Philo Farnsworth

Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971), American, inventor, television (camera and television "One of the inventors of the television". He, Baird and Vladimir Sforokin each independently invented television. The TV invented by him and Vladimir Sfrogin was different from the one invented by Baird. Television, the television invented by Baird was a mechanical scanning television, and he invented electronic television using the latest electronic devices, photoelectric tubes and cathode ray tubes.

Chinese name: Philo Farnsworth. Sri Lanka

Foreign name: Philo T. Farnsworth

Nationality: United States

Date of birth: 1906

Date of death: 1971

Occupation: Inventor

Representative work: Electronic television electron microscope

Personal profile

Philo Farnsworth in 1927 Successfully used electronic technology to transmit images. In 1928, he invented the electronic image decomposition camera. In 1929, he established Farnsworth Television Co., Ltd. In 1937, his electronic television system successfully defeated Baird's mechanical scanning television. The device was eliminated, thus confirming the monopoly of electronic television systems. If the television field was once dominated by Baird in the 1920s and 1930s, then in the 1930s, it was He met a strong opponent - Philo Farnsworth

Character Life

In 1900, the word Television appeared for the first time in the 20th century. One of the greatest events, history will remember the name of its inventor - a 14-year-old American boy named Philo T. Farnsworth

The birth of genius

Farnsworth was born in a farm family in Utah, USA on August 19, 1906. As a child, Farnsworth showed signs of precocious wisdom. Any mechanical device has a photographic memory and innate understanding. Philo Farnsworth attended a very small school near his family's farm. He did well in school and asked his teacher to teach him about science. In order to provide him with special help, the teacher began to help Philo learn a lot of scientific knowledge that most elementary school students did not understand.

Farnsworth's parents continued. After they settled in Idaho, 11-year-old Ferro was ecstatic to learn that his new home had power lines. Bundling up old magazines on science and technology, he began to educate himself and determined to be an inventor. He soon began to experiment with electricity. He built an engine by himself when he was 12 years old, and then built the first one for his family. Electric washing machine.

Extraordinary Boy

As early as the 1920s, when Baird was obsessed with mechanical manufacturing methods, in 1921, a 14-year-old boy who was farming potato fields in his hometown was thinking about one absentmindedly. Problem: How to design a novel radio that can transmit moving images along with sound? Farnsworth began to seriously consider developing television. He realized almost instinctively that transmitting images mechanically was not feasible. The young man also had an intuition that an area of ??physics that was new to him—the study of electronics—might hold the answer to the problem. Regardless, electrons can move at speeds unmatched by mechanical devices, which allows for much clearer images and means no moving parts are needed. He reasoned from this that if an image could be converted into a stream of electrons, it could propagate through space like radio waves, and finally be reassembled into an image by a receiver. It's a pretty simple idea at heart, but one so simple that no one seems to have thought of it. Philo Farnsworth had to solve several problems before he could develop a television system. One problem was that he was only 14 and he knew no one would listen to a kid.

In fact, experts say there were probably only a dozen scientists in the world who understood his ideas at the time. Another problem was that he didn't have the money to realize his idea. One night Philo saw an article in a magazine about the idea of ??transmitting images and sounds through the air. Anyone using a device can receive this electronic information and then view the images. The article says that some of the world's greatest scientists are working hard on this idea. These scientists are using special machinery to try to create a device that can transmit images. The article got Philo thinking. The 14-year-old Philo confirmed that these famous scientists were wrong. He believed that such a machine would be impossible to operate. Such a machine could never operate fast enough to clearly capture and reproduce the electrons traveling through the air. Signal. Philo believed that such a device would have to be electronic, not mechanical. Philo knew that such an electronic device would have to be very fast. All he had to do was how to develop such an electronic device. Soon, Philo came up with an idea to develop a receiver: capture the light in a container, and then use a wire to transmit the light. Philo called this "light in a bottle"

A few days later, Philo told his teacher about a device that could capture images. He formulated a plan and gave it to his teacher. Philo's plan seemed simple, but it still conveyed a clear message: a television needed to be built. Virtually all television sets today still use Philo's early ideas. Philo's teacher is Justin Dullman. Many years later, Philo said that Mr. Dullman guided his imagination and opened the door to science for him.

