Television May Be As Common As The Radio In The Home

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 58, 28 February 1949, Page 8

Television May Be As Common As The Radio In The Home

The scientific wonder of seeing as well as hearing by wireless, halted during the war, is well into its magic stride again, and there are now about 100,000 homes in Britain with television sets, enjoyed by perhaps 400,000 “viewers.” Television from the Alexandra Palace first startled the world in 1936; it was closed down in 1939, and began again in 1946. A fascinating review of its subsequent development is given in Eye of Britain, issued by the 8.8. C. The actual process of television begins with the Emitron camera, the electric eye which turns light into varying electric currents. Then many other devices, amplifiers, correctors, generators, mixers and modulators, and, of course, the lofty television transmitter itself, come into play; and finally—'at the speed of lightning—the television receiver shows the moving picture on our screen in perfect unity with the sounds accompanying it.Television is far from being limited to shows broadcast from studios. The 8.8. C. has teams of Outside Broadcast units, and, during the past year these have brought before the eyes of thousands seated quietly, yet eagerly, within their own homes many great events, including, of course, the Olympic Games. Yet all this is only a beginning. This year the number of viewers will be increased when a second 8.8. C. television transmitter is epened at Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham. Indeed, the day cannot be far off when a home without this window on the world will be as exceptional as one today with no wireless set.