The Future of Broadcasting and Television

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 40, 20 April 1928, Page 16

The Future of Broadcasting and Television

Dr. de Forest Discusses the Radio Possibilities

Radio listeners will be interested in the following article on the Future of Broadcasting and Television broadcast recently from station WRNY, New York, in dialogue form between Dr. Lee de Forest and the Editor of the "Radio News." Dr. de Forest is a notable inventor whose opinions carry much weight. .

versity’? series of Station WRNY, broadcast on Jannary, 11, 1928, Dr. Lee de tae} + lorest was interrogated by eee the editor of ‘Radio News’ on a number of radio subjects. The entire interview is published, wer batim. Mr. Gernsback: The questions which I am going to ask you to-night, Doctor de Forest, are put to you in such a way as perhaps the man in the street would put them to you, if he had- the opportunity, or, may I say, the good fortune to speak lo you. I shall try and make the questions as simple as possible; because you appreciate that, per haps, not all of our listeuers are technically inclined, and few can know all the technicalities. ‘he first question is: "What do you consider the greatest Step in radio progress for the year 1927 ?" Dr. de Forest: Mr. Gersback, before

I answer that and the following ques-| tions, I want to say to the radio andi ence, that my remarks to-night will not be too technical. From the tenor of the questions which are being proposed to me, I am talking in strictly radio technical matters; but I trust that I will use language that those really interested in radio will understand. Now, in answer to your first question, T con sider that the most important radio developments in 1927 come under the heads of the rapid elimination of ‘‘A"’ and "B’" batteries for radio receiving sets, aud the progress in the development of short-wave-length broadcasting. Great progress has also been made during the past year in the simplification and standardisation of tuning devices; so much so that, for all local work, the single-dial coutrol, even thongh this may operate three or four condensers, gives fine selectivity and adewate volume. The DX fan still wants dividual-stage control with vernier condensers; but the great mass of radio listeners, who now overwhelmingly preponderate in and around our larger tities, are rapidly becoming educated to the fact that the very best they can obtain of radio anywhere comes from nearby stations. Therefore the extreme accuracy in tuning each individual R.F. amplification stage, in order to pick up with maximum volume long-distance stations, uo longer appeals as it did. Mr. Gersback: ‘hank you, Doctor. Another question: wes What are your views on the present broadcast art? Dr. de Forest: It is a source of immeasurable gratification to me to observe the very marked increase in the quality of musical programmes now being broadcast, as compared with that of two years, or even one vear ago. This is’ particularly noticeable on Sundays; a lover of good music may then listen to his radio for hours at a time, and hear nothing but music of the highest order. ‘'o-day’s radio is abundantly making good my prediction of many years

ago, that radio would be instrumental, as no other institution of man’s creation possibly could be instrumental, in a rapid deyelopment of the .public’s taste for good music. Countless thousands are now educated to hunt for and genuinely appreciate a type of music, of which five years ago they were entirely ignorant, or under no conceivable condition would trouble themselves to] hear. This cultural influence of radio is cumulative, uccelerative. I have no doubt that, five years from now, most of the cheap jazz and mediocre music which the public now enjoys will be as distasteftl in the United States as it has always been among the more cultured and music-loving peoples of Europe. Mr. Grensback: That probably answers the next question, which I shall put to you, anyhow. In what directions do vou think pre= sent broadcasting should or can go?

What are your views? Dr. de Forest: ‘hat calls for a somewhat more technical answer. As to the technical developments awaiting us in 1928, I am sure that great strides will he made in the matter of improved quality of reproduction. The better type of console radio with built-in loudspeakers, particularly the higher-priced ones with phonograph combined, will be more and more in demand. And as prosperity becomes more widely distributed, and particularly as the educative influence of tadio, above mentioned, works its indirect benefits, more and more will discard their cheap ‘‘noise-boxes’"’ in favour of more expensive and properlydesigned amplifiers and loudspeakers. Much progress will be made in 1928 in the field of broadcasting with short wavelengths below 50 metres; but it will take more than one year to iron out successfully the intricate difficulties involved in building reliable receivers for operating on such short waves. It will be a long and slow process of infiltration that short-wave broadcasting must undergo before it can invade, to any large degree, the popularity which the present range of broadcasting channels now enjoys. Mr. Gernsback: Dr. de Forest, you probably read a few days ago, that Harry Lauder said he would .never broadcast. He said the present reception is not at all what it should be. I don’t know whether you read that in the newspapers. That brings the question: "Wherein does the present-day radio Set fail, if it does fail?" Dr. de Forest: I had not read that article ; but it exactly fits with a statement made to me at lunchean to-day with a friend who recently met ten of the Vlayers at the Players Club. He said he talked with them about radio, and found that only one of the ten owned a radio set; five of the ten had owned

