Ninety years of high definition

1936

At three o’clock on 2 November 1936, the BBC began the world’s first regular high-definition television service, from Alexandra Palace.

1936

Its picture had 405 lines, in black and white, and there were only about 400 sets to watch it on.

1936

They tossed a coin to decide which of two rival systems would go first, and Baird’s won.

1937

Baird’s picture had 240 lines, and about three months later the BBC dropped it for the sharper 405-line one.

1939

With war about to begin, the service closed on 1 September 1939, after a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

1946

It came back on 7 June 1946, and showed the same cartoon.

1967

On 1 July 1967, BBC Two began Europe’s first regular colour service, with 625 lines.

1975

In 1975, an engineer at Kodak built the first digital camera, and each black-and-white picture, just 100 dots by 100, took 23 seconds to record.

1993

The Hubble telescope’s first pictures were blurred, so in 1993 astronauts flew up and fitted it with corrective mirrors, like a pair of glasses.

2006

In 2006, the BBC began broadcasting in high definition, with 1,080 lines.

Today

The camera in a phone today can take pictures with 12 million dots or more, 1,200 times as many as that first digital camera.

Today

A 4K television has 2,160 lines, more than five times as many as in 1936.