TWO-WAY TELEVISION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 211, 20 August 1934, Page 7

TWO-WAY TELEVISION

Use With Telephone SPEAKERS SEE EACH OTHER A type of two-way television, which enables both parties holding a telephone conversation to see as well as to hear each other, is ready for public demonstration at the Chicago fair. The inventor of this equipment .believes lie has found something for which television engineers have been seeking for the past several years. His device is having its first public demonstration at the exhibit of the Television Exhibits Corporation, with which the inventor, Mr. Armando Couto, is connected. World's Fair visitors, for a nominal charge, will be able to enter individual telephone booths, hold a short telephone conversation >and visualise, on a small screen in front of them, the fare of the person to whom they are talking. That is. of course, provided they are talking to someone in a booth across the aisle, because as yet the device has not been installed over long distances. Mr. Con to soou hopes to have it installed between downtown Chicago and a suburban point to demonstrate its practicality for long distance use. He believes it will eventually help revolutionise the telephone and that it can be used over distances of several thousands of miles eventually. Giving a. special demcnslrnlion of the equipment prior to opening it to the public Mr. Couto entered one booth and the visitor another about 10 feet away. In side, everything was dark except for a small red light shining through the wall, dimly revealing four large, shinv reflectors. Tins was the “Sending” apparatus for picking up the image of the occnp: nt of the 'o' th and carrying it to the other booth. Ju the centre of the wall facing the door was a small screen, four by four inches, for projecting the imago to be “received.” Then, as Mr. Couto’s voice was heard over tlio telephone, his face was becoming clearer in the little frame. ,Soon it w;is quite clear. “Hello,” he said. “You uro one of the very first persons to be televised by tho new two-way television equipment we have here. Now, can you see me? I can see yon quite clearly. “This equipment.,” he went on, “has been made possible by a new disc which I have developed. The public does not generally, and cannot be expected to, fully understand the operations of. television, so to be brief I will only say that my new disc is one which picks up and reproduces different images at Hie same tiiue. 1 call it a duplex-scanning disc, because it performs both operations.” Taking the visitor Io tho conirol room he displayed his new' disc, which is a revolving shiny metal plate soar.' 20 or more inches in diameter. Near the outer edge are 45 small pinlmles at frequent intervals. Forming an inner circle are 45 larger holes will: lenses about a half inch across. The smaller holes are the ones which pi"i< un the imag". as the disc : .wolves, ;ml flii» larger holes, with the lenses hi them, are tho ones which reproduce the image coming from tho other booth. Television is being demonstrated daily 'to large audiences in the Tele vision Exhibits Corporation Theatre in the Electrical Building.