January 13, 1928…America’s First Public Television Demonstration
January 13, 1928…America’s First Public Television Demonstration
On this day in 1928, Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gave the first public demonstration of mechanical television in the U.S., from General Electric’s lab in Schenectady NY.
Farnsworth would demonstrate his electronic version in September of this year, and Francis Jenkins had done this in Washington DC in June of 1925, but as a “Shadowgraph” broadcast; in which only silhouettes of actors in front of a white screen were shown, as resolution was so low. In this 24 line demonstration, facial features could be seen, but barely. By September, W2XB was using 48 line resolution when “The Queen’s Messenger” was broadcast.
The Alexanderson Generator, which enabled long distance radio communication was the reason RCA was formed, and both RCA and CBS used his GE mechanical camera when the first began television experiments.
At the link is a good look at what he achieved, with some interesting images, including a New York Times front page story from January 14th, 1928 on this demonstration. -Bobby Ellerbee
Hard to imagine, yet true…a year after the advent of “talkies”, television is conceived. Wow !
This is the 1925 Jenkins “Shadowgraph” broadcast.