this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2024
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Old TVs only had one input. They had a coaxual cable that would connect to your antenna or cable provider. The TV has a tuner to select channels.
Because there is only one input, the only way to display a console is to spoof the broadcast signals the TV expects to get from the antenna.
To set this up, you connect both the console and your antenna to an RF converter box. This replaces channel 3 or 4 with your console so you can play games while still being able to watch TV.
Once consoles and VCRs became an established thing, TV makers started adding other plugs. But in the early days, this was the only way to play consoles on home TVs.
Even when RCA jacks were added, you would sometimes have to tune the TV to channel 2 or 3 to use them. The TV we had when I was a kid worked like that.
Just to add; prior to the coax we had two screws into the back of the TV for an antenna. You would attach a pigtail to that, which would give you a single coax connection. VCRs were game changers because most of the ones I saw had built in tuners so the more tech savvy could hook those up to the antenna and TV, then use the VCR remote to change channels without getting up (volume was another story). A lot of VCRs also had a power outlet on the back so you could plug your TV into it and be able to use the remote to turn the TV on too.
Man old tech was great.
That little adapter is called a balun. The two screws were a balanced antenna lead, coax is an unbalanced antenna connection. So it goes from balanced (bal) to unbalanced (un), hence balun.
They're still used in radio communications, but almost all consumer products use coax/unbalanced connections for their antennas.
I could go into detail about what a balanced/unbalanced antenna is, but it would take more words than I care to type right now. I'll let anyone who is curious go and Google it.