Mechanical Television
Bell Labs
In 1927 Bell Labs built a large screen TV set using a specially designed neon lamp with 2500 individual anodes, arranged in 50 rows of 50 anodes. A huge switch was attached to the motor, routing the electrical signals to one anode at a time. This set was used to televise Herbert Hoover in a demonstration in April of 1927. This was accomplished both by wire and by radio on experimental station 3XN from Whippany, N. J., 22 miles from New York, to the Bell Laboratories building in New York City where the speakers and performers were readily recognized on the receiving screen. The voices of the persons at Whippany were transmitted, and reproduced by means of a loudspeaker. Here is a 1928 magazine article.
In 1930 they published a booklet about their television accomplishments, including color television and telephone-television. Here are Bell Labs pictures from Bob Eilenberger's collection.
The following is from a 1928 issue of Practical Radio
Courtesy of Gabe Bennett
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Bell labs also used a more conventional scanning disk set to demonstrate TV at the same time.
The front of the set
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Another view of the front. Is the shelf for the viewer to rest their chin on? |
The top of the disk, showing the neon tube box
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The neon tube |
The motor/generator and rear of the disk |
Between the motor and the disk is a switch box of some sort, apparently used in synchronization
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(Thanks to Igor Golioto of Bell Laboratories Lucent Technologies for these photos)
From the above picture it can be seen that the shelf is not a chin rest, but a place to put the telephone instrument
Courtesy of Gabe Bennett
Washington Post, April 11 1930
Courtesy of John Pinckney
Bell Telephone Television Telephone Demonstrations
These documents describe a collaboration between Bell Laboratories and the New York Telephone Company in February 1931. The documents include an invitation and 2 tickets from New York Telephone Company to a very successful NYC Banker Mr. Howard P. Maeder for a demonstration of the emerging TV telephone booth service. The man brought his wife, son and daughter (?) along. The ladies went to the Bell Labs office at 55 Bethune Street and the men went to the Telephone Co. office at 195 Broadway, two miles apart. The teleconference allowed them to speak and see each others' heads on a TV screen. A 1930 Bell Labs booklet describes this demonstration.
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Another telephone-television demonstration in Detroit - June 25, 1932 |
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A diagram showing how the telephone-television system worked
Pictures of the equipment
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