Posted on Tuesday 17 December 2002

Graphic of the "disc of Nipkow" in the patent application (1884)

In 1884, at the 24 years of age, Paul Nipkow lodged a patent application for an "electric telescope" and subsequently obtained the first ever patent relating to a television apparatus.

In essence, this apparatus consisted of a scanning disc with a series of holes that were arranged into a spiral. The turning disc moved in front of the image to transmit, breaking it up into sequence of electrical signals. The strength of the signal was determined by the brightness of the corresponding part of the image being scanned.

After taking early retirement in 1919, Nipkow devoted himself entirely to the improvement of his disc and in 1930 the Siemens company acquired his patent of 1924 on disc synchronization. The Nipkow disc, until the advent of electronic television towards the end of the Thirties, formed the basis of nearly all "mechanical television" systems.

P. Nipkow, "Der Telephotograph und das elektrische Teleskop", 1885.


Here is another diagram of Nipkow's Disc: