Talk:Philo Farnsworth

message: Has Wikipedia decided on any standardized way of presenting GPS (Global Positioning System) Coordinates? Now that they are becoming more important for Automobile navigation systems and soon they will be popping up for personal navigation using Cell phones and hand held computers there will be a tremendous demand for these numbers so that anytime you are looking for some location you will know instantly how far away it is and in which direction. Not to mention many new applications  using your computer to generate personalized maps based upon your interests. FredRys ----
I have a question: the cathode ray tube article says it was invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun. This seems like an inconsistency with what is in this article. Could an explanation be included in the article as to how Braun figures in with Farnsworth? --Gary D 03:32, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: The story about Farnsworth's plowed furrow inspiration for straight-line raster scan of images is interesting enough to be quoted in this Wikipedia article.  Quicksilver 22:17, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

text: "Farnsworth then moved to Brigham Young University and tried to hire on most of his original lab from ITT into a new company. The company started operations in 1968, but after failing to secure several million dollars in seed capital, by 1970 they had burned through all of Farnsworth's savings. The IRS seized their assets in February 1971, and in March Farnsworth suffered a bout of pneumonia and died."
I haven't gone through the biographical manual o' style yet to see if there are standard-ish headings for biographical sketches -- but I guess I'll add this to my to-do-eventually list unless someone else wants to tackle it...? --dvgrn 06:08, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Old discussion

message: The Farnsworth Image Dissector and Zworykin's Iconoscope were both camera tubes.  But they were quite different.  The Image Dissector only used the photons that hit where the beam was scanning, so it integrated over one "pixel time", not a frame time.  But the Image Dissector had a photomultiplier stage, so it got as many electrons as it could out of the few photons it detected.
The Iconoscope integrated over a frame time, using capacitance on the imaging plate,
but didn't have a photomultiplier stage.  Both devices had very poor light sensitivity.
The Emitron was developed independently at EMI under Isaac Schoenberg and used the same principle of storing the charge.  The Book "Here's Looking at You: Story of British Television, 1908-39" has an account by two of Schoenberg's team - Tedham and Magee of how they defied orderes and made an experimental tube after normal working hours which succeeded in producing a recognisable picture.  The same book indicates that RCA and EMI agreed a patent exchange, with RCA treating EMI on equal terms
reference ;  Here's Looking at You: Story of British Television, 1908-39
Author Bruce Norman.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0563201029/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
[
[User:Rowan Langley|Rowan Langley]] (talk) 12:49, 13 May 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: There are several good books on Farnsworth's invention of electronic television.  It is very clear that Zworykin visited Farnsworth's lab under false pretenses, copied his image dissector at RCA, and said he wished he had invented it.  Farnsworth's breakthrough was all his own, and the guys at RCA did everything they could to strip him of the rights and honor due for that.  Anyone who wants to contradict that here would well to read one or more of these histories first. Dicklyon 05:59, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Zworykin, Farnsworth, and camera tubes 

message: Baird is generally regarded as the inventor of "television" in the whole of the UK, by the general public that is. However the general public makes little or no distinction between electromechanical television and purely electronic television. I am happy mostly happy with the changes that have been made to the page to show a more rounded (less US-centric) representation of the "facts". It should be noted that I am an Englishman promoting the inclusion of Rosing (a non-Englishman) and therefore my intentions are not clouded by national pride. It should also be noted that I have nothing against the USA (in this instance) or Farnsworth but simply fear that a US-led internet can cause a US bias in the recording of history. Finally I think that it may add some clarity if we were to define one person as the inventor of the "electronic television camera" and another as the inventor of the "electronic television set". By "set" I mean a piece of equipment that can display a television signal. If we did this then maybe Farnsworth would hold the first title (inventor of the electronic television camera) and Rosing would hold the second (inventor of the electronic television set). Together both men could be regarded as the inventors of electronic television. Some would argue that a television set is only a television set if it can receive a signal which has been broadcast in some manner, such people may perfer to call Rosing the inventor of the Cathode Ray Tube Display ("monitor").
>> Philo's wife, Elma Gardner "Pem" Farnsworth, died on April 27, 2006, at the age of 98. Farnsworth always gave his wife equal credit with himself for creating television, saying "my wife and I started this TV." It was Elma who fought for decades to assure Farnsworth's place in history after his death in 1971
Apparently she died on May 2nd. Please follow this link:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12596707/
The obituary was written on May 2.  It clearly states she died the previous Thursday (April 27).
What US-led Internet would that be? There is no such thing, just that this happens to be a US-based website, so expect some ignorance (Such as the claim of Farnsworth as TV's inventor) Morganson691 (talk) 18:27, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  The position in England and other matters 

