Seeing at a distance: Paul Nipkow
Posted on Tuesday 17 December 2002 to Visions and Illusions
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:
