History of HDTV

High Definition Television is the newest standard when it comes to television and entertainment. Oddly enough, the advancements into high definition started a lot earlier than most people realize. Over the last 15 years, High Definition has made improvements by leaps and bounds in today’s market. With many different types of televisions, including but not limited to projection, LCD, Plasma, and a few smaller slightly less well-known models that are still mostly in development. We will discuss the history of High Definition television from its beginning to where we are today.

High Definition Television, more commonly known as HDTV, began as a research project by a Japanese Broadcasting Company called NHK, in 1970.

In 1977, a study group focussed on high definition was formed. In 1980, the group published its recommendation, which included both the definition of ‘wide screen format’ and ‘1100-line scanning structure‘. This marked the first real exploration into what we know as High Definition Television.

The first demonstration of HDTV to take place in the United States was in 1981, and succeeded in generating a great deal of interest in the technology.

In 1987, an Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ATSC) was formed by the FCC. ATSC initially fielded about 23 different proposals for Advanced Televisions systems. By 1990, all but 9 had been turned down, and those that remained all had a basis of analog technology.

In 1991 there were further developments into the technology, which included an all-digital approach. In 1995, a couple of companies joined together on a proposal which later became the mandated standard for the broadcast of HDTV.