Inventing Television

His idea of ??developing a television system had to wait. After two years of high school graduation, Philo entered Brigham Young University in Utah, but he did not complete college and had to leave school after his father died. Philo didn't give up on the idea of ??developing a television. A few years later he moved to San Francisco, California, where he began the hard work of realizing his idea, at the age of 21. History will remember the name of its inventor - Philo T. Farnsworth.

Before Farnsworth, British scientist John Logie Baird (1888-1946) had been working on transmitting television images using mechanical scanning. On October 2, 1925, he finally created the first mechanical television that could transmit images. This was the prototype of television. Although the puppet's face is blurry and noisy, the ability to see lifelike images in an unassuming black box still arouses great interest. Television when it first came out was called the "Magic Box."

On September 7, 1927, Philo started a device that became the first working television receiver. In another room was the world's first television camera. Earlier this year, Philo invented this special image tube. The image presented by the television receiver was not very clear, but the machine worked and television was invented. In the months since, Philo has found several people willing to invest in his invention.

The Forgotten Giant

Baird is a representative who advocates the use of mechanical scanning methods to develop televisions. In 1928, he developed the first color television, and in 1930, his system began trial broadcasting of sound television programs, allowing people to feel and be immersed in the scene, making the old fable of "a scholar can know the world without going out" a reality. For this reason, Baird is known as the "Father of Television." He died in 1946.

When the U.S. Patent Office finally determined that Farnsworth should be the holder of all major patents for television, by the late 1930s, it was too late for Farnsworth. The funds are almost exhausted. As World War II approached, the federal government soon announced a moratorium on the development of the television industry. As a result, it had to be postponed until 1946 before television could legally be manufactured, by which time Farnsworth's patent had expired.

Television invention patent dispute

In August 1930, the U.S. government granted Philo a patent certificate, which protected his invention from being copied by others. Soon, however, several inventors claimed to have invented the television device. Among these inventors was Vladimir Sforokin, who worked for the powerful American Broadcasting Corporation (RCA). RCA began to use legal means to fight with Philo Farnsworth for the right to invent television. It is said that Mr. Sfrokin invented television in the 1920s. The powerful American Broadcasting Company claimed that it, not the tiny Philo Farnsworth Television Company, had the power to manufacture, develop and sell television sets.

