Philo Farnsworth and the Invention of Electronic Television

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 616

  • @KennethScharf
    @KennethScharf 7 ปีที่แล้ว +685

    Your description of the image dissector's operation is incorrect, you actually have described the operation of the iconoscope. The image dissector did not contain an electron gun. It didn't even have a filament and did not use thermionics, it was a cold cathode tube. Rather, the focus and deflection coils moved the entire cloud of electrons emitted by the light sensitive coating which was attracted to the rear of the tube by a positive electrode. The focus and deflection coils selected a single portion of this electron cloud at a time, and drew it into the opening of an electron multiplier which operated much like the type 913 tube. Thus one "pixel" at a time was converted to a video signal voltage level, the electron cloud which contained the image was read out serially one piece at a time.

    • @TechnologyConnections
      @TechnologyConnections  7 ปีที่แล้ว +438

      You sir, have earned a pin. My conceptual understanding of the differences between the iconoscope and dissector was limited to the storage capabilities of the target. With your explanation, the descriptions I've read make more sense. Thank you!

    • @KennethScharf
      @KennethScharf 7 ปีที่แล้ว +146

      The principle of using a return beam to read the signal is actually that of the Orthicon tube, while the Iconoscope did read the signal directly from the target, as did the Vidicon. The construction of the target was different between the latter two tubes. The image dissector had yet another problem, the light sensitivity of the cesium was mono-chromatic and required the actors to wear special makeup (which did NOT look very flattering!) in order to produce a good B&W image! The chemical properties of the target used in the Iconoscope and Orthicon tubes produced a balanced image across the entire spectrum. Farnsworth used cesium because it was readily available to him in a form that didn't require extensive chemistry to prepare.
      There actually was a double ended iconoscope that read the target from its back side, this tube resembled the modern Vidicon. It was the type 5527, and was electrostaticly deflected, much like an oscilloscope CRT.
      BTW, early RCA Iconoscope tubes were used in a TV camera installed inside of a B24 liberator bomber filled with high explosives. The plane was to be remote controlled and guided to its target as a remotely piloted aircraft with the TV cameras providing remote viewing of the instruments and the ground. Joseph Kennedy Jr. piloted the aircraft off the ground and was to bail out when it reached altitude, but the explosives went off prematurely.

    • @scottlarson1548
      @scottlarson1548 7 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      My gosh, the image dissector was just an electron sucker?

    • @jerrywh3
      @jerrywh3 7 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      Nerds united! Make nerds great again!!

    • @JamesSiggins
      @JamesSiggins 7 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      I love how smart people are. I learn so much much from TH-cam. Love this channel, keep up the good work.

  • @MetalAgainstMetallic
    @MetalAgainstMetallic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +63

    Quick note:
    Farnsworth wasn't living in Utah when he came up with the concept for scanning fields. His family had been living in Rigby, ID for several years, and he had been reading a book on electronics he found in his family home. He also had help from his science teacher in high school.
    He's big point of pride for our little town

  • @3v068
    @3v068 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    Okay. Knowing that you dont have much professional equipment at this stage of your youtube life, it is incredible how you managed the animation of the cathode ray tube. You did FANTASTIC work.

  • @ChaosGenerator
    @ChaosGenerator 7 ปีที่แล้ว +339

    So THAT is the origin of the Professor Farnsworth character from Futurama!

    • @johnopalko5223
      @johnopalko5223 6 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      Yeah. In one episode he mentions that he's related to Philo Farnsworth.

    • @rdkagale5801
      @rdkagale5801 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      John Opalko who made a tlivijan

    • @buddyclem7328
      @buddyclem7328 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@rdkagale5801
      *television

    • @Abdega
      @Abdega 6 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      R Dkagale
      *GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I’ve just invented the tlivijan. It’s name combines the Russian word for flooding and the Haitian Creole word for urgent or quickly. It brings a lot of water to dry areas anywhere on earth in an instant!*

    • @JeffDeWitt
      @JeffDeWitt 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      It was also the origin of the name of the communicators in the show "Warehouse 13".

  • @paraworldblue
    @paraworldblue 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Your demonstration with the yarn and accidental-Japan has got to be one of the cleverest, most effective scientific demonstrations I've ever seen. Honestly, the concept you were explaining went entirely over my head until that point, but the demo made it instantly click. Oh, and since this is a TH-cam comment thread, I feel it's necessary to clarify that I am not saying this sarcastically - I was really impressed by that demonstration. Anyway, thank you for making these videos - I only discovered your channel a few days ago but now I'm hooked!

    • @number1genoa
      @number1genoa 26 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Agree, the demo was excellent

  • @MEKCreations
    @MEKCreations 6 ปีที่แล้ว +88

    Don't take it the wrong way, but your videos are so great to fall asleep to. They're interesting enough to keep nightmares away, but your voice makes me relax and snuggle down. Like educational warm milk.
    Hope this sin't as weird sounding as it feels to type. I appreciate your videos a lot, anxious insomnia is a pain and your videos are just the perfect balance of interesting and relaxing.

