The Television Portal

Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports. The medium is capable of more than "radio broadcasting", which refers to an audio signal sent to radio receivers.
Television became available in crude experimental forms in the 1920s, but only after several years of further development was the new technology marketed to consumers. After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white television broadcasting became popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the U.S. and most other developed countries.
In 2013, 79% of the world's households owned a television set. The replacement of earlier cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen displays with compact, energy-efficient, flat-panel alternative technologies such as LCDs (both fluorescent-backlit and LED), OLED displays, and plasma displays was a hardware revolution that began with computer monitors in the late 1990s. Most television sets sold in the 2000s were still CRT, and it was only in early 2010s that flat-screen TVs decisively overtook CRT. Major manufacturers announced the discontinuation of CRT, Digital Light Processing (DLP), plasma, and even fluorescent-backlit LCDs by the mid-2010s. LEDs are being gradually replaced by OLEDs. Also, major manufacturers have started increasingly producing smart TVs in the mid-2010s. Smart TVs with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 functions became the dominant form of television by the late 2010s.[better source needed] (Full article...)
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The Apollo TV camera refers to several television cameras used in the Apollo program's space missions, and on the later Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project missions, in the late 1960s and 1970s. These cameras varied in design, with image quality improving significantly with each successive model. Two companies made these various camera systems: RCA and Westinghouse. Originally, these slow-scan television (SSTV) cameras, running at 10 frames-per-second (fps), produced only black-and-white pictures and first flew on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968. A color camera — using a field-sequential color system — flew on the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969, and every mission after that. The Color Camera ran at the North American standard 30 fps. The cameras all used image pickup tubes that were initially fragile, as one was irreparably damaged during the live broadcast of the Apollo 12 mission's first moonwalk. Starting with the Apollo 15 mission, a more robust, damage-resistant camera was used on the lunar surface. All of these cameras required signal processing back on Earth to make the frame rate and color encoding compatible with analog broadcast television standards.
Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... that Donald A. Morgan is the first director of photography to be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame?
- ... that, although Self's fifth studio album was cancelled, its songs were still used in television commercials?
- ... that Pedro Berroeta Morales, a diplomat and later the president of a Venezuelan television channel, has also written fiction and essays on topics from science to esotericism?
- ... that a cable TV channel in the UK was still broadcasting primarily in black and white as late as 1979?
- ... that Oliver Hutchinson was the subject of the first successful live demonstration of the television on 26 January 1926?
- ... that Angelito de Canal 13, the mascot of the Chilean television network Canal 13, was inspired by its creator's son?
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More did you know
- ...that The Simpsons' history began when Matt Groening conceived of the dysfunctional family in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office?
- ...that Molly Badham, co-founder of Twycross Zoo, trained the chimpanzees who appeared in the long-running Brooke Bond PG Tips television advertisements?
- ...that children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between television programmes and toy advertising campaigns?
- ...that Tomorrow's Pioneers, a television program for children produced by Hamas, features a mascot similar to Mickey Mouse?
- ...that Great American Country television host Nan Kelley (then Nan Sumrall) became Miss Mississippi in 1985 after her fellow Mississippian Susan Akin was crowned Miss America?
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Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker. As a writer for stage, television, and film, he is recognized for his trademark fast-paced dialogue and extended monologues, complemented by frequent use of the storytelling technique called the "walk and talk". Sorkin has earned numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, and two WGA Awards, in addition to a Laurence Olivier Award nomination.
Born in New York City, Sorkin developed a passion for writing at an early age. He rose to prominence as a writer-creator and showrunner of the television series Sports Night (1998–2000), The West Wing (1999–2006), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), and The Newsroom (2012–2014). He is also known for his work on Broadway including the plays A Few Good Men (1989), The Farnsworth Invention (2007), To Kill a Mockingbird (2018), and the revival of Lerner and Loewe's musical Camelot (2023). (Full article...)
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- December 28: US professional wrestler Jon Huber dies aged 41
- September 2: Tributes paid to recently deceased US actor Chadwick Boseman
- May 24: Japanese professional wrestler and Netflix star Hana Kimura dies aged 22
- January 16: BBC newsreader Alagiah to undergo treatment for bowel cancer
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History of television: Early television stations • Geographical usage of television • Golden Age of Television • List of experimental television stations • List of years in television • Mechanical television • Social aspects of television • Television systems before 1940 • Timeline of the introduction of television in countries • Timeline of the introduction of color television in countries
Inventors and pioneers: John Logie Baird • Alan Blumlein • Walter Bruch • Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton • Allen B. DuMont • Philo Taylor Farnsworth • Charles Francis Jenkins • Boris Grabovsky • Paul Gottlieb Nipkow • Constantin Perskyi • Boris Rosing • David Sarnoff • Kálmán Tihanyi • Vladimir Zworykin
Technology: Comparison of display technology • Digital television • Liquid crystal display television • Large-screen television technology • Technology of television
Terms: Broadcast television systems • Composite monitor • HDTV • Liquid crystal display television • PAL • Picture-in-picture • Pay-per-view • Plasma display • NICAM • NTSC • SECAM
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| You are invited to participate in WikiProject Television, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Television. |
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Television Stations • American animation • American television • Australian television • British TV • BBC • Canadian TV shows • Television Game Shows • ITC Entertainment Productions • Digimon • Buffyverse • Doctor Who • Degrassi • EastEnders • Episode coverage • Firefly • Futurama • Grey's Anatomy • Indian television • Lost • Nickelodeon • The O.C. • Professional Wrestling • Reality TV • The Simpsons • Seinfeld • South Park • Stargate • Star Trek • Star Wars • Soap operas • Avatar: The Last Airbender • House
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Animation • Anime and manga • Comedy • Comics • Fictional characters • Film • Media franchises
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- Place the {{WikiProject Television}} project banner on the talk pages of all articles within the scope of the project.
- Write: Possible Possum
- Cleanup: color television, Alien Nation: Body and Soul, The Sopranos, Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, Alien Nation: The Enemy Within, Alien Nation: Millennium, Aang
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- Stubs: Flow (television), Just for Kicks (TV series), Play of the Month, Nova (Dutch TV series), More stubs...
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