Category: Farnsworth–Philo

A Modern Mechanical Television — Nipkow Discs and Arduinos Lead to a Mechanical Color TV (video)

I had, of course, heard about the mechanical TV systems that pre-dated the CRT-based “electronic TV” invented by Philo Farnsworth. But I never really understood how they worked until I saw this Hack-A-Day article by Jenny List. And wow, I see it now. Nipkow discs. Color TV. Parts made in a 3D printer. Excellent.


Here’s the IEEE Spectrum article by Markus Mierse (the brilliant fellow who built this amazing device): https://spectrum.ieee.org/mechanical-tv

Be sure to watch the video (above). Take a look at the awesome quality of the 32 line color TV picture. And check out Marcus’s amazingly beautiful construction. (Note: Built on a wooden base).
Marcus Mierse’s Modern Mechanical Color TV

The Story of Television (Sarnoff’s Version) — 1956 Film

Of course, this has to be taken with a huge grain of salt. “General” Sarnoff sits there and claims that Vladimir Zworkyin “invented” electronic television. But Philo Farnsworth really did that. Zworykin’s claim to invention has about as much validity as Sarnoff’s claim to having been a General!

But still, there is a lot of interesting info amidst the RCA propaganda. Again, it is really striking how far they had come before WWII put things on hold for four years.

Happy Birthday Philo Farnsworth!



 Thanks to Bob Crane (and Garrison Keillor):

It’s the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth, the inventor of the television, born in a log cabin in Beaver, Utah, in 1906. He conceived of the basic elements necessary to transmit a visual image while he was still in high school; later, at Brigham Young University, he began his research in earnest. He co-founded Crocker Research Laboratories in San Francisco when he was just 20 years old, and the following year, in 1927, he transmitted his first image: a straight line. Investors wanted to know when they would see financial returns, so at his first demonstration for the press in 1928, he transmitted the image of a dollar sign. This earned him the first of about 165 patents.
Farnsworth appeared only once on his invention: He was the mystery guest “Dr. X” on the game show I’ve Got a Secret in July 1957.
…….

 I liked Paul Schatzkin’s book on Philo: “The Boy who Invented Television”: Here you can read chapter one for free:
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2008/08/philo-t-farsnworth-radio-hero.html

Our book: “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics” http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Philo T. Farnsworth — Radio Hero

I briefly thought about a title for this blog entry that would declare Philo T. Farnsworth to be a Knack victim, but in his case that just seemed a bit flip. Read Chapter One of Paul Schatzkin’s excellent book and I think you’ll see what I mean. What an impressive guy.

Chapter One Of “The Boy Who Invented Television”:

http://www.farnovision.com/tbwit/chapter1.html