How is the TV remote control born?

Update：2018-01-04 20:54:39  Visits：

       The first TV remote, called Lazy Bones, was developed in 1950 by Zenith Electronics Corporation (then called the Zenith Radio Corporation). Lazy Bones uses cables from the television to the viewer. The motor in the TV operates the tuner via the remote control.

       By pressing a button on the remote control, the viewer can rotate the tuner clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on whether they want to change the channel to a higher or lower number. The remote control includes buttons to turn the TV on and off.

       While customers love to remotely control their TV, they complain that people trip over the unsightly cables that meander in the living room floor.

       Commander Eugene F. McDonald Jr., Zenith, believes television viewers will not tolerate advertising and believes the sooner or later commercialized television industry will collapse. While waiting for the development of free commercial television, Macdonald eager for a wireless remote that mutes the sound of an ad.

       Flashmatic: The first wireless TV remote control

Eugene Polley, a Zenith engineer, invented "Flashmatic," the industry's first wireless remote control. Launched in 1955, the Flashmatic operates through four photovoltaic cells, one at each corner of the television screen. Viewers use a highly directional flashlight to activate four control functions that turn images and sounds on and off and change channels by turning the tuner dial clockwise and counterclockwise.

       Although it pioneered the concept of wireless remote control, Flashmatic has some limitations. This is a simple device, without a protection circuit, and if the television is sitting in an area with the sun shining directly on it, the tuner may begin to spin.

       Development challenges

       Commander McDonnell liked the Flashmatic proofs of Polley and guided his engineers to develop better remote controls. The first idea points to the radio. However, as they pass through the walls, radio waves may inadvertently control the television set in an adjacent apartment or room.

       The use of unique sound signals is discussed, but Zenith engineers think that people may not like to hear certain sounds, which would be a feature of operating a television via a remote control. It is also difficult to find sounds that will not be accidentally reproduced due to domestic noise or sound from television programs.

       Regardless of the specific system chosen, Zenith sales personnel are opposed to using the battery in the remote control. In those days, the battery was mainly used for flashlights. If the battery is broken, the salesperson says the customer may think the TV is having problems. If the remote does not glow or show signs of any other visible function, one would think that once the battery dies it is broken.

       The birth of space command

       Dr. Robert Adler at Zenith recommends using "ultrasound," a high-frequency sound, that goes beyond human hearing. He was assigned to lead a team of engineers at the home for the first time using ultrasonic technology as a new way of remote control.

       The transmitter does not use a battery; it is around the aluminum rod and is light in weight, producing a distinctive high-frequency sound when struck on one end. The first such remote control uses four bars, each about 2-1 / 2 inches long: one for channel up, one for channel down, one for sound on and off and one for on and off.

       They cut very carefully into lengths that will produce four slightly different frequencies. They are excited by a triggering mechanism - similar to the trigger of a gun - stretching a spring and releasing it so that a small hammer will hit the end of the pole.

       The equipment developed rapidly, the design phase began in 1955. Known as the "Zenith Space Command," the remote control was put into production in the fall of 1956 and became the first practical wireless remote control device.

       One-fourth century of ultrasonic remote control

       The original Space Command remote control was expensive because using six additional vacuum tubes in the television set required an elaborate receiver to pick up and process the signal. Although the addition of a remote control system adds about 30% of the price of a television set, this is a technical success and was followed by other manufacturers for several years to come.

       In the early 1960s, solid-state circuits (ie, transistors) began to replace vacuum tubes. The hand-held, battery-powered control unit can now be designed to generate inaudible sounds electronically. In this modified form, Dr. Adler's invention of ultrasonic remote control lasted for a quarter of a century from the beginning of the 1980s.

       In the 25 years since Dr. Adler was invented, the industry has sold more than 9 million ultrasonic remote televisions.

       Today's infrared remote control

       By the early 1980s, the industry turned to infrared, or IR, remote technology. The infrared remote control works by using a low-frequency light beam, so the lower human eye can not see it, but it can be detected by the receiver in the television. The cable-compatible tuning and teletext technology Zenith developed in the 1980s greatly enhanced the functionality and use of IR remote controls.

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