Electronic system to distribute and receive signals of moving images and sound originally brought by air. The basic ideas of television was patented by the German scientist Paul Nipkow in 1884. After further development of the techniques during the early 20th century, a modern television system was demonstrated in England by John L. Baird in 1926. In 1932 the Radio Corporation of America demonstrated a completely electronic system which implemented the cathode-ray tube to show the moving pictures.
The television system has been constantly improved after it was introduced to the public, bringing colour, cable and satellite distributed television, HDTV and digital transmissions, among other things.
Television is a major part of modern society. In his dystopic book 1984, George Orwell envisions television sets as a two-way communication system used by a totalitarian government to watch the individual members of the society as a control method. The astonishing ability of the public to repeat the actions shown and adopt the values presented through television has made this tactic redundant. The two-way communication system has later been introduced with the WWW.