The first television I ever watched was a Zenith. There were no Hitachi’s or Vizio’s and JVC’s were speakers that only real music lovers had. Now that I’ve dated myself and all but told my age, you can see the impact the brand name Zenith has had on me. A Zenith television was one of the first that people owned, and that wasn’t too very long after the birth of television show.
The company opened in Chicago, Illinois in 1918 as the manufacturer of amateur radio equipment. After that, the Zenith radio, which was portable, came. From there Zenith went on to invent such things (yes, invent) as the wireless remote control, FM multiplex stereo and high-contrast and flat face picture tubes, aka the flat screen TV. Zenith left the radio business in 1982 to focus on its interest in computers and CATV. Eventually, TV Zenith sold itself to LG Electronics, which holds the name today, and they now produce many of the Zenith televisions product market.
Zenith is probably best known for the first convenient and practical wireless Zenith remote control, named the Space Commander, which was developed in 1956. The original version of the Zenith remote control was a wired version and was released in 1950. Of course, after complaints of the impractical length of the cable to the wireless, Zenith began working on a wireless version.
In 1979, Zenith got into the computer business and purchased the Heath Company along with their H-8 computer kit. Zenith renamed Heath’s computer division the Zenith Data Systems and soon sold ZDS and Heath to the French computer company, Groupe Bull in 1989. This helped them to raise money for its Zenith HDTV research efforts. Zenith has been on the cutting edge of electronics technology all along.
The Zenith Plasma TV is now all the rage, with a 50 inch widescreen topping out at approximately $2,000 U.S. Dollars. With integrated HDTV, you know that Zenith/LG has the best technology to bring you the best in high definition television. LG also offers Zenith LCD televisions at selected retail outlets.
Zenith is the original television brand. Happy Viewing!
