Published : 2025-03-17

On March 17, 1958, China's first black and white television set was born.

Hailed as the "First Screen of China," it was a Beijing brand Model 820, 35cm vacuum tube black and white television, developed by Tianjin Radio Factory (Factory 712).

On the evening of March 17, the television clearly broadcast the animated film "Little Cat Goes Fishing," signifying the successful trial production of China's first television set. This television is currently stored in the product exhibition room of Tianjin Communications Broadcasting Company.

Before 1958, China did not have television broadcasting, and televisions could not be produced domestically.

It wasn't until April 1957 that the 10th Bureau of the 2nd Ministry of Machinery Industry assigned the task of developing television receivers to the state-owned Tianjin Radio Factory.

The factory leadership at the time immediately organised a trial production team, with expert Huang Shiji (黃仕機) from Tianjin Radio Factory responsible for the design.

At that time, most members of the trial production team were only around 20 years old and were unfamiliar with new technologies required for television development, such as electricity, magnetism, sound, and light.

Some had never even seen a television and could only set preliminary design directions through studying materials, foreign prototypes, and sample parts.

Based on the domestic component production capabilities and processing levels at the time, they formulated a television design plan featuring "dual-purpose for television and FM reception, separate power supply for channels and scanning, and the use of domestic electronic tube components."

Huang Shiji recalled that to quickly tackle the task of developing the television set and fill the gap, the factory established a dedicated project team consisting of eight top technical personnel and workers from the factory.

After several months and numerous sleepless nights by the development personnel, overcoming various technical difficulties, they finally successfully assembled the first prototype television set in early March 1958.

On March 17 of the same year, China's first black and white television successfully broadcast a test programme, officially ending the history of China not having a television industry.

After this, China's television industry developed rapidly, progressing from black and white to colour, high definition, ultra-high definition, and is expected to advance towards virtual and three-dimensional directions in the future.