- 1970: Japan’s Broadcasting Corporation, known as NHK, develops a HDTV prototype called MUSE. The system is designed to improve television quality while selling more units, and is nearly an overnight hit.
- 1980: NHK aims to popularize HDTV worldwide, starting first with the SMPTE (The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers). SMPTE is pleased to learn that HDTV helps cut film production time in half, and they release a study recommending its use.
- 1987: The United States’ National Association of Broadcasters invites NHK to present their MUSE system to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Though intriguing, it’s largely seen as major competition to American television manufacturers. In an act of political tension, the FCC decides to create a new system of HDTV standards just for America, which results in the creation of the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS).
- 1993: ACATS creates the “Grand Alliance,” pooling work from several American companies and organizations that created proposals outlining their ideas for new HDTV standards. Participants include AT&T, General Instrument Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Philips Consumer Electronics, Zenith Electronics, and more.
- 1996: Using findings collected by the Grand Alliance, the FCC officially sets the standard for HDTV in the United States.
- 1998: The first HDTV broadcast airs, coinciding with the first HDTV set going on the market.
- 2006: All analog broadcasting is officially phased out of communications in the United States.
The History of HDTV
HDTV, or High Definition Television, offers a substantially higher resolution than standard television. Though this format originated in Japan in the 1970s, the United States didn’t adopt HDTV until the 1990s, due to a combination of politics as well as technological setbacks. Here is a brief look back at the history of this invention and its arrival in the United States:
