A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

Seeing by Wireless by Ray Herbert

1996 is the 50th anniversary of the death of John Logie Baird, often referred to as the 'father of television'. Baird is generally acknowledged as the inventor of 'true' television, having initiated most of the development in that medium. The anniversary of his death is being marked by the publication of Seeing by Wireless by Ray Herbert, a comprehensive look at the career of one of the 20th century's leading pioneers.

wire2.gif

Seeing by Wireless

The Baird Company, started television broadcasting way back in 1928. Although the pictures were very small and blurred, transmitted at a mere 30 lines definition (only a fraction of today's 525 or 625 lines system) they still represented a real technological breakthrough. For the first time in history viewers could witness events as they were happening many miles away. For instance the company was responsible for the first Transatlantic transmissions.

However, as the quality of the pictures increased to 180 and 240 lines definition, the need for a new transmitter became ever more apparent. In July 1933 Baird Television linked up to the more technically advanced system at Crystal Palace, although Baird himself spent most of his time experimenting and innovating at a private laboratory near his home in Sydenham, South London.

Following the devastating fire at Crystal Palace in 1936, the Baird Company was forced to move to new premises. This did not deter Baird, who continued apace his quest for new ideas, achieving in 1938 a double first - the first transmission of colour pictures via radio link and showing those images for the first time to the public. Three thousand people at the Dominion Theatre, London saw these 'high definition' colour pictures which had been transmitted via the Crystal Palace South Tower.

wire1.gif

Baird with his 600 line colour television receiver in 1940

The development of stereoscopic colour television followed in 1941, and in 1944 the multi-gun colour TV tube was demonstrated. This was the first wholly electronic colour television receiver to employ a single cathode ray tube and forerunner of the type that is used in most homes today. Baird's achievement is all the more remarkable for having succeeded in beating, by several years, large, well resourced corporations in transmitting high quality colour images. As the News Chronicle reported at the time, 'the image was in colour as natural as any colour film I have ever seen.

wire3.gif

Stereoscopic colour pictures from 1941

Baird achieved so much in his short life that many have tried to chronicle his string of successes. But none have managed it quite so thoroughly as Ray Herbert who actually started his career with Baird in 1937. Ray has spent years collecting Baird documentation including photos, laboratory notebooks, diary extracts, tape recordings, press cuttings and company documents from the period of 1923 - 44. Ray has now collated the material and produced the publication Seeing by Wireless (Baird's own, very apt, description of television), to pay homage to one of Britain's most influential inventors.

Ray approached Quantel pioneers in the digital television field - to design and produce front and back covers for the publication, which the company was happy to do. 'Seeing by Wireless' will soon be available to museums and enthusiasts all over the world and provides a fitting tribute to a man who has had an immeasurable influence on the lives of ordinary people world-wide.

Using a wide variety of source material including black and white prints, colour prints, transparencies and line drawings, Quantel graphic artists David Sewell and David Cardener employed the Printbox digital page-production system to scan in the images at high resolution and re-size, retouch, colour correct and colour match them so that the finished result recreated the 'feel' of the original pictures.


Source: Ray Herbert

Back to the Top | Essays Index | Scientists and Engineers A - F | Quit | eMail: Dr Russell Naughton