    • @KrzysiuNet
      @KrzysiuNet 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      If you like such soothing, calm, scientific videos, try Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Not any new version - only Sagan! It's old, but it's not outdated, as it touches topics which doesn't change. And no, your opinion isn't weird at all. The only weird thing is that more and more people have the same problem as you or me. Well, times.

    • @KrzysiuNet
      @KrzysiuNet 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      There you go - 1st episode :) th-cam.com/video/1-OdJmAefOY/w-d-xo.html

    • @tanya5322
      @tanya5322 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Undead Kitten I do the same thing. Though I will often replay a video several times to eventually listen to the whole thing.

    • @tanya5322
      @tanya5322 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      krzysiu.net I still have my vinyl Lp of the Cosmos soundtrack

    • @MEKCreations
      @MEKCreations 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@tanya5322 Same.

  • @scaper8
    @scaper8 5 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    You mention his prodigy status, for those that haven't seen it, check out his 1957 appearance on _I've Got a Secret._ Specifically his discussion at the end. What he's essentially talking about working on is nothing short of modern LCD displays, super high resolutions, DVRs, etc. In 1957!

    • @8BitNaptime
      @8BitNaptime ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Also the Fusor....

  • @jali4000
    @jali4000 6 ปีที่แล้ว +142

    I think the fact there are as many people in the comments bitching that he gave Farnsworth too much credit as there are people bitching that he didn't give Farnsworth enough credit means he did a good job. Focus on the technology people, not the semantics of who did what first. I don't get where people saying he's a typical American who thinks his country invented everything are coming from. He has multiple videos about Baird, this video is specifically about ELECTRONIC television, and he mentions multiple times Farnsworth's design had it's flaws. It's not "American propaganda".

    • @chadd990
      @chadd990 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      You chose the right display picture

    • @skorpius752
      @skorpius752 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Well, the Brits have been shamelessly self-promoting over Baird's invention of mechanical television for a long time, even though it was mechanical television, a technological dead end. But this is why the term "electronic television" is a necessary modifier when talking about Farnsworth. I think a lot of people get confused by the difference between theoretician and applied scientist when looking at technological innovation. Then there are the people who make businesses that exploit the work of the other two (often unscrupulously).
      For example, most people think Edison was an inventor. He wasn't. He was just the guy with connections who exploited the work of others to make money.
      The theory behind the atomic bomb was developed, among others, by Einstein, a theoretician. It was developed by Oppenheimer and his team (applied scientists) and then capitalized upon by elements of the Military Industrial Complex, who brought us such fun things as the Cold War!

    • @Lawrence330
      @Lawrence330 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@skorpius752 As an engineering technologist, I wholeheartedly agree. You haven't "invented" anything until it actually works. Otherwise my idea book would make me a millionaire.

    • @DrLoverLover
      @DrLoverLover 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Who cares?

    • @jali4000
      @jali4000 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@DrLoverLover i definitely dont anymore

  • @campusto
    @campusto 7 ปีที่แล้ว +170

    The yarn demonstration was dope! :D Oh, and the blooper at the end! LMAO! You are awesome!

  • @nneeerrrd
    @nneeerrrd 7 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    Kudos for practical FX!

  • @ADHJkvsNgsMBbTQe
    @ADHJkvsNgsMBbTQe 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    The effort you go through to tell these yarns is amazing. You are to be commended for how you thread it all together and connect the dots.

  • @adnamamedia
    @adnamamedia 7 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    That little demonstration with the yarn is pretty cool

  • @TheWolvesCurse
    @TheWolvesCurse 5 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    3:23 english translation for the german word displayed: lightelectric image dissector/disassembly tube for televisions

  • @raydunakin
    @raydunakin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I like the way you animated yarn to represent the workings of the scanning beam.