radio sets, but, with their ears so well trained to fine enunciation and fine music, they discarded the sets; and the other four were not interested im radio, Many present-day radio sets are deficient in the quality of their audio amplifiers, and particularly in the loudspeakers employed. ‘The _ radio-fre-Guency and detector systems have attained a high state of refinement, but too little attention has been paid up to date to the audio-frequency-amplifier end of the receiver. ‘l'oo little iron is used in most of the transformers; too few amplifiers employ push-pull circuits; and there is too little inclination to employ expensive power tubes in the last stages; with the result that we frequently have distortion due to saturation in the transformers, or overloaded tubes somewhere along the line. Mr. Gernsback: ‘hat partly answers my next question, which I will put to t if you have something more to say about it, and that is: What is lacking to make present-day sets more perfect? Dr. de Forest: I think the greatest need in that direction is better audiofrequency amplification, aud, particularly, better loudspeakers. I do not conside: any of the cones now on the market come anywhere near the perfect loudspeaker. Cones invariably favour some frequencies at the expense of others, and most of the cones, while overemphasising the bass, put a mask of ‘‘paper rustle’? over the higher frequencies. Although more expensive, more clumsy, and demanding more space, and altogether less artistic, there are certain types of non-metallic horns, now on the market which, with proper loudspeaker units, give far better reproduction than any 18-inch cone. I strong- '¥ advocate a radio set built into a large console cabinet with suflicient room to take in one of the larger exponential horns. I know of one or two such combinations of radio and phonograph in one cabinet now heing developed, though not yet on the market, which give incompara$ly better sound reproduction than anything with which the radio public is familiar. Mr. Gernsback: Dr. de Forest, are you convinced that the present-day alicrnating-current set is a step in the right direction? Dr. de Forest: As to the technical developments awaiting us in 1928, very rapid progress has beet. made by a number of leading manufacturers in the solving of the problem of applying raw A.C. to the filaments of the valves, and several first-class sets are now on the market using these valves, thereby being made entirely independent of ‘‘A," "B," and C" batteries. ‘There is no question that the trend of the industry is entirely in this direction, and that, during the ensuing twelve months, we will see the storage battery eliminated,

except for the cheaper class of sets. This will be a development which every user of radio must heartily appreciate. The storage battery has from the start been a yery serious nuisance in the rome, ad will shortly be quite superfluous wherever electric current, A.C. or D.C., is available. The better type of console radio with built-in speakers, particularly the higher-priced ones with phonograph combined, will be more and more in demand. And as prosperity becomes more widely distributed, and particularly as the educative influence of radio works its insinustive benefits, mote and more will the radio public favour the more expensive and proper-lv-designed amplifiers and loudspeakers. Mr. Gernsback: For the next queslion, Dr. de Forest, the new so-called ‘"‘screengrid"’ valve make it possible to use much less curs rent than the old-type valve. Do vou think mullievalve sels with little bat« tery consumption a@ possibility, and that battery-opceraied sets might yet prevail in the future? Dr. de Forest: Notwithstanding the greater current economy which the double-grid valves permit, I do not think that multi-valvye sets for battery consumption will ever again be popular. I think the day of general use of the storage hattery and the dry battery is rapidly drawing to an end. ‘The great convenience and sense of satisfaction in knowing that you are not dependent upon a battery which may give out in the. midst of a particularly-desired programme, will outweigh any other considerations just as soon as the socketpower units and the A.C. valves are a little further perfected. Mr. Gernsback: What are your views on television, in view of the past experiments by Baird, of London, and by the research engi« neers of the American Telegraph and Telephone Corporation? Do you believe television attachments to radio sets a matier of the near fulure? If so, how soon? . Dr. de Forest: I am quite naturally interested, and have inspected the work in television which has been carried on in this country, particularly that by the American Telegraph and Telcphone Corporation. I must pay the highest possibly tribute to the ingenuity ‘and patient research which has made possible the system employed by the American Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. It is little less than a scientific miracle. Nevertheless, I know my views on television have been somewhat disappointing to those who wish to believe that in the next few years everyone can have a moving-picture show at home, broadcast direct from his favourite theatre, Frankly, I cannot foresee such a millennium for the radio fan. Until some radically new discovery has been made in physics, some

new principle or operation of which we to-day have no clear conception, teicyision apparatus must continue to he extremely intricate, delicate, requiring the constant and most careful attention of highly-skilled experts, and be buiit and operated at very great cost. Until such a new discovery, therefore, I think we must limit our television expectations to an occasional. demonstration under the auspices of one of the few great electrical engineering and manufacturing corporations, Television in the popular mind means radio broadcasts of distant scenes as they transpire. I have little patience with some of those whcse names are associated with the history of this new development, who seem willing to impose on.the gulli"iMty which the public evinces whenever the ‘word "television" is used. A few years ago it was impossible to get anyone to believe in wireless telegraphy, and later in the possibilities of the wireless telephone. Of recent years, however, the progress in popular science has been so phenomenal that general gullibility, or willingness to accept any prediction along the lines of invention, takes the place of the scenticism which formerly made the work of pioneers so difficult. . Mr. Gernsback: According to your thoughts, dector, I presume what you mean by a new development in physics would be a television apparatus without revolving parts, such as that we have at the present lime? Dr. de Forest: Yes, I think that such a development will eventually be made, but it will be the result of some discovery as radical and as unexpected as was the invention of the X-ray by Roentgen; and not until we have another Roentgen or Michelsan, who produces or makes a new discovery as radical as the X-ray was at the time he made it, may we bring into exisience the television which we all would so giadly welcome. Mr. Gernsback: I think you are a little too modest, doctor, when you mention as an example the X-ray. Why didn’t you say the vacuum tube? You are the one who invented that unexpected wonder. Let me ask you the next question. What, to. your mind, while we are talking of vacuum tubes, is the ideal vacuum tube of lhe fulure? What should be its outstanding point? Dr. de Forest: I think the ideal yacuum tube of the future should operate without batteries, it should be small, ruggedly-built, absolutely free of all tube noise, and non-microphonic. It goes without saying, that it should be operated without overloading, and with absolute freedom of alternating-current or direct-current noises. I think that such a vacuum tube will be produced within -the next two or three years.