1945 TV Console Showed Two Programs at Once
9 comments
·July 5, 2025jmkni
There is something fascinating about people from history who had an idea to do something which is now just normal, but the technology just wasn't there (and people probably thought they were mad).
I guess that's why I enjoy reading Hacker News comments
fracus
He basically just glued two TVs together. You would get more usability if you just bought two separate TVs.
bryanlarsen
The prototype was two TV's together. The final product was much more interesting.
seeknotfind
Occasionally I put on multiple programs. Movies in one room, an audio book in another, music in another, etc. Your mind drifts to what is interesting. Lights strobing. Working on 5 different home projects in parallel. It's a vibe.
arlia
This seems to be from the '50s, not the '40s.
pseudolus
The photo shown at the top of the story is of a 1945 prototype.
hn_throwaway_99
You're both right. The initial prototype with essentially 2 separate side-by-side TVs was from 1945. But the more interesting (IMO) approach was the 1954 "Duoscopic" version that showed 2 programs on the same screen, and each viewer looked through a polarized panel (and had their own headphones) to view their particular program: https://www.earlytelevision.org/pdf/dumont_duoscopic_brochur...
SoftTalker
It could probably have shown 3D programs as well, using glasses with differently polarized right and left lenses.
Eventually "re-invented" by Sony for 2-player action:
https://www.co-optimus.com/article/6221/e3-2011-eyes-on-the-...