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2020-10-14 21:36 -0400 |
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I've seen television user interface change during my lifetime.
The 1980s
At that time, I remember TVs having a simple main interface:
A row of six push-buttons, implementing what is called "radio buttons" in the language of computer form elements: only one of them can be active at a time. This would be implemented mechanically, and pressing one of the buttons would eject any other button into its disabled position.
With some twiddling, it would be possible to have all buttons in the ejected position at the same time. I do not remember what effect that used to have.
A power switch, positioned a bit apart from the other six. On the TVs I remember, it looked just like the others, only the fact that it was a bit detached from the row of six was a sign that it was the power button.
A small drawer. Pushing it in would allow it to spring open, revealing a group of six small adjustment wheels: those would be used when initially setting up the TV, to bind each channel selection switch to the proper frequency. Pushing it back in would lock it in the closed position.
The only indication regarding which channel was currently set was the position of the one depressed button in the row. I believe it was common, then, for TV channels to overlay a corner watermark on most of their programming, giving a secondary indication of the channel name.
(There must have been wheels for audio volume and picture adjustments, but I do not remember where they were positioned.)
The late 1980s
Some TVs started acquiring a one- or two-digit LED display under the main display. The one I remember best also had glass window mounted in front of the actual cathode ray tube, to make it look flat in a way, with enough imagination.
I think there was some amazement with having a digital LED display in one's home, as those were not very common at the time; I think digital clocks only became cheap and common a bit later (but I must admit that my recollection of the precise chronology is fuzzy).
The 1990s: OSD
At some point, TVs acquired enough internal electronics for tuning, remote controls, and other features, that, presumably, adding hardware to overlay digits on the main picture became cost-effective, thus replacing single-purpose LED displays. The feature would be known as "on-screen display" (OSD), and the seven-segment LED displays would be gone permanently.
Those would cover part of the main picture that a TV was meant to display and therefore, depending on preference, not everyone would leave OSD on all the time, marking the end of the era of always-visible channel numbers.
The future (now)
In 2020, TVs still don't have a separate display for channel (as if those were still a thing!), time remaining, etc.; and neither do streaming boxes like the Apple TV or Google Chromecast: those tend to have no display at all of their own, instead using either the TV they are connected to or a separate Wi-Fi-connected mobile device to display program information—usually in a much more sophisticated way than dedicated LED displays from the 1980s could ever do.
But since we live in the future, and the 2010s and further have been friendly to makers, anyone willing to invest the required resources can hope to make their own dedicated LED displays!
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