing developments in the field (primarily in the U.S. and Great Britain) through the 1980's.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1984-05

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J03574