15 Technologies That Changed The Way We Watch Television

11. TiVo & DVRs

TiVo rocks because you can record your favorite shows then watch them when you have the time. Plus, it makes TV advertisements much less annoying. The first TiVo model put for sale was the Philips HDR110, which acted solely as a DVR (digital video recorder) device. In 2000, the Philips DSR6000 Direct TiVo model hit the streets giving users satellite TV access and DVR functionality. Source.

12. LCD TVs

RCA’s Richard Williams liked to play with liquid crystal (weird, I know) and discovered that he could pull out some electro-optical effects by applying electricity. Jump forward to 1972, when T. Peter Brody offerws the first “active matrix” display for watches and calculators. Those same liquid crystal displays (LCD) have grown and improved dramatically since then, seizing the T.V. manufacturing market and slowly becoming more common than sense. Source.

13. Plasma TVs

Professors Bitzer and Slottow, along with student Robert Wilson, got Plasma displays started. The technology works by discharging plasma between two plates of glass, exciting phosphors enough to emit light in the process. Before LCD hit the primetime, plasma was the big dog on the block and promised to be a definitive CRT killer. These days, plasmas are slowly losing the battle to LCD and could eventually be phased out. Source.

14. HDTV

In 1981, HDTV hit the television market like a guided missile. Despite the initial splash, it took the  adoption of digital TV for HDTV to really gain widespread acceptance.  With the near complete transition from analog TV to digital TV in 2009, the stage is set for HD to become the biggest thing since the mechanical TV. Now all that’s missing is full adoption of HD TV sets for HDTV to become universal. Source.

15. Internet TV

This is the Internet Age, and it was only a matter of time for television to take to the Net. IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television, and it delivers premium programming to your home computer via your internet connection. And just like satellite TV, you can pick and choose what you want to watch and when you want to watch it making IPTV a serious TV contender. Source.

Article courtesy of World TV and Radio Tuner. Original Article.