Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-15
ENGINEERS BELIEVE
TELEWS|ON COMING
Experts See Many Obstacles
Ahead for Pictures Over
Radio.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

BIZ MAN IN NObbbs
Some of the technical radio worlds
: best minds were drawn together at tne
Z annual convention of the Institute OF
Radio Engineers. now in session mere
for another free discussion OF man s
prospects Of seeing beyond the horizon
through the magic medium OF teleVl-
( sion The deliberations at the sym
postum on visual broadcasting yester-
dsv. were marked by general concur
renee in the belief. which certain de
burkers" have sought to dispel in the
interest of maintaining good market
for audible radio SETS that commercial
television Will some day become
reality.
In fact It may be said that radio
engineers are expecting as n1uCh from
teIevision as the most imaginative ele-
ment in the public
Laboratory and operating scientists
alike, for the most part. guarded their
predictions carefully, yet they exuded
confidence in their public and private
utterances. None would venture to pre-
dict when sight will accompany sound
on the home radio set, but all agreed
that II is coming. Each OF the several
men most prominently identified with
television reported more or less progress
in his own line of research.
The radio men naturally were con-
cerned mostly with television radio.
They discounted a prevailing belle1
that television images will be carried
along wires rather than through the
ether: that is. that television will come
into the home via wired radio in order
that a fee for the service may be
charged at the receiving end. When
television arrives-possibly with the
span of a generation-it will be by
radio. A new broadcasting structure
will have to be erected to meet It's de-
mands. Such was the consensus among
the radio men.
Discuss Technical Problems.
Technical problems were discussed
chiefly at the symposium. The advan-
tages of drum-scanning disk Of his
own invention were described by G.
Francis Jenkins. the noted Washing
ton inventor and pioneer television ex-
perimenter Mr. jenkins freely predicts
that radio will soon bring into the
home what he calls 'radiovision re-
ception" Of such events as inaugural
ceremonies, base ball games, flower fes-
rivals and baby paradeS.
More conservative but no less def
mite convictions about the future OF
television were expressed by DR.. Alfred
N Goldsmith. the Radio Corporation
paper served to open the symposium.
DR. Goldsmith said that the transmits
sion of moving images was by far the
most difficult method Of radio trans
mission ever seriously proposed or ac-
complished Although he himself has
demonstrated in his laboratory that
recognizable figures can be sent and
received over three miles of space, DR..
Goldsmith showed that a multitude
- skt1l 49,, &Iaa af
the commercial exploitation Of tele-
vision. I
audible broadcasting receiver of today
In general will receive almost any sort
CT telephone transmission, tele=
vision receiver will pick up only the
highly individual transmissions ena-
mating from specific type of trans
rnitter of a definite design. In other
words, new types of radio sets will have
to be marketed for the reception of
home television. Naturally, the tele-
vision broadcaSting stations will also
have TO be Of considerably altered
design.
/. Advertising TO Pay Costs.
DR.. Goldsmith believes that the di-
rect costs Of television services will be
borne by al srtiSing sponsors, just as
advertisers low stage the leading radio
programs. The chain oroadcasting of
telev1sion involves q serious technical
problem, he said. It is possible that
television transmission will employ talk
ing motion picture film subjects at the
outset of its commercial development.
At dinner preceding the adjourn
naeht of its three day convention, the
Institute of Radio Engineers awarded
Its 1929 medal Of honor to Prof. G. w.
Pierce of Harvard University for his
pioneer contributions to radio engineer
ing literature, his work in the field Of
piezo-electricity and his more recent
Investigations in connection with mag
netostriction oscillations.
The annual award since 1918 has
gone successfully to such eminent
figures in the radio work as E. H.
Armstrong, z. F. w. AlexanderSon,
Guglielno Marconi r. A. Fessenden,
Lee De Forest, John Stone Stone Mi
chael I. Pupin, G. w. Pickard. Lewis
w. Austin and Jonathan Zennick.
The Morris M. Lehman memorial
prize of $500, awarded from a fund
established by e. J. Simon to the mem
Der of the institute making the most
important contribution to the radio
are each year, went to Prof. e. ".
Appleton of Kings College, London,
England. for his investigations in radio
wave transmitting phenomena. This
award has been won in previous years
by L. F. Fuller, r. A. Weagant, r. A.
Heising, G. S. Franklin, B. A. Beverage,
j. r. Carson, Frank Conrad, Ralph
Down, A. Hoyt Taylor and Prof. w. G.
Cody.
tcopyriEht, 1929. by North American News