  • @zp944
    @zp944 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    When I was a child, I used the high pitched noises from tube tvs to teach myself a sort of echolocation. As long as several tvs were turned on in my house, I could 'see' the whole house in 3 dimensions with my ears.
    I could 'see' doors opening and closing, or people moving around the house, based on the way those high pitched sounds were reflected or absorbed. I couldn't see behind closed doors, but I could 'see' a door open or close anywhere in the house, and I could 'see' anyone walking through the house and identify their location, based on the sound from the tvs. I could identify their size, their shape, their velocity, their direction, everything. I could tell the difference between my mom, my dad, and my sister, because they all scattered the sound differently.
    Dogs and cats, however, were very hard to 'see' this way.
    I also did this outside of the house, using the sound from transformers on electrical poles. They were few and far between, so it wasn't that useful. But I could tell where we were going as a child based on the transformers we passed, because they all had a slightly different sound. I couldn't tell you the name of the road, but I could describe the scenery in great detail around every transformer along the way. Well, everything within a 50ft radius, approximately.
    I literally saw a map in my head, of every object that reflected or absorbed that frequency. And I had a love/hate relationship with it growing up.
    On one hand, it was useful when indoors, occasionally. But, have you ever heard the sound of wind blowing through tall grass?
    Imagine hearing that sound, of the wind, the blades of grass bending and rubbing against one another. Then, imagine mapping that out in your brain as you're hearing it.
    A gentle breeze blowing across a field of grass is a beautiful thing, when you only see it with your eyes. Because when you're only using light, you see a single image.
    Imagine being consciously aware of a billion blades of grass, and the number of ridges on every single one of those blades. Imagine knowing where a billion blades of grass are at any given point in time, and also knowing where all those ridges on every blade are. How they're touching other blades. How thick they are, how tall they are, how far apart they are... Imagine 'seeing' all the insects flying around or crawling up and down the grass as it bends.
    Now, imagine tuning that out because you're just trying to live a normal life
    It was fucking maddening.
    I'm so, so thankful for digital technology.

    • @number1genoa
      @number1genoa 26 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Your description sounds like a mild form of Synsthesia ?

  • @Bou_Diran
    @Bou_Diran 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    that demonstration with the nintendo zapper and the yarn on the cardboard was absolutely fantastic. I truly wish more teachers shared your passion and creativity in the schools as i personally feel like it would have helped people (like me) to understand that taking the time to learn could be such an entertaining and rewarding activity rather than it being treated like a period of time i had been sentenced to serve backed up by punishment and threats rather than any attempt whatsoever to make it actually appeal to people or even be remotely digestible for kids.
    its not hyperbole for me to say most of my teachers 4-5 days of the week said a brief introduction to our assignments at the start of class, hand out the assigned curriculum or put it on the projector, then sat at their computer until class was over. I left school with the firm belief that other than a few shining exemptions of wonderful people that i will never forget scattered across the years, teachers were not people that went into that career for any reason other than to have a job where they got to sit inside and browse ebay and myspace for 90% of their time and/or to take out their bitterness on people that were under their small amount of power/control in the classroom.
    I'm thankful most people did not have the same experience as i did with school, but i've talked to plenty of people who DID have that experience. in fact, we were probably skipping 6th period to have a second lunch together because we saw more value in time spent doing nearly anything but staring at the clock, the punishments gave us couldn't be worse than the things we were avoiding.