The legal battle between ABC and Farnsworth Television lasted for several years. ABC testified that Mr. Sfrokin manufactured a television device, but there was no valid evidence that the television device was operated. At the same time, ABC also claimed that Mr. Farnsworth invented his television picture tube only after Mr. Sfrokin did. While Farnsworth said he had had the idea a long time ago, ABC said it was almost impossible for a fourteen-year-old to come up with the idea for a television. Representatives of the company also said that Mr. Farnsworth may not even be a scientist and that he did not graduate from college. ABC said Philo Farnsworth must provide evidence that he invented the television picture tube. Philo could not provide such evidence, but his teacher could. At the courthouse, Justin Dullman presented the plan that Philo had drawn up years earlier when Philo was a student. By this time, ABC's legal experts knew that their case had been lost and that Philo Farnsworth had won. After this lawsuit, he owned the right to invent television. However, he had no funds to develop his television business. It was not until the 1950s that television had a significant impact on American life. The names of the presidents of the American Broadcasting Corporation, Vladimir Sforokin and David Sarnov, are associated with this emerging industry. However, manufacturers who were interested in making televisions at that time seemed to be only interested in mechanical televisions that were destined to be eliminated. Almost no one appreciated Farnsworth's invention, with the exception of RCA. The company hired Russian immigrant Zorikin in 1930. At that time, Zorikin had already produced a prototype. The principle was similar to the one invented by Farnsworth in 1927, but the imaging effect was not good, with only 40 to 50 lines per frame. . Zorikin went to San Francisco to visit Farnsworth, who claimed to be a researcher interested in television. Farnsworth had no idea that Zorikin was an "industrial spy." Zorikin spent three days watching in Farnsworth's laboratory, obtained the most secret parts of the invention, and then returned to the U.S. Radio The company, three years later, built a television and began advertising aggressively. Farnsworth became anxious at this time and quickly looked for cooperation with large companies in the industry. However, at that time, most electronic factories produced radios and had to use the patents of Radio Corporation of America. They did not want to cause trouble. Farnsworth and the investors had no choice but to sue RCA to the U.S. Patent Office. The invention turned into a drawn-out legal battle. Farnsworth's television patent was obtained in 1927. Although the RCA laboratory did not build a television until 1933, the company argued that an image technology patent obtained by Zorigin in 1923 was the prototype of television, and Farnsworth produced earlier evidence. His teacher Tolman testified that Farnsworth had conceived the principle of television as early as when he was in middle school. He also drew a sketch of Farnsworth's idea in court. In 1934, the U.S. Patent Office ruled that the television patent belonged to Farnsworth. RCA was not convinced, and the appeal process lasted for another 16 months. The company lost the case again, but still refused to admit defeat. Various minor lawsuits dragged on for several years. RCA's entanglement corresponded to the company's famous saying at the time: "We only charge royalties and never pay royalties." When Farnsworth finally legally owned all the major patents for television, it was already in the 1930s. By the end of the day, it was too late for Farnsworth, who was almost out of money.

As World War II approached, the U.S. government soon announced a moratorium on the development of the television industry. As a result, the legal production of televisions had to be postponed until after 1946, when Farnsworth's patent had expired.

The identity of the inventor was confirmed

As soon as the patent period expired, RCA began mass-producing televisions, and promoted Zorikin and the company’s bosses in an overwhelming public relations campaign. The father of television. Farnsworth could no longer fight back. He sold the last bit of his property to the International Telephone and Telegraph Company and returned to his hometown dejected. He relied on alcohol to anesthetize his life. His health was so bad that he was bedridden for several months.

After that, the name Farnsworth completely disappeared from people’s sight. His only national television appearance was in 1957. At that time, he participated as a mystery guest on a CBS game show called "I Know a Secret," where guests could ask various questions and eventually guess the name of the guest to win. Unfortunately, the guests failed to guess who he was, and Farnsworth received $80 as the winner. Among the questions, one question was: "Have you invented something that is painful to use?" Farnsworth replied: "Yes, sometimes it is very painful." In his later years, Farnsworth once said He fiercely criticized television, thinking it was an invention that wasted people's time, and even banned his children from watching television. But like the pain, occasionally he found joy in television. In July 1969, Farnsworth and his wife Elma were watching TV at their home in Maine. The screen was showing the live broadcast of the first human beings to set foot on the surface of the moon. He calmly said to his wife: "You know, for today, it's all worth it."

Farnsworth died of pneumonia in June 1971. The New York Times called him one of the world's greatest and most charismatic inventors in its obituary. Since then, rigorous experts in the history of science and technology have determined that Farnsworth invented television on September 7, 1927. The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp for him in 1983 in recognition of his contribution to the development of human society. Time magazine ranks him among the 100 greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century.

Prolific Inventor

Philo Farnsworth went on to invent more than a hundred devices that helped to advance the modern television industry as far as possible. He developed early radar, invented the first electron microscope, and worked for the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Later Years

In his later years, Mr. Farnsworth became a strong critic of television and disliked most of the programs shown on television. Still, when he saw Neil Armstrong's feet set foot on the moon for the first time, it became clear to Mr. Farnsworth just how useful this event was to his invention.

The Fall of a Star

Philo Farnsworth passed away in March 1971. Today, a statue of him sits in the U.S. Capitol, and he was one of the most important inventors of the twentieth century.