An Eidophor was a television projector used to create theater-sized images. The name Eidophor is derived from the Greek word-roots ‘eido’ and ‘phor’ meaning 'image' and 'bearer' (carrier). Its basic technology was the use of electrostatic charges to deform an oil surface.

The idea for the original Eidophor was conceived in 1939 in Zurich by Dr Fritz Fischer and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with the first prototype being unveiled in 1943. A patent was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (patent no. 2,391,451) to Friederich Ernst Fischer for the 'Process and appliance for projecting television pictures' on 25 December 1945.

Following the Second World War, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox experimented with the concept of "theatre television" where television images would be broadcast onto cinema screens. Over 100 cinemas were set up with the process which was doomed due to financial losses and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denying theatre owners their own UHF bands for presentation.