    • @mapesdhs597
      @mapesdhs597 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Actually I suspect your experience is closer to the norm for the vast majority. In conversions I've had with numerous people since, I get the impression most end up in their preferred careers inspite of their state imposed schooling, not because of it. With regard to poor teaching, I saw a documentary long ago in which a woman stated that, since she was not very good at maths, she decided to become a maths teacher; she was entirely oblivious to the obvious contradiction (and I thought the old saying, "Those who can't do, teach!", was supposed to be a joke). There were and still are exceptions of course and likewise I was fortunate to come across a few during my school years in the 1980s, but far too many were no good at actually teaching, even if they knew the subject (knowing a thing isn't the same as being good at conveying it to others).
      One major problem of conventional schooling is the norm of organising everything based on age. This is done for the convenience of the system and teachers, not for the benefit of students, and as a result it induces social pressures whereby those of varying academic ability find themselves ostracised because they do not reside slap in the middle of the bell curve (it can be just as bad for those at the upper end of the bell curve as for someone at the lower, the latter typically denied the chance to explore vocational opportunities); a great deal of classroom bullying originates from this forced social mixing. In the real world, as adults, we make friends with others based far more on basic interests, career, humour, political leanings and other factors; age is of much lower consideration, ie. in that sense the social concept of a classroom is kinda weird. If children could progress through education based on their own pace of ability to learn then at least the above issue would be mitigated, though of course it would be replaced by different problems (perhaps one could set a limit to the age variability of a class, plus/minus two years or somesuch). Would it be better overall? I don't know, but so far no country has ever tried it AFAIK, and modern teaching unions would doubtless prevent any experimentation.
      It's worth noting that, a century or more ago, it was far more common for exceptional talent to come to fruition at a young age, precisely because smart kids of wealthy parents could move through private education very quickly. Go back further and it's not uncommon to find those who, as children of royal households (for example), learned multiple languages, sciences and other subjects because it was expected of them.
      What is lost today is encouraged potential. State systems churn out students who lack relevant analytical abilities (they don't know how to abstract) and who in many parts of the West today have been indoctrinated with collectivist politics; they then enter further education to be activists, not to learn anything useful and thus after graduation commence a career of productive effort that will help pay back the many tens of thousands spent on their upbringing.
      It is hard to raise people up to a higher standard, especially when our culture has become so infested with irrational notions of equality of outcome; far easier for the system to drag everyone down to the same low standard, with a great many teachers fully onboard with such ideas. This is especially bad for boys who naturally lean toward technical and creative subjects; they are, to quote Christina Hoff Sommers, treated as, "broken girls". For girls meanwhile, social media and the smartphone have turned school life into a nightmare landscape of stress, resulting in problems of suicide in many places.
      Schools do not teach meritocratic concepts, philosophy or ethics (topics which, decades ago, came naturally from the teaching of Greek and Latin, due to the nature of the source material, ie. the great minds and thinkers of ancient history); without these essential basics, a student's ability to think and reason based on facts and evidence is supressed, as is their capacity to comprehend how the real world of business and commerce works and why personal liberty is so important. How convenient then that state schools function the way they do, spewing out mindless zoids who can be easily manipulated by the media to endlessly vote for more state power and free stuff. As one person put it, these days it's possible for a student to leave further education dumber than when they started.
      Hence, my advice to any parent is to not rely on whatever mandated schooling their children have to endure (assuming they lack the resources to afford private education), teach their own children themselves as much as possible aswell. Almost everything relevant is available for free anyway. Parenting though has itself become a horribly corrupted thing, so many parents brainwashed into believing that both holding down 9-to-5s while their children attend propaganda prisons is quite normal, unaware that the destruction of the parenting norm has resulted in severely diluted wage growth. There are so many interconnected factors like this, many of which make the schooling experience for children worse. I discovered far too late that during my early to mid teens I did actually have other options in terms of learning, but the system in no way conveys these, the state doesn't want parents to know, plus of course the media maintains the perception that private education is bad. Nevertheless I did what I could to learn beyond what the school imposed, which was encouraged by some teachers but derided by others, one notorious response being from a physics teacher who wrote in my homework book, "You should not know this equation!", whereas a different physics teacher had quite the opposite stance, lending me his old uni notes and books on General and Special Relativity to read since I had already learned the topic the class was dealing with that particular week (nuclear power).
      I'll end with a caveat: a particular teacher's skill at imparting knowledge, and/or their willingness to encourage a student to learn beyond what is minimally necessary at a prescribed age, doesn't necessarily correlate with whether they were a nice person or not. The above former cited physics teacher was a nice guy, he just didn't see the merit in going beyond what was required to pass the exams. I did though have an interesting conversation with a maths teacher after an exam; talking about teaching in general, he said that many teachers do have a great deal of enthusiasm when they first enter the profession, but the nature of the system, indeed in part due to some the problems I cited above, end up with this passion for teaching drained away, especially if classes become too dominated by other issues such as problem students. In other words, state education systems based on age don't just limit or ruin a child's capacity to learn, they also erode away often to nothing a teacher's ability and desire to teach. A chemistry teacher told me he lost his passion for chemistry as a subject, since year after year he only needed to teach what were the basics, and was not allowed to go further in classes, though he did help me to a fair extent, often talking after class about my own crazy experiments at home.

  • @larssjodahl7660
    @larssjodahl7660 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I studied Engineering Physics for 6 years and I applaud your use of "this electron-slow-downy-thingy"!!! Too many "explainers" seem to like using difficult words for basically simple things. Also love your humour in these videos, how you inject humour while still keeping really interesting...

    • @number1genoa
      @number1genoa 26 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Agree, electron-slow-downy-thingy"!!! sounds better than electro modulated inertia retardation ( and I completly made that up :-)

  • @utah133
    @utah133 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Farnsworth was from my area, Utah and Idaho. He was a Mormon, incidentally. He was quite affected during the last part of his life by the patent disputes with RCA. It actually appeared to drive him to drink. RCA was ruthless, and intent on taking television for themselves.

    • @veilmontTV
      @veilmontTV 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It's always a shady businessman

  • @R0n8urgundy
    @R0n8urgundy 7 ปีที่แล้ว +121

    loved this even though I didn’t understand 98% of it.

    • @Lightblue2222
      @Lightblue2222 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Same here. But at the same time I can tell he's simplifying it as much as possible.

    • @mastwachtel6463
      @mastwachtel6463 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@Lightblue2222 Yeah we are just stupid I think.

    • @nevaeh9624
      @nevaeh9624 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Same😭

    • @ultrairrelevantnobody1862
      @ultrairrelevantnobody1862 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sometimes you have to watch a video multiple times before all of the pieces fall into place.

  • @thenerdmanual
    @thenerdmanual 7 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    Thanks for putting all the effort into these videos. I found you via the VHS vs Beta vid, and immediately subscribed. Definitely look forward to seeing more.

  • @jerryg50
    @jerryg50 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I worked in Television engineering since 1971. I am in my 70s now. When I got in to this field image orthogon tube cameras were phased out. I was working with plumbicon tube and some vidicon tube cameras. The circuitry was solid state at the time. I later on worked with CCD technology cameras.

