Scotsman John Logie Baird (1888-1946) was the first person to demonstrate a working television system - on 26th January 1926, using mechanical picture scanning with electronic amplification at the transmitter and at the receiver. It could be sent by radio or over ordinary telephone lines, leading to the historic trans-Atlantic transmissions of television from London to New York in February, 1928.
@gannetripple: Farnsworth invented the system that was put into commercial production. It is made clear that Farnsworth invented "all electronic television". The mechanical system was never adopted for commercial or mass production use.
"We're hoping to make television where the display is just the screen." LCD.
"We're hoping that we can add memory and just paste the picture there." E-Ink.
"2000 lines instead of 525, in a smaller channel." Well, HDTV is 1080 lines in a much smaller channel. Not quite 2000 yet although they are working on it -- although "they" is the Japanese, not the US, sadly.
Also, I was surprised he didn't mention color television!
i feel bad for this guy he invented something every american uses and then fades away and receives no credit?he died with depression and didnt want any one to say the word television because it was so popular and he was a nobody.makes me wanna punch other people in the face..
@thebestanthe3rd On the other hand, he spent his time trying to invent even more things, rather than trying to become famous. Some people actually value contribution more than celebrity (which are diametrically opposed).
So, the man who invented television gets wins $80 and a carton of smokes, while buffoons like Al Gore and Obama win Nobel Peace prizes worth $1.4 million each? No peace, but at least we've got TV.
No, he is not working on an H bomb. He was working on CONTROLLED nuclear fusion - yes, the same nuclear reaction as an H-BOMB, but NOT an explosive release. If a fusor malfunctions, you lose the vacuum and the reaction stops. Read a book. Get a clue.
His name wasn't known but with all those patents he probably cried all the way to the bank. Amazing that he talks about working on advancements in television technology that we've only recently seen.
@TrevWks Actually, no. By the time Farnsworth had battled RCA in court and won, his patents had expired and had gone into public domain. RCA simply picked up Farnsworth's work and ran with it, never paying him a dime. David Sarnoff and Vladimir Zworykin were a couple of corporate assholes who should have been run down by a bus. Perhaps they are both burning in hell.
@moproducer you got that right. they also stuck it to Armstrong, the fella who invented FM Radio and Short Wave and other things. Armstrong spent years fighting RCA and Sarnoff over patent rights.
@moproducer well, at least, RCA isn't exactly around anymore. Not really, beyond just a brand name. Most RCA stuff these says is rebranded Japanese generic electronics.
@romulusnr You're confusing RCA's consumer products with the broadcast arm of RCA. Both are owned by GE. While you are correct about RCA's consumer products, the broadcast side is still very much the legacy of Sarnoff...you can't ship that overseas (at least, not yet). And it's still at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
@TheOptimusprime9 After suffering through countless bullshit "And I'm A Mormon" episodes on Y-Tube, I see that finally one makes it for real...
In probably 1960 Gotta Secret had on a very old man who supposedly was the last surviving person who was in Fords' Theatre the night Lincoln was shot. He was maybe 4 years old then and didn't remember much except a lot of commotion. I keep hoping that a video of the Secret episode still exists somewhere.
A mild mannered, self-effacing man, yet possessed of an extraordinary intelligence.
After looking at pictures of his happy family it seems that Farnsworth enjoyed what all great geniuses need most, a sense of humor and the warm support of one's peers.
Imagine what would have been possible if Tesla had such similar luck.
WTF!?!!Has anyone recognized that the show was being sponsored by tobacco company (WINSTON). WOW. Newport would be on every commercial break if it was still legal.
Am I the only one noticing that in the last two minutes of this clip, The REAL Dr. Farnsworth makes these predictions for the future: HDTV's, Flat Screen TV's, Digital Video Cameras, DVR's, and Fusion Power?! Is this for real?
Dr. Farnsworth mentioned the mechanical TV of John Logie Baird, which wasn't a success in the US, nor in the UK, even though both local radio stations in the US and the BBC did broadcasts before WW2. Farnsworth's idea of electronically scanning television was also independently thought of in Russia, and in Germany. It wasn't such a leap, as the mechanical TV also used scanning line by line. It was a simple idea that needed the electronics to accomplish both image capture and reconstruction.
@Mrcakeman34 Yes, because you can identify man and women who have invented everything by looks alone. Baring in mind this was BEFORE the internet, before colour TV, before TV was even that big.
I think the tv is a love hate thing. You love that you have shows and can see all these things, but you hate it because it eats up your life and you can look at it for hours. It depends on what you think.
min 6:20 Listen carefully, Mr Farnsworth was already working on HD TV , flat screen and TiVO 50 fu%$in years ago!!! Not to mention a portable nuclear fusion reactor!!!! We Americans been fu&%in jipped!!!
I believe P Farnsworth can claim first 'proof of concept' on electronic television, and possibly the first practical/commercial product. Though there are rival claims to that it seems. One further consideration. Regarding initial concepts of a machine, in this case tv, if it were later constructed using only the principles and mechanisms fully described in the concept, even built by someone else, it could be 'invented on the page'. But few can conceive something so complete. Maybe Da Vinci....
Perhaps the problem is that people are too focused on the application of invention(s). It needs to be more fundamental, basic scientific method. So, you have first concept, realisation, practical application, then refinements. For television, several people had the concept, some even designed components. But the first realisation was by Baird. It is the fundamental demonstration the principle can work, or 'proof of concept'. Whoever achieves this 'invents' the device............
