The First Television Drama In 1928!

Here is a similar article with actual photos of the drama being made: • The First Television D...
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[@zeliardforty-two4692]

It’s amazing how far back things were invented to when they became household products

[@glennso47]

In the case of tv it was about 20 years (1928-1948)

[@wesinman2312]

My father was born in 1928. He was a radar tech in the Navy, and owned a TV repair shop when I was very young. He used to explain to us how they worked. Thanks for the great video.

[@The1920sChannel]

Disclaimer: I should have said it in the video, but the illustrations are not from the same article. The article read here had no illustrations, so I used other TV-related images. The article is from The Exhibitors Herald, September 1928, and the images are from Television News, July 1928. The photos shows a different model of television than the one used in making the drama read in the article. I didn't know enough about the technology to know how they are different from one another. Sorry to those who were confused. If you want a similar article that came with photos of the television drama being made, here is a link to a previous video of mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpaskItsiJWGadU

[@Zarkovision]

Later in the same year John Logie Baird started a television service from BBC transmitters in London, which could be picked up all over Europe. In the same year als in Germany official tests with crude 30 lines pictures started. In the USA several dozen experimental services started after that, quickly improving the resolution from 24 lines via 30 lines to 48 lines up to 60 lines in 1932. In 1934 it was clear that with the CRT much higher resolutions were possible, so almost everywhere those early experimental stations disappeared until fully electronic television was possible. Germany started in 1935 with 180 lines their official television service, the UK one year later with 405 lines and 240 lines, but very soon switched completely to 405 lines, Germany followed with 441 lines in 1938, which also became the prewar standard in the USA. So it took only 10 years from the first experimental TV to a fully working "HD" standard. If there wasn't the war, it would have been very likely that we would have used 441 lines until the end of the 20th century, before real HD was introduced. So we used the massive development and improvements from the war years to establish new standards which are valid for SD until today.

[@kurtb8474]

Baird is my namesake. I was delighted to hear that it was a Baird that played a part in the pioneering of television. I have always been fascinated by TV, and video in general, since I was a boy. I began working in the field of TV and video about 30 years ago.

[@vladtepes481]

Charles Francis Jenkins (USA) and John Logie Baird (UK) were early mechanical television pioneers. They began experimental broadcasts in the 1920. Baird made mechanical television broadcasts beginning in 1930 with the BBC. Jenkins and Baird transmissions were over the air. Resolution was about 30 lines. NTSC electronic analog TV was 525 lines

[@vladtepes481]

I forgot to mention that I have watched 30 line television. It seems better than you might think but nowhere near modern digital television.

[@Arcademan09]

Would you ever consider covering cartoons from this era? There's an older WB cartoon, Little Blabbermouse, that has mice taking a tour of a general store and there were so many items shown off that I had zero clue what it was

[@chrisrj9871]

Do you have a link or a name?

[@Arcademan09]

@@chrisrj9871 I edited to include the names it's Little Blabbermouse from 1940

[@chrisrj9871]

@@Arcademan09 - You might try some animation channels like Anthony's Animation Talk; they might have covered that cartoon or will soon. If this channel does cover animation, it's most likely going to be of the 1920s like Koko the Clown or Steamboat Willie.

[@steveyoungwork]

On March 25, 1925, Baird gave the first public demonstration of televised silhouette images in motion, at Selfridge's Department Store in London.

[@carmelbrain7399]

And here we are nearly 100 years later

[@inthemouthofmadness5910]

It is so interesting to see how technology was back in the 1920s. Even though I did not live in the 20's, it is my favorite decade to study.

[@coolaunt516]

Television may have developed sooner if not for the Depression and then the materials needed for WWII. TV in the US started to gain traction after the war ended.

[@Muonium1]

Probably, but the jet engine, radar, and nuclear energy would've then been developed much later!

[@techietypex]

Actually, television development was accelerated during WWII. Television guided drones were used during the war. More importantly, wartime developments in radar, VHF and general electronic technology contributed to jump starting the TV explosion after the war.

[@scottlarson1548]

@@techietypex Additionally, the quality of vacuum tubes increased greatly during WW2. Before that they were only used in radio receivers, radio transmitters, and some audio amplifiers. As long as the customer could hear something coming out of the speaker a tube was considered acceptable. Radar required tubes to have precise qualities over a wide range of frequencies and voltages to produce an accurate image on the screen. They were now being used in aircraft in wide temperature ranges so tolerances had to be increased to prevent drift. All these improvements made televisions in the 1950s look pretty good.

[@OLD_SOUL1900]

Me being a lover of the past, I find this channel to be superb! Every time that I watch one of your videos I learn something- not only new, but most interesting. This one did not disappoint! And while I am a '30s lover overall, I value, appreciate, and enjoy the '20s and times before as we need the past in order to have the future 🤣 Anyhow, I wanted to say my thanks for your channel and more folks need to get the facts straight! GOOD DAY TO YA!