  • @alexmoldovan8607
    @alexmoldovan8607 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Man... by far the best channel on TH-cam :)
    Loads of channels about tech but the way you explain and get into detail... thank you so much :)

  • @Sir_Uncle_Ned
    @Sir_Uncle_Ned 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I applaud your synchronization of stop motion and real-time footage

  • @FayteOfRuin
    @FayteOfRuin 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    You deserve a LOT more views! You're in the same vein as techmoan and LGR but explain things in much more detail and I love it.

  • @vorpaldoot7678
    @vorpaldoot7678 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    He may just be the inventor of the TV, but the name Philio Farnsworth is still undeniably awesome.

  • @brandonb3279
    @brandonb3279 7 ปีที่แล้ว +76

    Thank you so much for the amazing content. It's so refreshing and reassuring to see that in this age of dumbed-down rubbish that plagues almost every media outlet, there are still some passionate people dedicated to producing interesting, high-quality content. I love your videos and can't wait for more. You make the world a better place with your work, and I wish you all the success you deserve for it!

    • @soylentgreenb
      @soylentgreenb 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      What I particularly dislike is that a vast number of people would consider their understanding of how CRT colour television used to work quite good; and yet, if you asked them how they'd say something like "a red, blue and green electron beam scan the picture and paint it line by line" which is an incredibly shallow understanding.

    • @nealramsey4439
      @nealramsey4439 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Diddo!

    • @DrLoverLover
      @DrLoverLover 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Stop whining

    • @brandonb3279
      @brandonb3279 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@DrLoverLover Hnnnm. You're a rather prickly fellow, aren't you?

    • @official-obama
      @official-obama 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@soylentgreenb and incorrect! the data was transmitted like regular black and white television, and the black and white phosphors were substituted for red, green, and blue phosphors AFAIK

  • @xraptor10
    @xraptor10 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Thumbs up for the subtle Lion King reference.

  • @banderfargoyl
    @banderfargoyl 7 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    You get a lot more exercise with a mechanical television. But one of these days, I probably will get electricity. I guess it's not a fad.

  • @Gentleman_Songster
    @Gentleman_Songster 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Never mind Nipkow -- it's DIS-SECT with a short 'I'! Even the BBC gets this wrong, I'm sorry to say; it's confused with BI-SECT, which does have the long 'I'. Two S's or one S, you see.
    But never mind that: a great video, well-presented and succinctly narrated. And clearly enunciated -- I'm getting deaf in my old age, and your delivery is so much better than ... well, never mind who; no names. no pack drill, as we say over here. Proper subtitles too. Well done sir! I've only recently discovered your excellent channel, and I 'm working my through it in a semi-random sequence. (I'm in England, btw -- hence my dig at the BBC.)

  • @andrewedis9907
    @andrewedis9907 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Philo is an extremely underated scientists/physicists. His initial thought process behind having electrons in line's is pure genius.

  • @dstinnettmusic
    @dstinnettmusic 6 ปีที่แล้ว +68

    GOOD NEWS EVERYONE
    I’VE TAUGHT THE TOASTER TO FEEL LOVE

  • @DoctorNerdly
    @DoctorNerdly 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Farnsworth Ranch was actually in Rigby, Idaho. He moved to it as a boy and was fascinated by the fact it was wired for electricity. It was there that the famous field story took place and his original tubes are on display at Rigby High School.

  • @HighSEAL
    @HighSEAL 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You won the Futurama's fans hearts forever with this one mate, cheers!

  • @OhNotThat
    @OhNotThat 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    4:17 I was waiting the entire video for that moment. I knew it was coming.

  • @0x5D
    @0x5D 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The Zapper deserves to have a video made by you about it and how it is so intricately linked to CRT television technology.

  • @davidjbergman
    @davidjbergman 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    What a great explanation! Your visuals are absolutely amazing. The Nintendo gun with the electron gun was brilliant. You need your own TV show on the discovery channel. I remember when I was younger a British show called ‘the secret life of machines’. Your videos remind of that; a clear an easy to understand explanation. I know these videos take a lot of work and hope you keep them up.

  • @OtakuUnitedStudio
    @OtakuUnitedStudio 5 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Everybody talking about Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth on Futurama, and I'm sitting here thinking about Philo in Weird Al Yankovic's UHF.

    • @LeglessWonder
      @LeglessWonder 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      What if they're the same person, from different perspectives?

    • @nthgth
      @nthgth 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      THANK you.

    • @ZGryphon
      @ZGryphon 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      secrets ets ets ets ets
      of of of of
      the universe verse verse verse

    • @DrLoverLover
      @DrLoverLover 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ok Xoomer

  • @taffaboi84
    @taffaboi84 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    Man, your english is so good that doesn't need captions even for non english natives. Thanks!

