logy, that's when it will be here. Dr. Norman Gaut hile the advent and adoption of video communication seems destined, its story is an improbable one filled with twists and turns. Although knowing video communication's history is not likely to affect the success of its implementation, it will foster an appreciation of the work that went into getting us where we are now and the challenges that previous implementers needed to overcome. The latter part of this chapter outlines the evolution of broadcasting techniques, why there are different television systems in different parts of the world, and what those systems are. We also examine how video communication technologies trick the eye, how cameras work, what scanning is, and how, together, the technologies capture and display a video communications signal. To people born in the western world after World War II, television is not a marvel of technology but practically a birthright. It is an object of fascination only when we see ourselves on it and, when we do, our experience with the technology causes us to want the best possible quality. This provides a challenge since we grant video communication systems only a fraction of the bandwidth we provide for television. First demonstrated in the 1920s, television is the predecessor of video. As is true with most technology, it is nearly impossible to establish the precise time at which TV was invented. Centuries of experiments combined successively to produce the telegraph, the radio, the television, room-based interactive video communication and, now, virtual anywhere-to-anywhere interactive video communication. We are still living in the age of discovery, and gifted engineers and scientists in all parts of the world are pushing the limits of video compression, transmission, and applications. This golden age of technology began when early scientists applied the principles of electromagnetic waves to communications over distance. Video Communications: The Whole Picture RADIO-SOMETHING IN THE AIR The Europe of the ninete