Interesting, been looking thro these invention of tv vids and comments. As a brit, i'd only ever heard it attributed to baird, never heard of farnsworth. Bit shocking, he's clearly worth a mention! But then it appears he's not famous in US either. It's obvious though that there is a lot of misconception here about how you define 'an invention', and its evolution. And more shockingly, it seems just as bad across the internet generally, from supposedly 'authoratitive' sources................
I bought in 1997 a VHS video called Big Dream Small Screen (you can Google it) a PBS show about Farnsworth. A great book is The Last Lone Inventor. Thanks for sharing this clip driver-49. I saw part of this years ago on Nicklleodian and I have been hoping to catch it again, watchng Nickleodian over and over. I'm a Broadcast Engineer and Philo fan, and it amazes me how he talks about better use of the 6Mhz bandwidth, flat screens, memory files and 2000 line resolution. Philo is a Phenomenon.
I saw "Big Dream Small Screen" in my college Television course (I graduated in 2005 with my B.A. in Communication Studies) when we were studying the invention of television and Philo T. Farnsworth. From what I vaguely recall about the video (this was 6 years ago), it was very interesting.
We may be dgital now, but the idea of all -electronic TV that works at 30 frames per second that he accomplished, is still in large measure the way it's done--and the idea of multiple programs on a single 6 mHz channel with double the picture definition, which he was working on in 1957, is today's state of the art.
Dr. Farnsworth wasn;t a great fan of TV PROGRAMMING in his later life but he'd be happy to see what the medium has become technically (and he might like PBS and CNN).
@ 6:06 I dig that he wanted to raise the image quality of TV from the NTSC standards, but (evidently) didn't succeed at getting that through industry and/or government (FCC).
talk about censorship back in the day! people just thought the tv came out of the air! how unfair! this guys contribution is so important to every picture video device in mankind lol!
Until digital memory and compression were possible (as he mentioned were being developed) a hi defintion analog video signal would have used the bandwidth of 5 or 6 existing stations.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
But Farnsworth couldn't invent or build a real tv-system, he built a bad quality blind aley, Tihanyi publiced his superior invention years before Farnsworth :)))) Have a good day! illiterate bluelce
Sorry, we cant have more men like Philo Farnsworth today. We can have them only after they die. When they live, we call them insane, stupid and foolish dreamers who waste time and money and should do something useful. We push them off the road and deny them funding. When they achieve something we try to take it off from them so they cant enjoy the fruits of their labor. When they are sick and broken we laugh at them and when they die we praise them as Heroes of Science and set them on pedestals.
Wow, Yodainacan, I don't think you could have said that any better. Those are my sentiments EXACTLY. One of the best books I've ever read is The Boy Who Invented Television.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
United Nations (UNESCO) considered Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi as the Inventor of fully electronic TV. Some years later Farsworth made a very bad quality blind-alley. Farnsworth's system had never spread. MEMORY of THE WORLD check it!
No. He created the tool. The ill effects are of the people using it, and to a fair degree content producers responding to what people will watch. Think of a hammer. Someone can build a house with a hammer, or kill their mother (see Jim Gordon). That doesn't make hammers wrong.
OK, I got that message the first half dozen times you posted it to with all the other Farnsworth videos. Point noted, though disagreed with. You can stop now. Thanks. --PS
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Farnsoworth didn't invent the electronic television. It was invented and patented by Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi in 1926. The later Farnsworth system proved to a blind alley, Factories have never produced the Farnsworth system. Tihanyi's earlier invention of the predecessor of all modern electronic system. UNESCO (United Nations) the patent offices and Nobel Comitee created the award: MEMORY OFTHE WORLD. They considered Tihanyi as the inventor
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
You are a liar. UNESCO (United Nations) with cooperation of patent offices and Nobel comitee considered Tihanyi as the inventor of electrinic TV. MEMORY OF THE WORLD. Check it!
You could make a case for either of them. Both made contributions, independently, to the development of electronic television. Tihanyi contributed to a system that was first to be developed commercially, but Farmsworth's system is generally cited as the direct ancestor of modern electronic television using the scan lines and deflection yoke system.
Vladimir Zworykin has also been called the "father of electronic television."
It seems they all developed similar ideas independently.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
No. The world's first patent created by Kálmán Tihanyi on march 1926, he publiced his first publication in a scientific magazine in 1924. This system was much more advanced than Farmsworth's later versions. That's why UNESCO - Patent offices and Nobel comite considered Tihanyi as the inventor of electronic TV system. Fancy it! This idea is earlier than the first mechanic TV of British Baird's first mechanical TV!!
These are the men who made our lives better men who use their minds to create what we take for granted today, those are the people we should remember, admire & honor.
Philo Farnsworth said the hardest part about building a picture tube (CRT) was making the screen flat. After inventing electronic television, Farnsworth remarked, "There's nothing worth watching.." He also sued RCA and collecte one million dollars.
he never said that "there was nothing worth watching" that was someone else or a misconception depends on where the information came from. And the reason he "sued" RCA was because they tried to file their invention(which was stolen) in the late 1920's under a patent in the early 1920's making the patent before philo's. He won and got the credit for inventing the electronic tv.