message: Are there sources?
Can somebody tell about Philo Farnsworth involvement in Scouting?-Phips (talk) 22:41, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Eagle Scout

message: The fusor developed by Farnsworth is the direct predecessor to the Polywell fusion project. There should be mention of this in the section about Farnsworth's work on his fusor.
66.100.225.104 (talk) 22:51, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Farnsworth-Hirch Fusor and Polywell Fusion

message: One of the first all-electronic video camera tubes 
was invented in France by Edvard-Gustav Schoultz in 1921.
He filed the French patent FR-539-613 on August 23, 1921. 
The patent was accepted on April 5, 1922, and published 
on June 28, 1922. You can find a copy of the original 
document in the web page 
[] 
The Image Dissector was also invented in Germany by Max 
Diekmann and Rudolf Hell in 1925. They filed the German
patent DE-450-187 on April 5, 1925. The patent was accepted
on September 15, 1927, and published on October 3, 1927.
You can find a copy of the original document in the web page
[]  
--134.153.204.160 (talk) 16:16, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Of historical interest, but only minor relevance here. No evidence Farnsworth relied on these or any of the dozen or so proceeding application or patents for fully electronic imaging devices for his designs. Rico402 (talk) 10:52, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two Historical Notes 

message: Being in Philo's family, we have only ever referred to him as "Philo T. Farnsworth", and I have never heard anyone omit the middle initial. Consequently, I'm assuming that he is universally referred to as such. If this is true, the article title should reflect that, provided that there are no policies against it. Swfarnsworth (talk) 01:31, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Article Title

message: Hi, I just edited the last line of the opening paragraph.  Someone had come through and done a drive-by and said that Farnsworth had never produced any of his own cameras or televisions commercially--clearly trying to dampen the impression anyone would get about the man if they were to casually look him up.  This is ridiculous if you even go into the article a little bit.  I changed the line to reflect the truth concerning the manufacturing company (Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation) he began in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in 1938.  The factory for this company is mentioned being torn down at the end of the article--and I own one of their televisions--so I don't see how it can be argued Farnsworth never sold TVs to the public.  You can argue whether he was successful, but that might be a subset of Renauldo64's "WhyIBitchAboutWhoDeservesCreditForInventingTheTelevision" article, above. Playerpage (talk) 11:25, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Opening Paragraph

message: Please remove the text " (inaccurately)" from the text "In fiction, Farnsworth appeared in the Futurama episode "All The Presidents' Heads" as an ancestor of Professor Farnsworth and Philip J. Fry. He was (inaccurately) referred to as having invented the television.", because it constitutes a gratuitous insertion of the writer's opinion into what is otherwise an accurate statement (if Farnsworth WAS, in fact, referred to as the inventor of television in that episode of Futurama).  As to the validity of that opinion, while Farnsworth's status as the inventor of real television may be challenged by some, and hundreds of people were undoubtedly involved in both the successful and unsuccessful efforts towards its achievement, he stands head and shoulders above the rest - and most educated people who do not have some sort of nationalistic axe to grind would acknowledge him as the "inventor of television" if they had to pick one person.  While it might not be strictly accurate to say he "invented the television", it is hardly "inaccurate" either; it was his system that everybody ended up using, after all.
71.60.217.129 (talk) 21:08, 1 September 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: The inclusion of "(inaccurately)" there was unnecessary MOS:EDITORIALIZING. Whether it is generally considered true or not doesn't especially matter, because that isn't part of what is being discussed in that section. What is being reported there is simply what is in the Futurama episode.  —BarrelProof (talk) 20:39, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 1 September 2013 

message: The "Misquote" section mentions Philo's son Kent twice.  For some reason, his name is italicized the second time, i.e. Kent's.  Please unitalicize it.
2001:18E8:2:1020:A0B7:B544:704A:6325 (talk) 19:55, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: The italics there seems to be used to emphasize who actually made the statement, which seems reasonable to me. —BarrelProof (talk) 20:29, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 9 September 2013 

message: could he really been 15 when his father died?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.236.76.133 (talk) 10:15, 22 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  really 15 years old when father died? 

