Video conferencing refers to the conduct of an online meeting between people in different locations through two-way audio and video transmissions. To put it simply, it is like a conversation between two persons (point-to-point) or more people (multipoint) gathering together in a virtual meeting room in order to communicate and collaborate in real time. Besides the audio and video transmission, the cutting-edge technologies expand its functionalities, like screen sharing and file sharing, etc. Then, how is video conferencing developed and what is history of video conferencing technology? Here we will briefly talk over the history of video conferencing from the beginning to the present.
1.1960s-The first video call appeared in 1964. Early in 1956, AT&T started the research of Picturephone prototype which was able to transmit images (1 frame/2 seconds) over analog PSTN (public switched telephone network) telephone lines. Finally in 1964, the company first introduced Picturephone at the World’s Fair held in New York, which gave opportunities for attendees to make a video call to the one in the other place. A caller could not only hear the voice on the other side of the line, but also could see his/her picture. Then the concept of video conferencing appeared.
2. 1970s-The early stage of video conferencing. AT&T began using video conferencing for its Picturephone service in the early 1970s. However, this new communication means was too costly to be reached by most people. Besides, the equipment also existed some problems, such as bulky body, difficulty of use, etc. More importantly, the photo was so small and blurred.
3. 1980s-Video conferencing developed slowly. In 1982, another company Compression Labs released the first video conferencing system, which was huge and expensive, either. However, it was the only video conferencing system available until 1986 when the company PictureTel hit the market with their much cheaper video conferencing system.
4. 1990s-Video conferencing continued to grow. In 1991, PictureTel collaborated with IBM to introduce the first PC-based video conferencing system with relatively reduced costs. Since then, a new chapter in video conferencing industry had begun. Unluckily, at the stage, a well-equipped conference room was required and its rent was overpriced.