[@Wildmutationblu]

Fantastic detail in this video. Who'd have thought that tv's would become so popular many years later. I couldn't live without one. Could you possibly make a video on the blues singer Blind Blake?

[@randomguy1769]

I love your videos, but I'm a little confused for this one. The article you read mentions a 24-hole disk being part of the transmitter and a neon lamp in the receiver. Both are elements used in mechanical television. Based on the diagram, however, it looks like they used an early version of Philo Farnsworth's cathode ray tube for the receiver, and something like an image dissector tube in the camera. Did the diagram accompany the original article?

[@Zarkovision]

It's mechanical, using oscillating mirrors, the effect if you swing a torch fast, it produces a line of light at the wall. If you would use mirrors, which can do that much faster, you would only need one spinning to move the light beam from the neon-lamp from the left to the right, and another one, much slower, from up to down, going a bit lower, after the light beam reached the right end of the line. BTW a system quite similar to modern DSP video projectors. That's where the circle closes from mechanical TV to electronic TV back to half mechanical TV.

[@The1920sChannel]

No, the original article didn't have any illustrations, and I've had complaints before when I didn't have some kind of pictures. The article is from the September 22, 1928 issue of "The Exhibitors Herald" and the photos are from the July 1928 issue of "Television News." Sorry if that mismatch was confusing.

[@roberttelarket4934]

Shocking an actual program on a t.v. in 1928.

[@Kennephone]

There's a film documenting the broadcast that shows the studio during the performance.

[@kurtb8474]

Thanks for posting this. I have had a fascination with TV and video since I was a boy. I have been working in that field since the early 90s. I have an AS degree in Mass Communications. The development of television is of special interest to me and I have always tried to educate myself on the early days of it's development. The idea for television can be traced all the way back to the 1890s. John Logie Baird is my namesake and I'm delighted that a Baird was involved in the pioneering of it. I was not aware of this part of the development of TV and it is quite fascinating. Thank you.

[@roberttelarket4934]

Some time indeed until . . .

[@sifridbassoon]

fascinating!

[@Houndini]

Before my time but in WV we didn’t have TV until like 1957. I remember in 1967 going to top Mt. Adjust TV antenna just to watch TV on Weekends. 1st wind storm turn antenna again no TV.

[@Muonium1]

Confusingly, the narrated text describes a Nipkow disk and neon lamp based electromechanical image transmission system of the impractical and doomed to failure Logie Baird type, but the illustrations clearly depict a much more modern purely electronic system where the only moving things are beams of electrons.

[@randomguy1769]

I just looked it up. The pictures are from the article "Vacuum Cameras to Speed Up Television" on pages 22-23 of Radio News magazine, July 1928.

[@The1920sChannel]

Yes, the original article didn't have any pictures, so I had to scramble to find some that were somewhat relevant.

[@Muonium1]

​@@The1920sChannel I'll allow it ^_^

[@The1920sChannel]

@@Muonium1 Thanks :)

[@michaelmcgee8543]

Imagine this is when talkies were begun at movie theaters.

[@lisachauvin5009]

❤❤😂❤awesome. 😊

[@2nostromo]

Still waiting for anything decent to watch on television

[@BaronVonPurp]

Moving pictures? That'd never take off! It would scare folks right off of their seats!

[@Zebred2001]

It'll neva woik I tell ya!

[@royblair-rl2lf]

I still say it's just a fad.

[@glennso47]

Especially if you consider the horror stories! 😈

[@glennso47]

In the movie The Passion of the Christ a young Jesus, while in Joseph’s carpenter shop, is making a table for someone who wants to sit in a chair. His Mother says “It’ll never take off!” 😂

[@roberttelarket4934]

How many people had a primitive television set in the U.S. say 10 out 100,000,000!

[@randomguy1769]

I just looked up the picture you used. I hate to say it, but the illustrations don't go with the article you read. The pictures are from the article "Vacuum Cameras to Speed Up Television," on pages 22-23 of Radio News magazine, July 1928.

[@The1920sChannel]

Yes, the original article didn't have any photos or illustrations, and I knew that would cause complaints, so I had to use some TV-related pictures from around the same time period

[@MoeLarrycurly1]

Neetoo

[@brodeyleembruggen9910]

🕰️🕺🏼🛋️🕴🏻📺

[@graphosxp]

❤💯👍

[@jasonblalock4429]

So the show was two framed talking heads against a totally white void, with hard cuts to their hands and objects being manipulated, but no masters or shots of any other body parts. That sounds like something you'd find in an experimental 60s French film, but here they stumbled onto "avant garde" filmmaking just through tech limitations. Funny!