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Handheld television

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A Handheld television is a portable device that usually uses a TFT LCD or OLED color display. Many of these devices resemble handheld transistor radios.

History[]

In 1970, Japanese company Panasonic released the first TV that was small enough to fit in a large pocket, the Panasonic IC TV MODEL TR-001. It featured a 1.5-inch display, along with a 1.5-inch speaker.[1] Since LCD technology was not yet mature at the time, the TV used a minuscule CRT which set the record for being the smallest CRT on a commercially marketed product.

In 1980, Hattori Seiko's R&D group began development on color pocket LCD televisions.[2] In 1982, Seiko Epson released the Epson TV Watch, the first television-equipped wristwatch, with an active-matrix LCD television.[3][4] In 1982, Sony released the first model of the Watchman; a pun on Walkman. It had grayscale video at first. Several years later, a color model with an active-matrix LCD was released.

In 1983, Casio released a handheld LCD television, the Casio TV-10.[5] In 1984, Epson released the ET-10, the first full-color, pocket LCD television.[6] The same year, Citizen Watch,[7] another Seiko Hattori subsidiary (along with Epson), introduced the Citizen Pocket TV,[2] a 2.7-inch color LCD TV, with improved picture quality compared to Casio's model,[7] and the first TFT LCD display.[2] By 1985, two other Seiko Hattori subsidiaries had also introduced TFT LCD handheld televisions, with Seiko's color micro-TV and the Epson ELF.[2]

Some smartphones integrate a television receiver, although Internet broadband video is far more common.

Since the switch-over to digital broadcasting, handheld TVs have reduced in size and improved in quality. The major current manufacturers of DVB-T standard (common throughout Europe) handheld TVs are August International, ODYS and Xoro.

See also[]

  1. ↑ Popular Science, April 1970, page 26
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Spin, Jul 1985, page 55
  3. ↑ The world's first television-watch, with an active-matrix LCD, Epson
  4. ↑ Michael R. Peres, The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography, page 306, Taylor & Francis
  5. ↑ "Frank's Handheld-TVs: Part 1".
  6. ↑ A HISTORY OF CREATING INSPIRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Epson
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Popular Science, May 1984, page 150

External links[]

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