Farnsworth explained in this video even the difference between the mechanical tv invented by baird (a tv that used a spinning disk) and his tv which he invented (electronic tv)
Re: Rosing and Campbell-Swinton: neither could make it work. Having the right idea is one thing; having the right idea AND MAKING IT WORK is EVERYTHING.
Electronic TV using a CRT at the receiver only was proposed by Rosing in Russia in 1907and a system using a CRT for the camera and receiver first proposed on paper by British engineer Campbell-Swinton in 1911. Baird was first to get half tone pictures, 1923, using a mechanical system, and Farnsworth was first with a working electronic camera. First public service was in the UK using Zworykin's camera.
a genius. not only did he invent the electronic TV, he also invented the nuclear fusor and so many other influential technologies. i've got a late 40s floor radio of his make, an absolute dream. even now i'm getting south america in top fidelity from my home in northern CA
Sadly GSN won't air any episodes sponsored by Winston Cigarettes (which is a hefty portion of this show) so we won't see this episode on there. Thanks for posting this as IGAS was a great panel show along with WML and TTTT.
Two things...one is the fun of seeing Ms. Meadows wearing those little white gloves. And the other thing is how far off we were with what we thought the future would bring. We never imagined the internet and almost nobody heats their home with nuclear energy.
I for one really enjoy your videos. It is a horrible shame they are making you take them down. Tv networks is my FAVORITE channel on you tube. If this channel goes down so does my you tube membership.
At about 6 minutes into the video, he describes HD tv, video compression and digital tv. The man was an absolute genius, and all he got from that show was eighty greasy dollars and some smokes.
I believe that he devised the lines system of creating TV images by observing how a field was ploughed ( UK spelling !) while doing the ploughing himself .
The sad and incredibly tragic fact is that this is Dr. Farnsworth's one and only appearance on television...which he invented! And for stumping the panel, he got $80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes!
Thank you for posting this awesome part of American and world history on YouTube! It's not very often we get to see a blast from the past quite like this! God bless you!
I just saw "The Farnsworth Invention" last night on Broadway. Wow! What a show. And what a shame that his credibility was stolen. And now to see this old clip of the real Philo... (loss of words)
I agree it was a wonderful play and thanks to Dr. Farnsworth we now have a greater range of how we not only as Americans, But as a a human race see whats happening in this world of ours. Thanks to Television we can visit far off paces from the comfort of our livingrooms, kitchens, and where ever else you might have one. Back in his day he was truly a man ahead of his time.
Hate to break it to you, but while Farnsworth WAS robbed by RCA (esp in the public relations dept) "The Farnsworth Invention" is highly inaccurate. It even shows Farnsworth LOSING court battles that he WON.
I know from which I speak. My grandmother was his sister.
The "Fusor" got the proverbial "plug" pulled by ITT. The reaction never lasted more than a few seconds. They are still being used as a neutron source. You can actully buy one if you want, for about sixty thousand US dollars ;-)
I just returned from the new play on Broadway - The Farnsworth Invention. What a story. He truly was ripped off by RCA and David Sarnoff. After reading about him on Wiki., it does sound like his life was not as sad and desperate as portrayed in the show. I was glad to read that.
if you are any more interested in Farsworth they have a 12 part oral interview with his wife on youtube (rather long too each part is 27 min) much more about him their than in wiki.
I just found out Pem Gardner was my grandfather's first cousin? Phil is in the family album, no blood relation, still wild. There is talk of fusion. Pem related him as saying, "Pem, we're on a guided tour, don't fight it." She goes on to say, "I think he was right and the only reason he wasn't allowed to give us fusion power is because our civilization is not far enough advanced to handle such a powerful tool."
Never realized he'd appeared on his own invention. It's interesting, as well as a little strange, to see such education offered on a mere game show. Nowadays one barely gets this from even the cable "news" stations.
i love this genius
pippetto888 1 week ago
He was an amazing man but pretty colorless
slowdream101 2 weeks ago
lol their advertising winston ciggarettes!
openthetirdeye 1 month ago
it was invented in San Francisco just up the street from where I live.
marcparella 2 months ago
I am related to Philo Farnsworth :) hes my Great, Great, Great uncle
SiSiHunting 2 months ago
@SaveTheCroissants: Well, HDTV is 1080 lines. Though usually its actually only 720...!
romulusnr 3 months ago
But he didn't invent television!
Scotsman John Logie Baird (1888-1946) was the first person to demonstrate a working television system - on 26th January 1926, using mechanical picture scanning with electronic amplification at the transmitter and at the receiver. It could be sent by radio or over ordinary telephone lines, leading to the historic trans-Atlantic transmissions of television from London to New York in February, 1928.
gannetripple 3 months ago
@gannetripple: Farnsworth invented the system that was put into commercial production. It is made clear that Farnsworth invented "all electronic television". The mechanical system was never adopted for commercial or mass production use.
marcparella 2 months ago
Only people like this that actually did something useful should be famous
irishlore 3 months ago
dose anyone notice how smart all of the people are compared to people today?
TOREN5611 3 months ago
Right at the end, He's says he's working on making TV's with an excess of 2000 lines. That's HDTV.
Also he says he's trying to make just a screen with the picture pasted on, that's a flatscreen.
And then, as if that wasn't enough, he just casually drops the seed for digital cameras.
