WHEN WAS DIGITAL TV INVENTED?
The ATSC standards (digital television standards used in the United States and some other parts of the world) were originally developed in the early 1990s, but digital television broadcasts did not begin for several more years, and digital television receivers were not yet produced. By 1998, the first high-definition ready televisions hit the U.S. market, but these were analog sets that could input a higher-resolution signal than the standard 480i that had been in common use since the 1950s (NTSC). Digital television broadcasts began in the early 2000s, which is when TVs with built-in ATSC tuners began appearing on the market. Such TVs with digital tuners didn’t become commonplace until FCC mandates began requiring them on televisions: All TVs larger than 36″ from July 2005 on were required to have ATSC tuners built in All TVs larger than 25″ from March 2006 on were required to have ATSC tuners built in All TVs and devices with TV tuners (such as VCRs) from March 2007 on were required
