BBC television's 75th birthday
75 years since the second November 1936, is the world's first high definition TV service is performed.
A major event, but the road was rocky, with corporate uncertainty, government intervention, many egos and a race against the clock.
Eventually Alexandra Palace elected option to make history.
The location was chosen primarily because of its location, high above London, but also because the project's timeframe.
With only 18-month period, it was considered cheaper, easier and faster to convert an existing building than to build new.
And then "Ally removable '- as it was called an early television performer Gracie Fields - with its extraordinary television tower, the iconic visuals of 1930 TV.
Broadcast battle
So ran the TV. Two competing systems of television will be tested in a period of six months in two different studies.
In study A, the Marconi-EMI system, fully electronic on line 405th
It had the advantage of being flexible: three cameras can be assigned and, most important, the cameras can be moved on wheeled dollies to follow the action and close-ups, guaranteed.
Studio B housed the Baird 240-line system (invented by John Logie Baird), an essentially mechanical system, far fewer in number and capacity.
Live announcements were made from a narrow "spotlight Studio" head and shoulders of the announcer scanned with an intense beam of light.
Physically uncomfortable for the Presenter, but also used a very slow form of television (the Intermediate Film Technique for connoisseurs).
In this system. Film into a processing tank of cyanide, where it was developed, a television picture, only 58 seconds later
Test Run
The official opening was the second november 1936th
After the toss of a coin, was the pilot program first aired on the Baird system and then after a short pause, the program was done again to live the Marconi-EMI system.
So half of the BBC television program was the first to repeat.
Within three months after the decision to go with Marconi-EMI system was created and Baird studio at Alexandra Palace was closed.
Baird was the best of propagandists for the new innovation of television, but as Rebecca West said of him that he was "doomed to the man who sows the seeds, but not yield of the harvest."
Three years later, the first September, 1939 World War II loomed, and the staff at Alexandra Palace were instructed to turn off the transmitter and close the service for the duration.
The last program was seen in the sky was a Mickey Mouse cartoon when TV service, reopened on 7 June 1946 its first program was the same cartoon.
This was followed the next day with a large outside broadcast of Victory Parade on the first anniversary of victory in Europe.
Moving Out
BBC television was almost two original studio at Alexandra Palace.
Additional studies were delivered at Lime Grove television and theater in West London and then in 1949 the BBC purchased a 13.5 acre site in White City for a future "Television Centre".
News moved to Alexandra Palace in 1954 for ten years and in 1970, it had recently launched the Open University to base its program until 1981.
Thirty years later and 75 years after television began, many of the original structure is still there and is now the oldest surviving example of a television station anywhere in the world.
The men and women who worked there took the TV from a scientific novelty and place it firmly on the path to the most powerful communication medium in the 20th century.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the scientists, engineers, production teams and artists who gave us such a wealth of entertainment, information and education for the last three quarters of a century.
Singer Helen McKay took part in trial broadcasts ahead of the official launch
A major event, but the road was rocky, with corporate uncertainty, government intervention, many egos and a race against the clock.
Eventually Alexandra Palace elected option to make history.
The location was chosen primarily because of its location, high above London, but also because the project's timeframe.
With only 18-month period, it was considered cheaper, easier and faster to convert an existing building than to build new.
And then "Ally removable '- as it was called an early television performer Gracie Fields - with its extraordinary television tower, the iconic visuals of 1930 TV.
Broadcast battle
So ran the TV. Two competing systems of television will be tested in a period of six months in two different studies.
In study A, the Marconi-EMI system, fully electronic on line 405th
It had the advantage of being flexible: three cameras can be assigned and, most important, the cameras can be moved on wheeled dollies to follow the action and close-ups, guaranteed.
Studio B housed the Baird 240-line system (invented by John Logie Baird), an essentially mechanical system, far fewer in number and capacity.
Live announcements were made from a narrow "spotlight Studio" head and shoulders of the announcer scanned with an intense beam of light.
Physically uncomfortable for the Presenter, but also used a very slow form of television (the Intermediate Film Technique for connoisseurs).
In this system. Film into a processing tank of cyanide, where it was developed, a television picture, only 58 seconds later
Test Run
The official opening was the second november 1936th
After the toss of a coin, was the pilot program first aired on the Baird system and then after a short pause, the program was done again to live the Marconi-EMI system.
So half of the BBC television program was the first to repeat.
Within three months after the decision to go with Marconi-EMI system was created and Baird studio at Alexandra Palace was closed.
Baird was the best of propagandists for the new innovation of television, but as Rebecca West said of him that he was "doomed to the man who sows the seeds, but not yield of the harvest."
Three years later, the first September, 1939 World War II loomed, and the staff at Alexandra Palace were instructed to turn off the transmitter and close the service for the duration.
The last program was seen in the sky was a Mickey Mouse cartoon when TV service, reopened on 7 June 1946 its first program was the same cartoon.
This was followed the next day with a large outside broadcast of Victory Parade on the first anniversary of victory in Europe.
Moving Out
BBC television was almost two original studio at Alexandra Palace.
Additional studies were delivered at Lime Grove television and theater in West London and then in 1949 the BBC purchased a 13.5 acre site in White City for a future "Television Centre".
News moved to Alexandra Palace in 1954 for ten years and in 1970, it had recently launched the Open University to base its program until 1981.
Thirty years later and 75 years after television began, many of the original structure is still there and is now the oldest surviving example of a television station anywhere in the world.
The Marconi-EMI system was selected over
rival technology from John Logie Baird
The men and women who worked there took the TV from a scientific novelty and place it firmly on the path to the most powerful communication medium in the 20th century.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the scientists, engineers, production teams and artists who gave us such a wealth of entertainment, information and education for the last three quarters of a century.
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