This man was amazing!
—Jacob
SaveTheCroissants 3 months ago 2
"We're hoping to make television where the display is just the screen." LCD.
"We're hoping that we can add memory and just paste the picture there." E-Ink.
"2000 lines instead of 525, in a smaller channel." Well, HDTV is 1080 lines in a much smaller channel. Not quite 2000 yet although they are working on it -- although "they" is the Japanese, not the US, sadly.
Also, I was surprised he didn't mention color television!
romulusnr 3 months ago 2
@romulusnr:
He probably just assumed everyone already knew how to do something that _simple_. {Smiley Face}
—Jacob
SaveTheCroissants 3 months ago
i feel bad for this guy he invented something every american uses and then fades away and receives no credit?he died with depression and didnt want any one to say the word television because it was so popular and he was a nobody.makes me wanna punch other people in the face..
thebestanthe3rd 5 months ago 3
@thebestanthe3rd On the other hand, he spent his time trying to invent even more things, rather than trying to become famous. Some people actually value contribution more than celebrity (which are diametrically opposed).
romulusnr 3 months ago
So, the man who invented television gets wins $80 and a carton of smokes, while buffoons like Al Gore and Obama win Nobel Peace prizes worth $1.4 million each? No peace, but at least we've got TV.
bladder1010 5 months ago 3
Cave Johnson here.
MykTheGreek 5 months ago
So, Jersey Shore is his fault.
hakkujin 5 months ago
As interesting as this - while watching it I have an unusual craving for a Winston cigarette...
yazmac 5 months ago 2
check out 6:20, he's literally talking about high definition. took them long enough haha
usernameregrets 6 months ago
@usernameregrets I have seen a couple of years ago, 8K and 22.1 surround sound.
johng113 5 months ago
No, he is not working on an H bomb. He was working on CONTROLLED nuclear fusion - yes, the same nuclear reaction as an H-BOMB, but NOT an explosive release. If a fusor malfunctions, you lose the vacuum and the reaction stops. Read a book. Get a clue.
driver49 8 months ago 10
@driver49 you heard what the man said most people didnt
MrFalconford 5 months ago
@7:37 He's working on the H bomb!!!!!!!
NONSENSEchannel 8 months ago
@NONSENSEchannel dumbass its 1957
xiKUDx 5 months ago
America's greatest inventor.
Onlymusical 9 months ago
Btw, a good way to remember his name is to think of Futurama. The main character is PHIL Frye, and his great nephew is Dr. Farnsworth.
cshubs 9 months ago 2
I love this clip sooooo much!
cshubs 9 months ago
a true american icon,every schoolkid and adult should know who he is
8302967 11 months ago
I guess I've never seen this before, but it reminds me a lot of "What's My Line?"
Teflon65 11 months ago
@Teflon65 me too, even the advertisements seem very similar (though they might have all been)
roquesand 5 months ago
His name wasn't known but with all those patents he probably cried all the way to the bank. Amazing that he talks about working on advancements in television technology that we've only recently seen.
TrevWks 1 year ago
@TrevWks Actually, no. By the time Farnsworth had battled RCA in court and won, his patents had expired and had gone into public domain. RCA simply picked up Farnsworth's work and ran with it, never paying him a dime. David Sarnoff and Vladimir Zworykin were a couple of corporate assholes who should have been run down by a bus. Perhaps they are both burning in hell.
moproducer 1 year ago
@moproducer you got that right. they also stuck it to Armstrong, the fella who invented FM Radio and Short Wave and other things. Armstrong spent years fighting RCA and Sarnoff over patent rights.
spactick 7 months ago
@moproducer well, at least, RCA isn't exactly around anymore. Not really, beyond just a brand name. Most RCA stuff these says is rebranded Japanese generic electronics.
romulusnr 3 months ago
@romulusnr You're confusing RCA's consumer products with the broadcast arm of RCA. Both are owned by GE. While you are correct about RCA's consumer products, the broadcast side is still very much the legacy of Sarnoff...you can't ship that overseas (at least, not yet). And it's still at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
@TheOptimusprime9 After suffering through countless bullshit "And I'm A Mormon" episodes on Y-Tube, I see that finally one makes it for real...
moproducer 3 months ago
Yay for mormon inventors :D
TheOptimusprime9 1 year ago
In probably 1960 Gotta Secret had on a very old man who supposedly was the last surviving person who was in Fords' Theatre the night Lincoln was shot. He was maybe 4 years old then and didn't remember much except a lot of commotion. I keep hoping that a video of the Secret episode still exists somewhere.
Gydinglight12 1 year ago
@Gydinglight12 i can't put links in the comment box, but it is one of the first suggested videos on the side-bar, uploaded by "GiveMeBlackandWhite"
roquesand 5 months ago
A mild mannered, self-effacing man, yet possessed of an extraordinary intelligence.
After looking at pictures of his happy family it seems that Farnsworth enjoyed what all great geniuses need most, a sense of humor and the warm support of one's peers.
Imagine what would have been possible if Tesla had such similar luck.
deepfreezevideo 1 year ago
look at all the cigarette advertising!
reefergladness 1 year ago
All hail Philo!
violetichigo1999 1 year ago
That man was a genius, creating a revolutionary invention like the TV, and when he was 14. I tip my hat to you Farnsworth.
