Restoring Baird's Image

by Donald F. McLean

Overview

John Logie Baird, Britain's foremost television pioneer, experimented with video recording onto gramophone discs in the late 1920s. Though unsuccessful at the time, his experiments resulted in several videodiscs, some 25 years before the videotape recorder became practical. These videodiscs - called Phonovision - remained neglected over the decades, considered by experts as unplayable.

In the early 1980s, the author sought out and restored the surviving Phonovision discs. Using computer-based techniques in an investigation reminiscent of an archaeological dig, the author has not only revealed the images on the discs but also uncovered details of how the recordings were made. The Phonovision discs have now become recognised as one of Baird's most important legacies.

In 1996 and 1998, amateur 'off-air' recordings of the BBC's 30-line Television Service (1932-35) were found, giving us our first view of what viewers were then watching. The author's restoration overturns established views on mechanically scanned television, providing us today with a true measure of Britain's heritage of television programme-making before electronic television.

As well as helping to explain a poorly understood and complex period in television's history, this unique book, heavily illustrated with previously unpublished or rarely-seen historic photographs restored by the author, sheds light on the achievements of Baird, the development of video recording and the definition and invention of television itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780852967959
Publisher:	The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Publication date:	06/30/2000
Series:	History and Management of Technology
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Donald F. McLean CEng FIEE is European Director of a consulting practice in a multi-national professional services company. His professional career started in R&D but after several years the attraction of management made him move into the professional services sector. It is in his spare time that he has been pursuing his interests in restoring the earliest-known recordings of television and in communicating through the media these dramatic findings.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: As Others See Us
• Chapter 2: Distant Vision
• Chapter 3: The Path to Television
• Chapter 4: Phonovision
• Chapter 5: Restoring Vision
• Chapter 6: Discoveries
• Chapter 7: Television Develops
• Chapter 8: It's All in the Groove
• Chapter 9: Capturing the Vision
• Chapter 10: Revising History

Editorial Reviews

'a fascinating read. The book goes a long way to help the reader appreciate the significance of these recordings and the era in which they were made. A TV historian's delight providing a refreshing 'new look' history in both words and pictures.'

Electronics World

'Our Review Copy arrived yesterday and we were immediately impressed by this amazing book. It is in ten main sections covering just about everything there is to know about Baird and the recording of television pictures.'

TV Graphics Review

'provides a unique and thoroughly unexpected glimpse at how television looked in its paleolithic era.'

Invention & Technology

'As the title suggests, this book deals largely with the retrieval and restoration of Baird's 30-line television pictures recorded on shellac and aluminium discs over the period 1927-35. Many authors writing about the history of television are faced with the difficulty of finding something new and prefer not to quote too often from earlier accounts written by other people. Donald McLean manages to avoid most of these problems since he is in the unique position of being able to describe a form of television archaeology never attempted before.

Written in a conversational style, this book covers a considerable amount of new ground. It is copiously illustrated and 40 of the photographs have never been published previously. The flavour of the infant years of television is captured most successfully and the book represents essential reading for everybody with an interest in those days.'

extracted from NBTVA newsletter - Ray Herbert

'the author's passion for his subject and scholarship shine clearly through, making this the most authoritative book on Baird's work yet published, this is an excellent book that is unlikely to be equalled'

British Journal for the History of Science - Andrew Emmerson

'Don McLean has presented a revision of the history of television presenting a new perspective on the work of Baird the inventor of 'failed' technologies. I have long thought that history written from the perspective of 'successful' technologies is an unnecessarily restricted exercise. It is too easy to dismiss 'yesterday's technology' as misguided, primitive, crude, and leading into blind alleys and so on.

McLean's work is interesting on several levels, ranging from the representation of Baird and his work to a truly fascinating account of the discovery of and the unravelling of the content of early video recordings. This lively and engaged work presents the history of television in a way rarely seen, and introduces a new approach to an understanding of the process of invention that Baird applied.'

Dr Colin A. Hempstead

'Scholarly research and 'can't put it down' writing are rare companions. Don Mclean has succeeded magnificently in conveying the excitement of unearthing and restoring recordings Baird's 30 line TV pictures.'

British Vintage Wireless Society Bulletin

Baird, a British television pioneer, experimented with video recording on gramophone discs in the late 1920s. McLean (a consultant) has restored the surviving "Phonovision" discs and, using computer techniques reminiscent of an archaeological dig, has revealed the images on the discs and uncovered details of how the recordings were made. McLean also restored amateur recordings of the BBC's 30-line Television Services (1932-1935), providing a glimpse at what viewers were then watching. This book helps explain this period in television history. Illustrated with historic photographs, it sheds light on the achievements of Baird, the development of video recording, and the definition and invention of television itself. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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