  • @raafmaat
    @raafmaat 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Man, i really missed this channel! i love this kind of documentary style videos about old technology, keep them coming!

  • @mathewsoltan8487
    @mathewsoltan8487 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love your channel so much. You explain things in such a calm and focused way that just feels good to watch and listen.

  • @edgeeffect
    @edgeeffect 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That demo with the poster-board and the thread is brilliant. Science teachers from before the age of computer graphics probably agree with me too.

  • @JeremyWertheimerScience
    @JeremyWertheimerScience 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I loved the demo with the zapper gun and the yarn. If you listen really closely when the zapper gun is introduced, you can hear a 8-bit game sound. HAHA. great stuff!

  • @TEmery
    @TEmery 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    You tubes algorithms work so well I'm years late. Reading comments for channel recommendations works much better.

  • @mspysu79
    @mspysu79 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The Farnsworth Image Dissector was very insensitive to visible light, but it was super sensitive to infrared. In 1934 Fransworth used one of his cameras to televise an image of the moon to from the roof of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to a group of viewers seated inside an auditorium inside. This is possible because of the large amount of IR that the surface of the moon reflects.
    The Iconoscope tube found its most common use in early television film chain cameras, where light production is not an issue, as that is done by a film projector. It also found military use with a miniaturized version being used to make a television camera that was placed at the front of a radio guided glider or B-17 full of explosives.
    The Image Orthicon tube was made with two different target sizes in commercial use tubes 3" and 4.5". The 3" tubes where used in most Black And White cameras such as the RCA TK-30 and Marconi MK II, they where also used in sets of 3 in the RCA TK-41 series of color cameras. The 4.5" tubes where developed by RCA and English Electric Valve to help increase the resolution of the cameras and where used in the RCA TK-60 B&W 525/625 line camera and the Marconi MK VI 405/525/625/819 line capable (through ordering options) camera , these cameras produced the highest quality B&W images of any tube camera. The 4.5" tube was also used as a Luma (B&W) sensor for the infamous RCA TK-42/43 color cameras the color sensors where 3 small Vidicon tubes that had a special target chiller to increase the signal to noise ratio for the color channels.

  • @charleswilson101
    @charleswilson101 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    love your channel.As an ex BBC engineer from the early sixties.
    I later came to know most of the EMI engineers who developed the first HD TV( 405 lines) . Most of them became Chief Engineers of the new commercial stations in u.k. in the fifties They would have loved your videos.
    FYI.
    American NTSC( never twice same color) French SECAM ( something essentially different to American method) and then German PAL ( peace at last.)
    Maybe a video sometime on early history of video recording would be good.( Ampex,BBC, RCA, Fernseh and the Russian 4 inch tape version.
    Keep it up. I'm 81,and my eldest grandson (17) is also one of your fans.

  • @mxslick50
    @mxslick50 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Although born in Utah, Farnsworth was living in Rigby, Idaho during his teen and high school years...so the time of his invention took place in Rigby. There is a museum in Rigby with many fascinating artifacts there.

  • @Redspl
    @Redspl 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I couldn't belive that you've had only ~10k subscribers when i joined, and i still can't belive that you're on just 30k. Very nice content, easily explained, just keep it up :P

  • @BeoZard
    @BeoZard 7 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Farnsworth was only 15 when he worked out the principle of the image dissector and was 21 when he demonstrated his system to the public.

    • @bennoble3610
      @bennoble3610 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      On a farm nearly 100 years ago. Smart guy I guess.

    • @MetalAgainstMetallic
      @MetalAgainstMetallic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@bennoble3610 he had a lot of help from his high school science teacher.

  • @pritambissonauth2181
    @pritambissonauth2181 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Very creative video to explain the camera tubes which have been replaced by the CMOS and CCD detectors. Wish I had you explaining things to me when I was a kid, but I am older than you! I never really understood how the camera tubes worked until your video. Keep it up.

  • @H31MU7
    @H31MU7 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    that practical beam demonstration was amazing

  • @75aces97
    @75aces97 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks for this! As significant as television is, we don't discuss it very much. I can't even remember any documentary ON tv that details the invention of tv. Farnsworth is often credited as the inventor, but indeed, this is actually a merging of several technologies. Sort of like crediting.g any one person as the inventor of the computer.

  • @elimalinsky7069
    @elimalinsky7069 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I've been always told that the inventor of the television is John Baird. I guess he only invented the mechanical television, but since all TVs from the late 1930s until the early 2000s were cathode ray tube based, it is more logical to give the credit to the person who first came up with a practical CRT television.

    • @BaronVonQuiply
      @BaronVonQuiply 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I think you're correct in the same way that we don't really credit any ancient Greeks with invention of the industrial age, despite having the world's first steam engine.
      Different beasts entirely.

    • @krashd
      @krashd 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      To be fair you cannot invent an age.