WeylandYutaniInc91 1 year ago
@Simpson: he licensed it to Germany since he didn't sell the patent to RCA.
mgabrysSF 1 year ago
WTF!?!!Has anyone recognized that the show was being sponsored by tobacco company (WINSTON). WOW. Newport would be on every commercial break if it was still legal.
jasencris 1 year ago
Jayne Meadows was a real dish. Steve Allen had good taste. Her sister, Audrey, was a great actress, too. To the moon, Alice!
bobjfs 1 year ago
@bobjfs - Steve deserved nothing but the best - and he got it!
WSenator1 6 months ago
Jesus, he's so modest and soft spoken.
kdixon7783c 1 year ago
Am I the only one noticing that in the last two minutes of this clip, The REAL Dr. Farnsworth makes these predictions for the future: HDTV's, Flat Screen TV's, Digital Video Cameras, DVR's, and Fusion Power?! Is this for real?
lungbrown 1 year ago 9
@lungbrown yes the man was a genius!
cyclos12 1 year ago
Dr. Farnsworth mentioned the mechanical TV of John Logie Baird, which wasn't a success in the US, nor in the UK, even though both local radio stations in the US and the BBC did broadcasts before WW2. Farnsworth's idea of electronically scanning television was also independently thought of in Russia, and in Germany. It wasn't such a leap, as the mechanical TV also used scanning line by line. It was a simple idea that needed the electronics to accomplish both image capture and reconstruction.
Simpson654 1 year ago
oh, I just want a cigarette real bad!!!
magicstick4534 1 year ago
Thats right, the man who changed the world more than anyone else couldnt be recognized on a tv game show
All things considred, game show contestants are typically idiots
Mrcakeman34 1 year ago
@Mrcakeman34 Yes, because you can identify man and women who have invented everything by looks alone. Baring in mind this was BEFORE the internet, before colour TV, before TV was even that big.
DarthTirith 1 year ago
lol americans were smart in the good old days what a surprise :D how they get so fat n dumb today :D
aghahowa11 1 year ago
@aghahowa11 lol i trol u
SuperShadow 1 year ago
@aghahowa11 Because you brits have been wanking too much! X3 lol
Crescendolls187 1 year ago
Ok. We all know it! You told us the Answer any Ways. It says it on the Lable at the top~! Daaahhhh.
Nyaki101 1 year ago
you americans ben jipped,dont think so,john logie,was scottish not american,concerning nucular fusion.
stepneyguy 1 year ago
I think the tv is a love hate thing. You love that you have shows and can see all these things, but you hate it because it eats up your life and you can look at it for hours. It depends on what you think.
MrSoupmonkey 1 year ago
The lack of insight brought us to where we are now...
Dont agree? Then you've not given it enough thought!
Television is one of the worst inventions the world has ever seen in my opinion.
DumpYourTelevision 1 year ago
The future is now...who knows someday we may even be able to watch TV by simply turning on our thermo nuclear device!
truenorthcompass 1 year ago
he made a nice contribution for the development of the TV - but the main father of todays TV is still Manfred von Ardenne ...:-D
CapitanoGUC 2 years ago
This man should be remembered just as well as Edison.
SamKhan95 2 years ago 2
min 6:20 Listen carefully, Mr Farnsworth was already working on HD TV , flat screen and TiVO 50 fu%$in years ago!!! Not to mention a portable nuclear fusion reactor!!!! We Americans been fu&%in jipped!!!
RideMyBMW 2 years ago
I believe P Farnsworth can claim first 'proof of concept' on electronic television, and possibly the first practical/commercial product. Though there are rival claims to that it seems. One further consideration. Regarding initial concepts of a machine, in this case tv, if it were later constructed using only the principles and mechanisms fully described in the concept, even built by someone else, it could be 'invented on the page'. But few can conceive something so complete. Maybe Da Vinci....
aherdofwildebeest 2 years ago
Perhaps the problem is that people are too focused on the application of invention(s). It needs to be more fundamental, basic scientific method. So, you have first concept, realisation, practical application, then refinements. For television, several people had the concept, some even designed components. But the first realisation was by Baird. It is the fundamental demonstration the principle can work, or 'proof of concept'. Whoever achieves this 'invents' the device............
aherdofwildebeest 2 years ago
Interesting, been looking thro these invention of tv vids and comments. As a brit, i'd only ever heard it attributed to baird, never heard of farnsworth. Bit shocking, he's clearly worth a mention! But then it appears he's not famous in US either. It's obvious though that there is a lot of misconception here about how you define 'an invention', and its evolution. And more shockingly, it seems just as bad across the internet generally, from supposedly 'authoratitive' sources................
aherdofwildebeest 2 years ago
The people of Earth should construct a shrine to this man ! Television makes Microsoft look like a turd in a punch bowl.
darensamanthastevens 2 years ago
I bought in 1997 a VHS video called Big Dream Small Screen (you can Google it) a PBS show about Farnsworth. A great book is The Last Lone Inventor. Thanks for sharing this clip driver-49. I saw part of this years ago on Nicklleodian and I have been hoping to catch it again, watchng Nickleodian over and over. I'm a Broadcast Engineer and Philo fan, and it amazes me how he talks about better use of the 6Mhz bandwidth, flat screens, memory files and 2000 line resolution. Philo is a Phenomenon.
greatestunknown 2 years ago
I saw "Big Dream Small Screen" in my college Television course (I graduated in 2005 with my B.A. in Communication Studies) when we were studying the invention of television and Philo T. Farnsworth. From what I vaguely recall about the video (this was 6 years ago), it was very interesting.
