Radio Broadcast (Nov 1926-Apr 1927)

FEB$i'2f>'{ ©C1B 733974 Radio broadcast Volume X / Number 5 MARCH, 1927 Television: Europe or America First? An Account of the Experiments of E. F. W. Alexanderson in the Field of Television and Radio Photography — How the Present System of Radio Photography Has to Be Speeded Up Two Thousand Times to Attain Television CONFIDENT predictions of the coming of television have been made so frequently during the last year that even proverbial pessimists must by this time be convinced that we will soon be able to see as well as hear by radio. Research in this field has attracted scientists and experimenters in almost every corner of the world, and numerous systems for the transmission of still photographs are in successful operation. More, perhaps, has been written about the experiments of European engineers in this branch of science than of Americans. One must not presume, on this account, that America lags behind. There is every reason to suppose that experiments conducted here are as fully advanced as are those of fellow experimenters abroad, and we may, as the era of radio vision fast approaches, be the spectators at a thrilling international neck to neck struggle for priority, the outcome of which will result in the perfection of an economically practicable system of television. An attempt to predict just how much water will flow under the bridges before the millennium would be futile. There are still many difficulties to be overcome, but, so rapidly has the art progressed to its present high standing, that one cannot doubt but that it will not be many years hence before we shall be able to see as well as talk with our friends in London and Paris as we sit in our homes in America. Of the several systems of television now being developed abroad, probably the most advanced is that of John L. Baird, a Scotchman. A British company has already been formed to exploit his system of television By EDGAR H. FELIX in England, and plans have been formulated for the marketing there of a combined Televisor, radio receiver, and loud speaker in a cabinet only 24 x 20 x 18 inches, which is to sell for the equivalent of about $250. A story in the December, 1926, Radio Broadcast, explained very fully the Baird system of television, and it will not be further described here. The obstacles which the amateur experimenter finds in the path of his participation in radio photographic research to-day are the highly complex apparatus required — still far beyond the skill and patience of an average experimenter to build and to manipulate — and the necessity for an in A RADIOED PICTURE This photograph of Norma Talmadge is a good example of the wealth of detail which can be transmitted by the Alexanderson system of radio photograph transmission vestment in equipment which places radio photography out of reach of the casual experimenter. These factors are not insurmountable in the commercial development of picture transmission and, as a consequence, we have several radio and wire news picture channels offering transatlantic or national service. International radio communication itself was once in this stage. Such communication between the United States and foreign countries was made possible by means of huge, high-power transmitters, involving investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then came short-wave vacuumtube transmission which brought amateurs in all parts of the world in touch with each other, utilizing transmitting equipment costing less than the average broadcasting receiver. A simplification of equal significance is in prospect for picture transmission. In the hope of learning how far from the reach of the serious amateur experimenter radio photography lies, the author visited the laboratories of several scientists. In Washington, the Jenkins equipment was seen; in New York, the Bell System's apparatus was viewed; and, in Schenectady, the Alexanderson device was demonstrated to the writer. At each of these laboratories, highly developed apparatus could be seen in action — apparatus capable of excellent photographic reproduction over wires or by radio. Jenkins' work has often been described, in these columns and elsewhere; the Bell System's equipment is too complex and too expensive for consideration as an amateur pastime; last but not least, is Alexanderson's system, which the writer was privileged to examine