Flat screen TV’s projectors, cameras, tripods and more will soon be piled under the Christmas tree so this is a good time to take a stress break and test your audiovisual IQ.
1. What do the abbreviations LCD and LED stand for?
2. What manufacturer developed flat screen TV’s?
3. What company introduced the first hand-held portable audio device?
4. Who invented television?
5. What network aired the first color TV show?
6. How is sound measured?
7. At what decibel does a constant noise cause hearing damage in the average person?
8. How many frames per second are recorded by a camera?
9. What is the name of the iPhone assistant?
10. What is Ham Video?
Answers
1. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, which use two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal between them.
LED is a light-emitting diode, which is a semiconductor that emits lights when it is activated. It is also used for showing the time on digital watches, answers on calculators and more. The first LED’s were used in 1962 and were limited to the color red.
2. Although General Electric (GE) engineered a proposal for a flat panel TV’s, it did not produce them. There were flat panel displays by as early as the 1950’s, but the University of Illinois is credited with inventing the first plasma display in 1964. It had one cell versus millions of cells today. The first color plasma screens were invented in 1992 and finally marketed to the consumer by Fujitsu, then Philips, followed by Pioneer. The first LCD’s were sold by Sharp in 1988 and they were 14”. The quality was roundly criticized.
3. The first hand-held portable personal cassette play was the Sony Walkman in 1979; they followed portable reel-to-reel tape recorders that were introduced in the 1950’s and that were primarily intended for reporters.
4. Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1909-1971) is generally credited with inventing television and he demonstrated it at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on August 25, 1934. He actually built upon the work of many engineers and inventors in several counties who were able to transmit images.
5. The first color broadcast was by CBS on June 25, 1951 to four cities: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC and it was a variety show called “Premiere.” Color television was first patented in 1925 by the Russian Vladimir Zworykin, but it was not until December 17, 1953 that the first color television system was authorized by the FCC and based on a system invented by RCA.
6. Sound pressure is measured in decibels (dB) and conversation is usually about 70-80 db.
7. If a sound is over 85-90 dB for an extended period of time e.g. working with a bull dozer all day without ear protection, permanent damage can occur. The sound for a personal music system used with earphones can easily reach over 100 dB and can cause damage hearing after just 15 minutes a day over time. Noise is a hazard today and it is estimated that 30 million Americans are exposed to dangerous levels of sound regularly.
8. There are three frame rates for TV and digital cinema that are widely used: 24p, 25p and 30p. There are also several that are used for special applications.
9. Siri is the virtual assistant for iPhone; Siri was introduced with limited abilities on the iOS; many argue it is the best “assistant,” but Google keeps improving its own assistant.
10. Ham Video or DATV is digital amateur television and it is installed on the Columbus module of the International Space Station; Ham Video, often called Ham TV, was an outgrowth of amateur ham radio and it was developed by the Italian company Kayser Italia. It is a downlink system or a one way broadcast system. The astronauts can hear – but not see – viewers using ham radio headsets. Ham Video is expected that to be used by students to talk to the astronauts from schools everywhere.