AllisonTheSNLGuru 2 years ago
This show should updated. This is hilarious
DIYANAH123456789 2 years ago
We may be dgital now, but the idea of all -electronic TV that works at 30 frames per second that he accomplished, is still in large measure the way it's done--and the idea of multiple programs on a single 6 mHz channel with double the picture definition, which he was working on in 1957, is today's state of the art.
Dr. Farnsworth wasn;t a great fan of TV PROGRAMMING in his later life but he'd be happy to see what the medium has become technically (and he might like PBS and CNN).
BobWXXI 2 years ago
Solid state, baby! What an amazing individual.
kdixon7783B 2 years ago
What a great clip. Thanks... and now i'm off to cook my nuclear dinner.
gluecement 2 years ago
1:41
"Sometimes it's most painful". Very true and very hillarious. Classic!
infrogmation 2 years ago
This man is ABSOLUTELY fascinating. The Boy Who Invented Television is a book I would recommend to anybody.
DepecheMachina 2 years ago
Thanks for posting this, my daughter is doing a school report on him, he is her 2nd cousin 4x times removed. This helped her in getting to know him.
GsusRlz 2 years ago
Invented electronic television when he was 14 years old. Wow.
youngfreak32 2 years ago 2
@ 6:06 I dig that he wanted to raise the image quality of TV from the NTSC standards, but (evidently) didn't succeed at getting that through industry and/or government (FCC).
Great clip. Thanks!
Songseeker2 2 years ago
talk about censorship back in the day! people just thought the tv came out of the air! how unfair! this guys contribution is so important to every picture video device in mankind lol!
boxa888 2 years ago
Actually, tv did come out of the air, remember the good old days of analog television? LOL.
DepecheMachina 2 years ago
@Songseeker2
Until digital memory and compression were possible (as he mentioned were being developed) a hi defintion analog video signal would have used the bandwidth of 5 or 6 existing stations.
frankftw 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
hi
we are online store we sell a varity of designer products at cheap prices.
Dont miss out on our opening promo TagAlong at
cherlina (dot) com
dsadasdaa25 2 years ago
Jane sure looked hot,but sounded like a dumb bimbo ha ha ha
KissRules1961 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
But Farnsworth couldn't invent or build a real tv-system, he built a bad quality blind aley, Tihanyi publiced his superior invention years before Farnsworth :)))) Have a good day! illiterate bluelce
celebration81 2 years ago
We need more men like him today.
BlueIce8300 2 years ago 4
Sorry, we cant have more men like Philo Farnsworth today. We can have them only after they die. When they live, we call them insane, stupid and foolish dreamers who waste time and money and should do something useful. We push them off the road and deny them funding. When they achieve something we try to take it off from them so they cant enjoy the fruits of their labor. When they are sick and broken we laugh at them and when they die we praise them as Heroes of Science and set them on pedestals.
Yodainacan 2 years ago 4
Wow, Yodainacan, I don't think you could have said that any better. Those are my sentiments EXACTLY. One of the best books I've ever read is The Boy Who Invented Television.
DepecheMachina 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
United Nations (UNESCO) considered Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi as the Inventor of fully electronic TV. Some years later Farsworth made a very bad quality blind-alley. Farnsworth's system had never spread. MEMORY of THE WORLD check it!
celebration81 2 years ago
As he said, many people had a hand in developing the new medium. Read Wikipedia's article on the "History of Television" for all the details.
44032 2 years ago
The U.N was made by the U.S.A. I don't believe any thing they put out. They are all for the new world order.
BlueIce8300 2 years ago
This man made what Americans are today.
brainwashed.
ddstar 2 years ago
No. He created the tool. The ill effects are of the people using it, and to a fair degree content producers responding to what people will watch. Think of a hammer. Someone can build a house with a hammer, or kill their mother (see Jim Gordon). That doesn't make hammers wrong.
Songseeker2 2 years ago 19
Philo was the real deal. We need to remember these men who still can inspire youth to solve problems today.
ballaholic250 2 years ago 26
Baird's system was mechanical. Farnsworth's system was electronic. Note that he said he invented "electronic television".
MrUnidyne 2 years ago 4
Actually, it was Professor Hugo Farnsworth.
squeet48 2 years ago
the crucial word is 'electronic'.
Farnsworth's was the first wholly electronic tv.
Steve7508 2 years ago 4
my great great uncle is filo farnsworth that man right there on that game show
fruitbruiter4life 2 years ago 5
Your great great uncle is one of the world's most underrated geniuses, and the respect and recognition he deserves is long overdue.
