The Evolution and Possible Future of Television

It all started with the lowly monochrome television that did its part well. Until now, its shape or form continues to be a recognizable icon for television.

Then came the color CRT's. The addition of color was a breakthrough. More colorful shows meant more enjoyment. More enjoyment inspired the spark (or may have been the spark itself) couch potato culture.

To address the need desire for bigger screens, the rear projection TV's came to being. CRTs couldn't efficiently be any bigger so new technologies were sought. The couch potatoes rejoiced.

After the desire for bigger screens was somewhat satisfied, a new "want" emerged: more vivid and higher resolution screens. The plasma TV's came out as some of the immediate answers.

As power prices rose and frequency of TV use increased, the need for technologies that could lead to lower TV power consumption was spotlighted. So came the LCD and LED TV's. By this time, the growing trend of 16:9 screens has slowly but surely displaced the 4:3 screen aspect ratio as the standard.

But people still wanted something fancy. So here comes 3D television. Doesn't make that much sense but surely piques consumer curiosities and interests.

But wants and new trends prove to be infinite. With the popularity of the Internet becoming too overwhelming to ignore, TV makers apparently saw the need to adapt and innovate. Comes the smart TV's or Internet-enabled TVs made smarter with the addition of components that traditionally resided only in computing devices.

So what's in store for the future? Click here to read more.

The Possible Future of Television

Several concepts would come to mind if we examine the development of television. Many may sound ridiculous while still making sense. Let's compare notes. See if the ideas you could be thinking are presented below.

Concave Super Widescreen Television

Viewers complained about the black bands or "half screen" displays they had with movies showing at the 16:9 aspect ratio on their 4:3 TV's. Now that 16:9 TV's have become popular, movies and shows are getting shot at 21:9 screen ratio. What happens next? Shall we see 36:9, 100:9, or 150:9 displays in the years to come? There's no better way to prepare for this unfortunate trend than to have a super widescreen concave TV.

Full QWERTY TV Remocon cum Smartphone cum Videoke/Karaoke Microphone

Pictured above is the Sony QWERTY smart TV remocon. It's a good idea but it could get better if that remocon could actually be a smartphone. We wouldn't mind if it comes with a capacitive touchscreen and a microphone that effectively makes it a "Magic Sing" (videoke) microphone.

TV Camera and Mic for Video Calls also Doubling as CCTV Cam and Mic

CCTV's are becoming highly popular nowadays. If we can add practically useless cameras to mobile phones, why can't we add cameras to TV's that are usually positioned at opportune places for spotting interlopers.

Swiveling TV Screen

We surely want to nurture the couch potato culture so here comes a very appropriate "innovation."

Curtain TV

With TV's becoming slimmer and slimmer each year, it won't be very long before they exist as very thin image-projecting sheets that may serve as a curtain. If there are problems with glare, they can effectively—by themselves—block light from outside homes or offices.

Siri, S Voice, and Their Ilk on TV

There are TV's now that are already capable of responding to voice commands. If such is possible, it's inevitable for a Siri like feature to be included as one of  future TV highlights.