TRIAL OF TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 282, 2 December 1935, Page 10

TRIAL OF TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT

Progress in England

Television entertainment is ahead) a Commonplace tor thousands ol radio enthusiasts living within the Inuits ot Greater London. Alter accumulaiiuseveral years oi experience iu building and transmitting thirty-line television programmes, the British Broadcasting Corporation has launched its programme of expansion, which brings into prominence the foremost radio intei ssts in Europe and America. The variety ol entertainment and »pot new casts is ol such great public interest that the desire lor home receivers is increasing daily. Lactones are now turning out television receivers which answer all the specifications laid down by the British General Po&t Office. When the production machinery is running smoothly, a home television received of high definition will cost no more than iJU dol. t it is expected. The British Broadcasting Lorporation has admitted two companies in the field, both linked to Auientau television interests. The Baird television Company uses the electron camera patented by the Farnsworth television Company of the United States, while the Jlaiconi Television Company is closely linked with the Radio Corporation ot America, and plans to use the “iconoscope,” or eleetrnal scaunei. produced by Dr. Zworykin. lhe scope ot Britain’s television service will soon expand to take in movies as well a> home entertainment. For the last six months Baird engineers have been working on a system for reprodu- ing television irnag* on full->rz.e moving picture house screens. This movie service is made possible by a method which allows the moving picture projection room to receive tel« vision images direct from some outside source. These images are immediately impressed or develop on him which runs through the regulation projector Trials have already been conducted b»* tween Crystal l’ala< v and a London, moving picture house. I his movie | service will be entirely different iron* that which is broadcast to the homes. It will place pictures of definition before movie audiences, and it is tx-j pected, thereby, greatly to iwruuo the revenue of moving picture exhibitors 1 44 This new development,** .«•<! Cap j ( tain A. G. D. West, technical director! t>f the Baird Company, ••will bring tele . vision of news events in all the cinemaand will result in enonno isly increased. | revenue for them. It may. in fart, revolutionise movie . entertainment. Only, a few years ago the movies were revo , lutionised by the advent of talking pic I tures. Within the next twelve month- ' we shall see a further revolution in the advent of television to the cinema. I 4 4 Instead r.f crowding around a loud ; ■peaker to hear the result of the Derby as has been done in the past, penpl. will be able to go to their local theatre ; and see the advent as it happens. Not I only will day events be dealt with in , this manner, but any night event will ; be screened exactly in the same fashion .

“With our system -f interlaced scan ning,” said an official of the Marconi Company, “we make not only a picture of much higher definition, but one which is entirely free from flicker; the number of pictures is equivalent to per second. The electric television -•aimer has all-round application foi -tudio, film and outdoor work. We have -ecured perfect television pictures id driving rain and dull weather. Several electric eyes’ can be used on the same movie set, so that we can play tricks that are probably beyond the scope of >hr ordinary cinematograph camera.’’ As the supreme authority for British broadcasting, the British General Office has set up a supervising television committee. On the advice of the • oinmittee, the new television service is intended to be a free proving ground ior any inventor who has a worth-while device to try out. All television receivers manufactured lor Great Britain have the capacity to receive either on 240 or 4(JG lines. The transmission is on the wave band between six and seven metres. In order that the public and unbiased engineers may decide the merits of 210 and 405-line transmission, the committee has decided to have alternate broadcasts ol the. two definitions. One day, transmission will he on 240 lines, and the next day on 405 lines. The transmitters are under the same roof at Alexandra Palace, and their building was financed by the radio licence feci paid by radio fans. It costs about 12 6 to licence a home radio set in the British Isles. This fee ma\ be increased as television develops. For the time being, a television receiver max be installed in the home without additional cost. lhe highdefinition service in England makes it possible lor fan- to receive pictures that are as clear and contrasting as the best printed pictures This picture I size is now about 12 indies square, hut I it is easily possible tn enlarge this with I a magnifying glass. I The quality of reception on one of the ’■.ld television receivers is equivalent to (the moving picture definition in the year 11’10. This transmission is only 30 lines, of course, and by comparison I \ith 2ln lines of 4«>5 lines is it quite irnide. But even about the crude television transmission there are some re- | markable features. First of all, the television camera, like the movie camera, gives an excellent idea of perspective. I But it goes even beyond the movie [camera when it comes to giving an ob- ; :ort relief, or a third dimension. A face •does appear flat, but one actually -•»es it in spherical contour. The teleision performers make up quite elaborately. They paint their faces a ghastly [white, using black lines for wrinkles. |But with 240 or 405-line transmission |very little make-up is necessary, and • their faces appear quite natural. i And the sound part of television broadcasting is as successful as soqnd i vith moving pictures has been.