MrUnidyne 2 years ago 5
Farnsworth' later system proved a bad quality blind-alley.
celebration81 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Moreover! Tihanyi invented the plasma TV flat panel system in 1936!
celebration81 2 years ago
OK, I got that message the first half dozen times you posted it to with all the other Farnsworth videos. Point noted, though disagreed with. You can stop now. Thanks. --PS
driver49 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Farnsoworth didn't invent the electronic television. It was invented and patented by Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi in 1926. The later Farnsworth system proved to a blind alley, Factories have never produced the Farnsworth system. Tihanyi's earlier invention of the predecessor of all modern electronic system. UNESCO (United Nations) the patent offices and Nobel Comitee created the award: MEMORY OFTHE WORLD. They considered Tihanyi as the inventor
celebration81 2 years ago
still a liar
1borito 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Sorry , he was not the inventor of electronic television. Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi invented the electronic tv. Check it!
celebration81 2 years ago
liar
1borito 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You are a liar. UNESCO (United Nations) with cooperation of patent offices and Nobel comitee considered Tihanyi as the inventor of electrinic TV. MEMORY OF THE WORLD. Check it!
celebration81 2 years ago
You could make a case for either of them. Both made contributions, independently, to the development of electronic television. Tihanyi contributed to a system that was first to be developed commercially, but Farmsworth's system is generally cited as the direct ancestor of modern electronic television using the scan lines and deflection yoke system.
Vladimir Zworykin has also been called the "father of electronic television."
It seems they all developed similar ideas independently.
DrBuzz0 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
No. The world's first patent created by Kálmán Tihanyi on march 1926, he publiced his first publication in a scientific magazine in 1924. This system was much more advanced than Farmsworth's later versions. That's why UNESCO - Patent offices and Nobel comite considered Tihanyi as the inventor of electronic TV system. Fancy it! This idea is earlier than the first mechanic TV of British Baird's first mechanical TV!!
celebration81 2 years ago
Great man.
HAZIDEAD 2 years ago
I see this show on late at night. They all seem like innuendos and sex questions.
krome411 2 years ago
i have touched this guy's house
darklion53 2 years ago
im doing a project on him right now. where did u get this clip
hellopeeps8686 3 years ago
And i've got gout! lol.
prodigalson56 3 years ago
my uncle did work on inventiong television (in stockholm)
semtex2you 3 years ago
These are the men who made our lives better men who use their minds to create what we take for granted today, those are the people we should remember, admire & honor.
condensedclassics 3 years ago 2
As an era, the 50's was the pinnacle of American civilization. For probably a hundred years or more, I think people will look upon it with nostalgia
krist300 3 years ago
good news everyone
999cow 3 years ago
Thank you, Farnsworth.. thank you so much
themangodess 3 years ago
Baird's mechanical television had no future.
Philo Farnsworth said the hardest part about building a picture tube (CRT) was making the screen flat. After inventing electronic television, Farnsworth remarked, "There's nothing worth watching.." He also sued RCA and collecte one million dollars.
AcePilot101 3 years ago
he never said that "there was nothing worth watching" that was someone else or a misconception depends on where the information came from. And the reason he "sued" RCA was because they tried to file their invention(which was stolen) in the late 1920's under a patent in the early 1920's making the patent before philo's. He won and got the credit for inventing the electronic tv.
baizawai 3 years ago 2
John Logie Baird invented the tv!!!
baird242 3 years ago
out of farnsworth parts!
danthemango 3 years ago
John Baird invented the MECHANICAL TV! not the ELECTRONIC TV! it's different! and it was the rca guy that stole farnsworths parts
baizawai 3 years ago
the comment below was meant for baird242.
Farnsworth explained in this video even the difference between the mechanical tv invented by baird (a tv that used a spinning disk) and his tv which he invented (electronic tv)
baizawai 3 years ago
I knew that, I don't know why I said what I said
danthemango 3 years ago
what a FANTASTIC historical find!!! THANK YOU FOR POSTING!!!
steeloavenger 3 years ago
Check out the cigarette ads, this is unheard of today!
wtonckens 3 years ago
Tesla was the in the top 2 most important inventors.
jacksblack1 3 years ago
farnsworth was a fan of telsa more than he was a fan of edison....just a fact you might appreciate
baizawai 3 years ago 2
Technology is suppressed
jacksblack1 3 years ago
Thanks for posting this.
It's a sad truth that most of the greatest minds in physics have been forgotten, even in their own time.
numa28612 3 years ago 2
Re: Rosing and Campbell-Swinton: neither could make it work. Having the right idea is one thing; having the right idea AND MAKING IT WORK is EVERYTHING.
Baird didn't even have the right idea.
driver49 3 years ago
Electronic TV using a CRT at the receiver only was proposed by Rosing in Russia in 1907and a system using a CRT for the camera and receiver first proposed on paper by British engineer Campbell-Swinton in 1911. Baird was first to get half tone pictures, 1923, using a mechanical system, and Farnsworth was first with a working electronic camera. First public service was in the UK using Zworykin's camera.
msf60khz 3 years ago
What an incredibly interesting man. Thank you for posting this!
msymsed 3 years ago 2
Philo Farnsworth, thank you for inventing television.
veronesedissident 3 years ago 4
hes kool
utubeiscoolerthnu 3 years ago
a genius. not only did he invent the electronic TV, he also invented the nuclear fusor and so many other influential technologies. i've got a late 40s floor radio of his make, an absolute dream. even now i'm getting south america in top fidelity from my home in northern CA
classicrocker12 3 years ago 2
He was quite angry after this show because they didn't know who he was and vowed never to watch TV again.
gottogosome 3 years ago
impressive post; thanks for the video, philo.
angryniggah 3 years ago
Sadly GSN won't air any episodes sponsored by Winston Cigarettes (which is a hefty portion of this show) so we won't see this episode on there. Thanks for posting this as IGAS was a great panel show along with WML and TTTT.
storrs19 3 years ago
Two things...one is the fun of seeing Ms. Meadows wearing those little white gloves. And the other thing is how far off we were with what we thought the future would bring. We never imagined the internet and almost nobody heats their home with nuclear energy.
