Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

city relays foi- simultaneous show- ings of a Hollywood premiere in all parts of the country, or, similarly, the simultaneous TV presentation i>f a Broadway stape hit in theatres in many metropolitan centers. "Theatre television." it was as- serted in the SMPE statement, "will endeavor to offer material paralleling in a general fashion that presented by the legitimate theatre, radio, and motion pictures, but adding the important element of immediacy." Social values of the proposed sys- tem were iilso cited by the motion picture engineers. "In times of emergency," the statement pointed out, "the motion picture industry . . . has been exploited for purposes of public morale and governmental information essential to our na- tional welfare and economy. A nationwide theatre television sys- tem will be able to render a similar service of even greater effective- ness because of its instantaneous nature. "Theatre television . . . presents numerous educational as well as en- tertainment possibilities. Events of outstanding historical importJince or of great social significance may be viewed in schools, public audito- riums, and theatres at the moment they occur. "It will afford marked industrial aid to the country by providing em- ployment and personal opportunity to many people." Conceived during RCA research which began in 1928. theatre tele- vision made its first appearance in an e.xperimental form in .January, 1930, when the Company presented 60-line images on a 7y>- by 10-foot screen at the RKO-58th Street Theatre, in New York City. The low-definition pictures were crude compared to those produced by present-day equipment, but they in- dicated the possibility of annihila- ting time in bringing important events to the motion picture screen as they happened. Substantial Progress Made Substantial progress was made in the next decade, and in 1940, RCA achieved 441-line screen images measuring 15 by 20 feet in demon- strations in the New Yorker The- atre, in New York. Although WiirUI War 11 inter- rupted commercial development in that same year, RCA's research and engineering on military appli- cations of television led to findings which facilitated speedy improve- ment of the theatre system when commercial work was resumed. Much of the intensive develop- ment of the past two years was car- ried out by RCA under separate joint research contracts signed with 20th Century-Fox and Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., in the sum- mer of 1947. Pursuant to these pacts, the RCA Theatre Equipment Department, under Barton Kreuzer, developed and delivered to each of the two film producing organiza- tions a set of three equipments, all meeting the present 525-line stand- ard of definition. The first was an instantaneous projection system capable of presenting 6- by 8-foot screen images. Next came a similar system projecting images up to 15 by 20 feet in size, with a maximum projection throw of 40 feet. The third was an intermediate film or film storage system, providing for the filming of images from the face of the TV picture tube and subse- quent projection of the film images by conventional methods. Demonstrated at Conrenlions The smaller direct-projection system was successfully demon- strated, w^ith the cooperation of participating film companies, at conventions of the National Asso- ciation of Broadca-sters, in Atlantic City; the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, in New York; and the Theatre Equipment and Supply Manufacturers Association, in Washington. Enthusiastic interest in the possibilities of the project was di-;played by industry leaders at each of these demonstrations. One of the larger instantaneous systems was used by 20th Century- Fox at the Fox Theatre in Phila- delphia on June 25, 1948, to present the first inter-city telecast to be viewed by a regular admission- paying theatre audience. On that date, a capacity audience in the theatre watched the .Joe Louis-Joe Walcott heavyweight championship bout on a 15- by 20-foot screen as it was taking place in New York's Yankee Stadium, 90 miles away. [RADIO AGE ir When the initial postwar units had been completed, tested, and de- livered, RCA proceeded with its research, looking toward the engi- neering of a much smaller and more flexible unit — one with physical dimensions and design that would be entirely practical for theatre use. This was finally achieved less than a year ago as the outgrowth of an advance in picture tube design. It requires 80 kilovolts to power the projection-type kinescope used to achieve theatre-size images. Up to a year ago, the smallest tube capable of operating at this high voltage was one with a 12-inch diameter face. Smaller lube Developed The development of a 7-inch, 80- kilovolt kinescoi)e by the RCA Tube Department in 1948 gave Camden engineers what they needed. Though the reduction in face diam- eter was only five inches, it per- mitted the use of a 20-inch spherical mirror and a 15i'2-inch correcting lens in the optical barrel of the system, in contrast to the 42-inch mirror and 20-inch lens used there- tofore. Moreover, the smaller lens, it was found, could be moulded from plastic, instead of being ground slowly and expensively from glass. This in addition to savings in size and cost, achieved a dramatic reduction in the combined weight of these major optical elements from 500 pounds to only 50 pounds. TIIEATRE-SIZE TELEVISION IMAC.ES. 1.5 BY 20 KEET, CA.X BE PROJECTED BY THIS TYPE OF EQUIPMENT.