    • @BaronVonQuiply
      @BaronVonQuiply 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@krashd I disagree. I fully plan to live past Eleventy Seven.

  • @drahkas8526
    @drahkas8526 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Pulling the yarn through the posterboard in your dissector demonstration makes SO MUCH more sense than my asinine idea of it being stop motion.

  • @Dedubya-
    @Dedubya- 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That's a great way to show how it worked, excellent!

  • @mrflamewars
    @mrflamewars 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    That is an absolutely brilliant practical demonstration. Probably the best I have ever seen on youtube. Take all my upvotes!

  • @paulpalumbo3196
    @paulpalumbo3196 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks for the new video! I've been stoked for more since I found your channel. Keep it up!

  • @mikeklaene4359
    @mikeklaene4359 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Alec, you have become much more sophisticated since 2017. Good work.

  • @rolfjohansen8764
    @rolfjohansen8764 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Farnsworth got his act together and became an expert in CRT television in the end

  • @ZeedijkMike
    @ZeedijkMike 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    So happy that I found your channel.
    Great videos with proper and good content.

  • @johnheraty3554
    @johnheraty3554 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video and thanks from a BBC engineer. You may want to do a video on the "British Eddison" Alan Dower Blumlein. Legend had it he invented interlace and greatly improved EMI Marconics 405 line system. After inventing stereo disc recording, figure of 8 microphones and "the long tailed pair".

  • @kd1s
    @kd1s 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Interesting about flying spot. Ma Bell used it when she was developing electronic switching systems. It was used for call store. Of course it proved cumbersome and ineffective so then she went to magnetic memory. And I gotta admit the demo for the detector was awesome.

  • @edgeeffect
    @edgeeffect 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'd forgotten your "flag of Japan" / "electron yarn" demo... this was one of the best visualisations of "science stuff" I've ever seen....

  • @JEMHull-gf9el
    @JEMHull-gf9el 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Gotta love those electron slow downy things.
    I always enjoy your videos. I look forward to whatever your next vid will be one!

  • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
    @lawrencedoliveiro9104 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another fun thing about the origins of “television” is the name, along of course with all the predictions that it would mean the end of society as we knew it. I remember a quote about it (which a quick search says came from someone named C P Scott): “The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it.”

  • @erez369
    @erez369 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    An excellent work full of relevant knowledge presented in a clear and flowing manner. Nice!

  • @neilbain8736
    @neilbain8736 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Like the research. Like the discussions. It's thorough. Lots to learn.

  • @gillesfabbri97
    @gillesfabbri97 ปีที่แล้ว

    Ooooh that foreshadowing about Vladimir Zworykin working at RCA, proud maker of the CED, chef's kiss, beautiful 👌👌

  • @cyndicorinne
    @cyndicorinne 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is an awesome description of an image dissector! I love the animation with the light gun.

  • @Ampera_
    @Ampera_ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Man, you should definitely do a video on the first television station in the world, W2XB. It still broadcasts today in my home town of Schenectady. If you wanted I could even get you some footage of a few sites in Schenectady like the GE building.

    • @Ampera_
      @Ampera_ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRGB Here's the Wikipedia article. It's definitely a source of interesting history, and started in early 1928, right around the start of this video, likely using some of the technology shown here.
      I believe the first public demonstration was at Proctor's Theatre, a VERY historic theatre that was only two years old at the time. This broadcast was of a conductor who was leading an orchestra three miles away. I have even performed myself on the exact same stage that this event took place.

    • @emmarose4234
      @emmarose4234 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      The GE complex in Schenectady has its own zip code: 12345! ❤️

  • @overtheworl
    @overtheworl 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    you had me at Lichtelektische Bildzerlegeröhre für Fernseher! greetings from that country

  • @mondasiancyberman1268
    @mondasiancyberman1268 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes! Always awesome getting a notification of a new video from ya!

  • @kainpwnsu
    @kainpwnsu 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    It's probably been said, but Farnsworth moved from Beaver, Utah to Rigby, Idaho before his farm idea. Rigby lays claim as "home of the television" and has a television museum.
    As for Beaver, they have a fantastic creamery offering a incredibly wide variety of cheeses and has the longest ice cream counter I've ever seen. This is an essential lunch stop when travelling between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
    You may have guessed I live in Utah or Idaho. They are beautiful states and definitely worth a visit, where can you can ski, golf, mountain bike, and ride world class rapids all in the same day.

  • @neverthere5689
    @neverthere5689 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    you get a million internet points for that diagram, duck hunt references and all. great stop motion

  • @MarceldeJong
    @MarceldeJong 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Where you have the Emmy awards for best TV shows (and your channel definitely deserves an award) and stuff, we in Europe have the Nipkow disc awards (pronounced nipkov)

  • @captaincef
    @captaincef 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your visual aid with the Light Gun was stellar!

