Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

10 JANUARY 18, 1960 Film & Tape More about THERMOPLASTIC RECORDING: First full-scale demonstrations of GE’s Thermoplastic Recording technique in N.Y. Feb. 12 in New York’s Hotel Pierre (p. 2) were witnessed in the afternoon by some 200 newsmen, and in the evening by network, FCC & NAB engineers. Representing FCC was chief engineer Edward Allen; engineering mgr. A. Prose Walker and asst, engineering mgr. George W. Bartlett represented NAB. Among network personnel were CBS-TV engineering & affiliate relations vp William B. Lodge and ABC engineering vp Frank Marx; NBC was not represented. This special showing to TV topkicks indicates that GE considers TPR a potential TV tool, despite its officials’ reluctance to say so during the earlier showing for newsmen. , Here’s how TPR’s operation was described: Actual recordings are made by an electron gun in a vacuum. (Entire front of recorder had transparent plastic cover with rubber gasket for a seal. When reels are put in place and door is closed, a pushbutton starts a vacuum pump which evacuates the air in one minute. To destroy the vacuum and open the door for removal of reels, another button is pushed.) The developmental system can use a standard TV camera or a regular TV set or monitor for pickup. Input signal voltage is about one volt. The video signal is fed to a special electron gun which deposits a charge on the special transparent thermoplastic film or tape. The film is instantly heated, changing the electrical charge to ripples in the film surface. When cooled, the ripple pattern is frozen into place. The film may be erased by heating. Recordings May Be Projected or Scanned The resulting film may be shown with a projector using a modified Schlierien optical system, or it may be picked up for TV with a flying-spot scanner. The picture image on the film may be seen if held up to the light, but it is more difficult to see than the image on conventional movie film. The TPR inventor. Dr. William E. Glenn, has also developed a color optical system & electron gun. The film recordings shown at the demonstrations were made from regular broadcast signals taken from the IF of a standard black-&-white TV set. The films were crude but eminently recognizable; scratches & dust appeared to be major problems. Thermoplastic film recordings, according to Glenn, are currently about twice as susceptible to damage by mishandling as are standard photographic films. Thermoplastic film may be edited like movie film; special effects may be used; portions of a frame may be erased. Presumably animation, stop-motion and other photographic tricks can be used. Glenn predicted that Thermoplastic films could be easily duplicated by a pressing process; pressing tapes, he said, should be a “less critical” process than pressing phono records. We were impressed with the apparent simplicity & compactness of the equipment, which appears to herald low cost & portability in the ultimate TV equipment. The tremendous information-handling capacity of the system makes it ideal for data-storage uses far more complex than TV — such as satellite data recording, radar recording, computer use. GE Labs’ Lloyd C. Harriott, for example, explained that it is now “realistic to think of storing entire libraries of business reports, drawings or engineering data in equipment the size of an office desk.” GE research vp Dr. Guy Suits dramatized the capacity of the film this way: “In principle, TPR could record the 24 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica on a reel the size of a spool of thread, and it would take only a minute to record each volume.” This very fact that there is no built-in bandwidth or information-carrying ceiling was cited as a big potential advantage of the system by several broadcast industry engineers. Its potential in TV, in the opinion of these engineers, boils down to whether the delivered pictures are competitive with tape pictures — in quality, price & convenience. And before this is definitely known, they all agree there will be a considerable wait. ♦ * ♦ RCA has shipped 40 TV tape recorders to stations & networks, govt, agencies and overseas users — and 100 more are on order — RCA industrial electronic products exec. vp. T. A. Smith announced last weekend. “Demand is expected to grow at a more accelerated pace,” he said. RCA has formed a new recording products, high power & nucleonics dept., one of the prime functions of which “will be development of advanced types of recording devices for the broadcast industry,” according to broadcast & TV equipment div. gen. mgr. C. H. Colledge. 15 Pilots at Screen Gems: The Columbia Pictures TV subsidiary is currently planning at least 15 pilots, may top 20. Like most, SG is emphasizing comedy, while seeking a broad balance in its various pilots. Expected to go into production within the next month are these pilots for which Harry Ackerman is exec, producer: For the Love of Mike, a comedy starring Shirley Jones, (Ed Rissien, producer) ; My Sister Eileen, comedy, not cast; Man Alive, adventure, not cast; Show Wagon, a Western, not cast (Winston O’Keefe, producer) ; Miss Peters Speaking, a comedy by Norman Krasna & Bill Manhoff, not cast (Eddie Buzzell, producer) ; an untitled comedy starring Walter Slezak; Togetherness, a comedy created by Nate Monaster & Norman Tokar (Winston O’Keefe, producer), to be showcased on SG’s Alcoa-Goodyear Theater. William Sackheim is exec, producer on 4 pilots. The Insider-, Gimdl and Her Miserable Stories, a suspense vehicle created by David Swift; Proud Land, a Western, starring John Larch, to be showcased on Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre (a joint venture with Hilda Productions Inc.) ; and Tom Sawyer. Screen Gems also plans a pilot of 333 Montgomery, drama, which is aimed at the syndication market. Among projects which haven’t yet been firmed for piloting is an untitled South Seas series which would be produced for SG by Robert L. Jacks. In addition producer Herbert B. Leonard has two 60min. pilots being made in association with SG, Route 66, an action series, and Naked City. ♦ ♦ ♦ ABC has given Screen Gems the green light to prepare scripts and plan on production for The Big Walk, for next season. Gene Roddenberry is producer. The pilot was made last year, but not sold. Westinghouse Bcstg. Co. is launching another syndication series. Already scheduled for the 5 WBC stations and booked on stations in nearly 50 other markets, is the 30-min. video-taped Reading Out Loud series, featuring prominent personalities reading aloud literary classics. One restriction: Telecasting must be non-commercial.