We forget that television had a "pre-history" of sorts, that TV had been the object of many tinkering since the early days of the 20th Century. In particular,

We forget that television had a "pre-history" of sorts, that TV had been the object of many tinkering since the early days of the 20th Century. In particular, Leon Theremin [1], known for the musical instrument invention that bears his name [2] is credited with demonstrating a TV in 1925 whose resolution was not surpassed until the GE demo at the World's Fair in 1939. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Theremin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Theremin [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_television https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_television