  • @jgallantyt
    @jgallantyt 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I love the videos and love your visual aids. I would have liked some sample images of the picture produced by the different technologies if your could find any. That's just a bit of constructive criticism, otherwise A+, well done.

  • @familyguy0398
    @familyguy0398 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    I've always loved your videos and explanations. I'm your newest Patron! I hope my contribution helps!

    • @TechnologyConnections
      @TechnologyConnections  7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you so much! You contribution is sincerely appreciated, and I'm delighted you've found my content worthy of your support!

  • @seanc.5310
    @seanc.5310 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video! Loved the use of that old NES Light Gun to demonstrate the principal.

  • @estherwilliams8705
    @estherwilliams8705 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is very helpful for the to understand who invented the first electronic television

  • @GameOpsDevStyle
    @GameOpsDevStyle ปีที่แล้ว

    Hearing Philo Farnsworth's name always makes me think of a mashup between Philo Beddoe (Every Which Way You Can) and Hubert J Farnsworth, which amuses me.
    And more naming trivia - the name of the Australian television awards are "The Logies". This has probably been shared a bazillion times already.

  • @isejanus2714
    @isejanus2714 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for explaining. Now I understand why all the old timers I met from WPTZ in Philadelphia drank so much.

  • @rickynorris1985
    @rickynorris1985 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    I Just want to thank you for all of the wonderful entertainment you provide not just for me But any one who is in to Learning😎⚘⚘⚘🐝💐🕷🐒🐶🐩🦌🦄 thank you brother keep up the great work.

  • @bigyin2586
    @bigyin2586 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for correcting the title with your opening sentence. A mechanical TV is still a TV.

  • @therubicon
    @therubicon 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You went Futurama!! I had my money on Warehouse 13.

  • @chrisg7504
    @chrisg7504 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your practical effects are amazing.

  • @jwl9286
    @jwl9286 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wow! Those illustrations are fantastic!

  • @nigellovatt9982
    @nigellovatt9982 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Mate. The yarn scanning is pure genius.

  • @meisawesome12695
    @meisawesome12695 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    inCREDible visuals. I love your content so much and you've taught me so much about so many things I've always wondered about

  • @codywalz8555
    @codywalz8555 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Super late to the party...been binging this channel. I live about 5 miles away from where Farnsworth lived. Pretty rad.

  • @theladyfingers___
    @theladyfingers___ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    Outside of the US, the credit for "inventor of television" is nearly universally given to John Logie Baird, even if his system wasn't adopted, as he demonstrated the first transmission by radio.

    • @MichaelCasey1988
      @MichaelCasey1988 6 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      by outside you mean the U.K. lol I see you

    • @unvergebeneid
      @unvergebeneid 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Given how many incremental steps there were, this is probably one of those inventions like the telephone or the computer, where each and every country claims to have invented it and none of them are any more or less wrong than the others.

    • @batt3ryac1d
      @batt3ryac1d 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      My Great great grandfather.

    • @medes5597
      @medes5597 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Michael Casey nah, Europe and Asia both give Logie Baird the credit. Logie Baird is widely given credit outside of America (and UK schools tend to teach that Baird and Farnsworth did it together, whereas say the French, don't even mention Farnsworth's improvements and just cover Baird). It's very interesting in it's own little way.

    • @YTANDY100
      @YTANDY100 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Michael Casey
      thats how i view the world , theres the UK and then theres every where else :-)

  • @kevinsammut7246
    @kevinsammut7246 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    "Electron slow downy thing" I know it makes me a simpleton, but I find his older videos more relatable because of phrases like this.

  • @Asdayasman
    @Asdayasman 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I reached for the "Like" button three separate times in this video.

  • @snekdude6677
    @snekdude6677 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video bro. I think you're way underrated for what you do.

  • @lumabi25
    @lumabi25 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The interesting thing about television is that your idea of the inventor depends on where you grew up, but the fact is, many people around the world were working on it at the same time. What they told you at school wasn't the full story.

  • @DrPhy-od1do
    @DrPhy-od1do 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The duck hunt gn 😂 best part! Your awesome ! Great job very informative and easy to follow ! 10/10 for presentation !

  • @akkudakkupl
    @akkudakkupl 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    The fact of hitting an exposed part of the tube's screen also cleans your floor ;-)

  • @moparcasey3135
    @moparcasey3135 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Mind blown! Gonna have too watch that again! Love it!!

  • @MentorAnimations
    @MentorAnimations 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    That yarn example was amazing!

  • @kd1s
    @kd1s 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Oh and the CCD - that one has a fascinating history too. Bell Labs had it at one point, then Polaroid, Kodak, et al.

  • @organekd
    @organekd 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Interesting. While I know how a TV works as I had to learn how to repair them, interesting to hear a kind of history lesson. I do like the Vidcom tubes for b+w for their portability and simplicity.