Nice Video.
AnotherGoddess 3 years ago
I for one really enjoy your videos. It is a horrible shame they are making you take them down. Tv networks is my FAVORITE channel on you tube. If this channel goes down so does my you tube membership.
saphopoem 3 years ago
Where can I get a downloadable copy of this video? I teach television production in high school and want my kids to see this.
143117 3 years ago
At about 6 minutes into the video, he describes HD tv, video compression and digital tv. The man was an absolute genius, and all he got from that show was eighty greasy dollars and some smokes.
Postie1 3 years ago 2
Philo Farnsworth was my Grandpas cousin, Philo and my grandfather's grandpas, were brothers.
jalee582 3 years ago
I believe that he devised the lines system of creating TV images by observing how a field was ploughed ( UK spelling !) while doing the ploughing himself .
Rogere76 4 years ago
The sad and incredibly tragic fact is that this is Dr. Farnsworth's one and only appearance on television...which he invented! And for stumping the panel, he got $80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes!
MrUnidyne 4 years ago 2
Yea, he was a Mormon and didn't smoke. Sad, the way they treated the man of such genius.
Postie1 3 years ago 4
brilliant vissionary
cdrw62 4 years ago
Now there is what I call a brilliant man
snowbeard54 4 years ago 2
Thank you for posting this awesome part of American and world history on YouTube! It's not very often we get to see a blast from the past quite like this! God bless you!
ringlord777 4 years ago
Dr. Farnsworth, White Genius.
mightisright 4 years ago 2
Holy tobacco!
trikskee 4 years ago 3
god damn he was talking about HDTV .... amazing
bphutchins 4 years ago 4
And flat screens!
frankftw 4 years ago 5
and youtube/DVRs
sharph 4 years ago
Yeah, it's too bad that "television" gimmick failed, it would be neat to see one of them "screen panel" models.
It's a shame those skeptics were right. Remember how those skeptics were right, saying television was a phase?
HMM?
jayjayjay 4 years ago
I just saw "The Farnsworth Invention" last night on Broadway. Wow! What a show. And what a shame that his credibility was stolen. And now to see this old clip of the real Philo... (loss of words)
FireBirdSpirit 4 years ago
I agree it was a wonderful play and thanks to Dr. Farnsworth we now have a greater range of how we not only as Americans, But as a a human race see whats happening in this world of ours. Thanks to Television we can visit far off paces from the comfort of our livingrooms, kitchens, and where ever else you might have one. Back in his day he was truly a man ahead of his time.
punkerdave01 4 years ago 3
Hate to break it to you, but while Farnsworth WAS robbed by RCA (esp in the public relations dept) "The Farnsworth Invention" is highly inaccurate. It even shows Farnsworth LOSING court battles that he WON.
I know from which I speak. My grandmother was his sister.
playerpage 2 years ago
What happened to his fusion research?
(If any?)
jsl151850b 4 years ago
The "Fusor" got the proverbial "plug" pulled by ITT. The reaction never lasted more than a few seconds. They are still being used as a neutron source. You can actully buy one if you want, for about sixty thousand US dollars ;-)
Postie1 3 years ago
Wow, I want a 2008 FusionGT!
MerleOberon 4 years ago
I love you Dr. Farnsworth, thank you for the TV!
cathythewizzard 4 years ago
Philo is my great great uncle. I'm excited to see the upcoming Broadway play, The Farnsworth Invention. Check it out!
creativeci 4 years ago
Really, you're distant relatives of Philo? Did you ever meet him?
FireBirdSpirit 4 years ago
No he passed quite some time ago. He was my great grandpa's brother.
creativeci 4 years ago
I can honestly say I had no idea who invented TV. You learn something new every day! Thanks for the education!!!
Delaypat 4 years ago
bill cullen looks like matt damon
bphutchins 4 years ago
you mean, Matt Damon looks like Bill Cullen.
Postie1 3 years ago
I just returned from the new play on Broadway - The Farnsworth Invention. What a story. He truly was ripped off by RCA and David Sarnoff. After reading about him on Wiki., it does sound like his life was not as sad and desperate as portrayed in the show. I was glad to read that.
keltrina 4 years ago
if you are any more interested in Farsworth they have a 12 part oral interview with his wife on youtube (rather long too each part is 27 min) much more about him their than in wiki.
baizawai 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I just found out Pem Gardner was my grandfather's first cousin? Phil is in the family album, no blood relation, still wild. There is talk of fusion. Pem related him as saying, "Pem, we're on a guided tour, don't fight it." She goes on to say, "I think he was right and the only reason he wasn't allowed to give us fusion power is because our civilization is not far enough advanced to handle such a powerful tool."
EntropyHaptens 3 years ago
Never realized he'd appeared on his own invention. It's interesting, as well as a little strange, to see such education offered on a mere game show. Nowadays one barely gets this from even the cable "news" stations.
10derly 4 years ago
He was so ripped off by RCA, so sad.
stalzz 4 years ago