Television a great invention, firstly executed by John Logie Bird. Mechanical scan television or mechanical television is specific system based upon a scanning device that follows a mechanical process. The working mechanism of television includes a rotating disk with holes or a rotating mirror to scan a particular scene for generating video signals and receiver with the same kind of mechanism to display the picture. Nowadays technology has gone so far that modern televisions now use electronic scanning methods such as electron beam, cathode rays and liquid crystal displays (LCD).
In the 1920s and 1930s; that was the beginning actually when experimental television systems used the mechanical scanning methods. John Logie Bird had made the first transmission of wireless television on 25th November, 1925 in London. In those days several radio stations were broadcasting by using mechanical scanning method but none of them were able to produce sufficient quality to gain the popularity of the public. Mechanical scanning technology was hugely abolished by electronic-scan technology in the mid-1930s. it is needless to say that; this was the first ever commercially successful television broadcast started in the Great Britain.
- Amazing fact: a television receiver is widely known as the televisor in some specific countries.
Earlier researches Made on Mechanical Television
Mechanical raster scanning technique that includes the transmission of still images by wire was developed for facsimile in 19th century for the first time. And it is widely said that facsimile was introduced by alexander Bain in 1843 to 1846. In 1856 Giovanni Caselli developed the first practical facsimile system that had been working on telegraph lines. Henry Sutton a technologist from Australia in 1885 introduced a telephone that was able to transmit images through telegraph wires depends on Nipkow spinning disk system, Kerr effect and selenium photocell. Ernst Ruhmer a German physicist who have demonstrated the system of instantaneous image transmission. in 1911 a different kind of system was used; in which a mechanical mirror drum scanner was used to transmit images through wires to the cathode ray tube or CTR in the receiver. Just because the selenium was very much laggy and sensitivity was not enough; moving pictures were not sent to the scanner. And this whole initiative was composed by Vladimir Zworykin and his teacher Boris Rosing.
Revolution of Mechanical Television
Nipkow Disk a great invention; includes a spinning disk with a spiral pattern of holes was patented by a 23 years old German university student Paul Julius Gottilieb Nipkow. In January 26, 1926 John Logie Baired a great Scottish inventor developed some of the first prototype video systems which includes the Nipkow Disk. Baird presented the first public exposition of televised silhouette images in motion on march 25. But human faces were unable to being showed up in his system because of the insufficient contrast. Instead of a human face, Baird televised a dummy whose painted face had a high contrast and which was able to move and talk. It is needless to say that the Nipkow disk was used for both scanning and displaying the image. In 1927 a signal over 705 km of telephone line was transmitted by Baird from London to Glasgow. Ultra-short wave television by Baird was introduced in 1932. And in 1936 Baird’s mechanical system embarked upon a peak of 240 lines of resolution in BBC television broadcast.
Field-sequential color system initiated by Goldmark was inspired by the color television experiments of John Baird in 1928. In the 1940 Peter Goldmark used such technology of Baird in his CBS color television system. Color saturation vales were transmitted electronically; although mechanical procedures also took part in his system. In this specific process a mechanical disc used to filter color from the reflected studio light at the transmitting camera and at the receiver end a synchronized disk used to paint the same colors on the CRT; so that the viewer could be able to watch the picture in full color.
Baird’s Early Life
It is already mentioned that john Logie Baird was a Scottish inventor. He was born on 13th August,1888 in Helensburgh, Dumbarton, Scotland and passed away on 14th June, 1946 in Bexhill-on-sea, Sussex, England. John Baird made his diploma degree in electrical engineering from the Glasgow and west of Scotland technical college which is now widely known as Strathclyde University. And then acquired his bachelor of science degree in the field of electrical engineering from the university of Glasgow and his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of world war 1.
Patents Occupied by John Baird
The entire world is now remembering Baird for his invention of mechanical television system. 1920s was the greatest year of Baird’s life because in this year both John Logie Baird and W. Hansell represented the idea of using the arrays of transparent rods to transmit images for television and facsimile and get patented.
30 line images were the first ever exhibition of television by John Baird in which he used reflected light instead of Black-lit Silhouettes. John Baird’s working methodology was based on the Paul Nipkow’s Scanning disk process and the later developments of electronics.
- Baird’s Broadcasting of trans-Atlantic transmission of the image of a human face was the greatest history in the broadcasting milestone.
- Stereoscopic television, color television and infra-red-light television all were conceptualized by Baird before 1930.
- “The man with the flower in is mouth” was the first British television play which was transmitted in July, 1930.
Final Lines
So this is all I have mentioned about the important facts and information about the mechanical television and it’s inventor. John Logie Baird was the one who have wrote his name in the golden words in the history of television. In this informative I have tried to cover each and every important point so that it can be helpful to you.
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