Restoring Baird's Image

by Lee & Jay Elvin

Overview

In the late 1920s, John Logie Baird - considered to be the inventor of television - was experimenting with 'phonovision' in which he attempted to record television signals onto gramophone discs. His efforts were mostly unsuccessful and this technology largely forgotten, until the 1980s when Don McLean came across the discs and set about restoring them with modern computer-based techniques. The recovery of these images gives us a fascinating glimpse of what the earliest television was like (before official TV services started). As well as helping to explain a poorly understood period of television history, this unique book sheds new light on the activities of John Logie Baird and the definition and invention of television itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780852967959
Publisher:	The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Publication date:	09/07/2000
Series:	History of Technology Series
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. As Others See Us
2. Distant Vision
3. The Path to Television
4. Phonovision
5. Restoring Vision
6. Discoveries
7. Television Develops
8. It's All in the Groove
9. Capturing the Vision
10. Revising History
Annex: Derivation of Aspect Ratio from Arc-scanning
Bibliography: Author's Comment; Recent Publications on Early Television; Signal Processing; Image Processing; Television and Video Recording Systems;
Historical Television Books; Biographies of John Logie Baird; Author's Publications
Index

Editorial Reviews

Baird, a British television pioneer, experimented with video recording on gramophone discs in the late 1920s. McLean (a consultant) has restored the surviving "Phonovision" discs and, using computer techniques reminiscent of an archaeological dig, has revealed the images on the discs and uncovered details of how the recordings were made. McLean also restored amateur recordings of the BBC's 30-line Television Services (1932-1935), providing a glimpse at what viewers were then watching. This book helps explain this period in television history. Illustrated with historic photographs, it sheds light on the achievements of Baird, the development of video recording, and the definition and invention of television itself. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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