During World War II, John Logie Baird worked mostly from his secluded private laboratory at Crescent Wood Road near Crystal Palace in South London. It was here that some of his greatest achievements in television took place.
With the requisition in 1939 of Baird Television ( based at Crystal Palace ) to aid the war effort, JLB concentrated on the development of The Telechrome, the worlds first all electronic colour television, and a secret high speed facsimile television signalling system for Cable and Wireless. This was a system that could send up to 25 high resolution images per second, and offered the Military and the RAF the ability to deliver maps and documents rapidly and in complete secrecy. It was years ahead of its time.
JLB also developed 3D / stereoscopic viewing systems that incorporated The Telechrome. One system required the use of special lenticular glasses that would be familiar with viewers today. The other required no glasses and is known as ‘volumetric imaging’. Baird’s patents in this field are cited as ‘prior art’ in many countries, and remain the bedrock upon which todays advanced colour imaging systems are built.
Professor Malcolm Baird grew up at Crescent Wood Road until he was evacuated to Cornwall with his mother and sister at the outbreak of war.
This is his first return visit since his father died in 1946.
#TelevisionCentury #johnlogiebaird
About the JLB Digital Archive:Between 1994 and 2002, over 30 hours of historic eyewitness interviews were filmed for the documentaries ‘Tv is King’ [ Royal Television Society Award] and the widely praised ’JLB The Man Who Saw the Future’.
Most of those interviewed either knew or worked closely with JLB. Few had previously been interviewed previously and this archive includes their only known testimony. Interviewees include; German Television Pioneer - Professor Manfred Von Ardenne, Founder of the Voice of America - Donald Flamm, Personal Assistant to JLB 1933-39 - Paul Reveley, and Physicist Gilbert Tomes who helped JLB deliver The Telechrome as well as television components for Collusus.
Central to the archive is the testimony of Professor Malcolm Baird, the inventors son, filmed at many of the key locations in his fathers story. Including; Helensburgh, Bude, Frith Street, Lord Acre, Crystal Palace, Hastings and Bexhill. As funds allow, it is the intention to make all of this historic material publicly available for the first time ahead of the Centenary of Television which falls in October 1925, and marks John Logie Baird’s laboratory breakthrough with television in Frith Street, London.
Do please subscribe if you would like to know when further footage is added to The JLB Digital Archive.
Sermons Soap and Television’ the autobiography of John Logie Baird has now been revised and updated by Malcolm Baird and is available from Birlinn Books as ’Television and Me’ :
birlinn.co.uk/...]
To find out more about events to mark 100 years of Television, please visit:www.bairdtelev...
8 сен 2024
