HD

Appendix A Video Formats 1045
XIII
A Brief History of Film, Television, and Audio Formats
The timeline below helps to illustrate the constantly evolving list of media formats as
well as developmental peaks and valleys.
Yea r Event
1826 First photograph is taken.
1877 Thomas Edison makes the first sound recording of “Mary had a little
lamb.”
1888 Heinrich Hertz shows that electricity can travel through space and
that radio waves are physically identical to light.
1889 35mm film is invented by splitting Eastman Kodak 70mm in half
(1.33 aspect ratio).
1895 Marconi develops radio transmitter and receiver.
1895 Lumière brothers demonstrate combination camera/projector (16 fps).
1918 First color motion picture appears.
1920 Commercial radio broadcasts begin.
1923 16mm film is introduced.
1927 First major motion picture with sound is released (1.37 aspect ratio),
ending the silent movie era.
1932 BBC begins official monochrome, 30-line video broadcast.
1934 RCA experiments with 343-line, 30 fps television format, removing
flicker by introducing interlacing.
1936 BBC begins broadcasting a high definition, monochrome, 405-line,
25 fps interlaced signal tied to European 50Hz electrical frequency.
1939 NBC begins regularly scheduled broadcasts of electronic television,
441 lines and 30 fps.
1941 National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) standardizes U.S.
commercial television format, 525 lines, 30 fps tied to U.S. 60Hz
electrical frequency.
1945 FCC allocates 13 channels for television broadcasting and moves
existing radio channels to 88–108MHz.
1946 ENIAC, the first electronic computer, using 18,000 vacuum tubes,
is unveiled.
1948 Long-playing (LP) phonograph records are introduced.
1948 Hollywood switches to nonflammable film.
1948 Ampex introduces its first professional audio tape recorder.
1948 The transistor is invented.
1951 The first commercially available computer, UNIVAC I, goes on sale.
1952 The FCC provides UHF channels 14 through 83.
1953 Second NTSC adopts RCA color-TV standard, 525 lines, 29.97 fps,
interlaced.