Experimental Farnsworth "image dissector"

Experimental Farnsworth "image dissector"

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Description
In 1927 inventor Philo T. Farnsworth designed and made this television transmission tube that he called an "image dissector." Visible light was focused on a specially-coated detector at the front of the tube. That coating emitted electrons that were received at the tube's anode. The tube sampled only a small area of the detector at any given moment but by repeatedly scanning the entire detector the image could be converted to electrical signals. Those signals could be reconverted to visible light in a television receiver.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
television transmitting tube
c
Date made
1927
maker
Farnsworth, Philo T.
Measurements
overall: 12 1/4 in x 4 in x 4 1/2 in; 31.115 cm x 10.16 cm x 11.43 cm
ID Number
EM.328789
catalog number
328789
accession number
276137
Credit Line
from Dr. Philo T. Farnsworth
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Work and Industry: Electricity
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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