message: Since Jimmy still hasn't added password retrieval to the site *eyeroll, jerk-off hand motion*, I can't edit the article to fix this myself. Post all those "personal appeals" you want, Jimmy, you're not going to get a fucking cent from me for a handful of different reasons and that one is high on the list. At any rate, the link to Elma's interview on youtube is broken. --67.171.164.195 (talk) 06:04, 31 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dead youtube link (Elma's interview) 

message: There is also a statue of Philo T Farnsworth at his birthplace in Beaver, Utah. This is not reflected in the article, and should be added to the statues/memorial list. 
http://www.beavercountyutahtc.com/historicalsites.htm
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/27927
http://www.bettykincaid.com/philo-farnsworth/  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.177.233.98 (talk) 18:25, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Also a Statue in Beaver, Utah 

message: 1) Philo Farnsworth was one of the fist inventors of fully electronic TV set. However, it is written incorrectly that he was the first. Indeed, in 1927 he transmitted a signal in form of a straight line. However, this cannot be qualified as a fully electronic TV set since just a straight line is not a real dynamic object.
2) Philo Farnsworth in his patent submitted in 1927 used exactly same ideas and principles as those proposed earlier by Boris Grabovsky, Piskunov and Popov in 1925. Actually, Boris Rosing, who invented a TV set with mechanically rotating disk in 1910, advised and helped B. Grabovsky apply for a patent (issued under No 5592) in 1925.
3) The fist fully electronic TV set was demonstrated to special commission and public by B. Grabovsky in 1928, Tashkent, USSR.
These facts should be reflected in this webpage. However, I have no access. Please provide me access to include these corrections. Unfortunately, most of the available materials about it are in Russian. I would recommend the following two links:
in English:
http://ukraine-in.ua/en/science/bgrabovskiy-izobretatel-etv
or more complete information by historian and ethnographer Boris Golender in Russian:
http://www.fergananews.com/articles/8089 
Thank you for considering my request!
Telefot (talk) 21:43, 17 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: The article only says that he invented the "first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device". Stickee (talk) 00:37, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: No, it also says, rightly, that he (and his team) invented as well "the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system." --Tenebrae (talk) 02:34, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: This is not relevant to this article, or even to the "who was first" debate.  The issue has been covered before, years ago.  (See "Two Historical Notes," above.) There is no evidence that the patent, issued in 1925, had any influence on Philo's work at all (he was working on the other side of the world, in as much isolation as Grabovsky, so how could it?), and the same rules as the Zworykin vs. Farnsworth debate apply here: it is one thing to apply for a patent on paper, it is another to put it to practice, which Philo did.  There are ample published reports attesting to Philo T. Farnsworth's 1927 and 1928 demonstrations (I don't need to cite them again here, just go to the article)--what independent evidence is there that Grabovsky had anything to show in 1928, at all?  Gather your evidence and put it in a Wiki article on Grabovsky. Playerpage (talk) 23:12, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 17 May 2015 

message: If we continuously claim that Philo Farnsworth was a first inventor of the all-electronic TV set, we may distort his reputation by making his fame notorious. More and more historians infer already that Philo's as well as Vladimir Zworykin's "first" inventions could be due to leak of the Boris Grabovsky original invention of all electronic TV set that was demonstrated in 1928 in USSR. We all know that Philo Farnsworth was a talented engineer who contributed a lot to the development of early television. Did Philo deserve a notorious fame? Of course, not! I understand that many people sincerely believed from their childhood that the Philo was a pioneer. However, we must respect Philo Farnsworth by saying truth that he was not a first inventor of the all-electronic TV set! Telefot (talk) 05:52, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd call that paragraph above the very definition of click-bait.  Who are these historians who "infer" that the inventions of Farnsworth and Zworkin "could be due to a leak"?  The fact is, there is no evidence that Farnsworth directly knew anything regarding Russian experiments with television. I'd love to know your A-B-C on that. The September 1927 demonstration he made, of a straight line, wasn't meant to show a full picture, it was meant to show that a signal could be sent.  And the press was invited.  Boris' demonstration cannot be termed a public demonstration if there wasn't any coverage of it.  Also, you dismiss the line--what did Grabovsky demonstrate?  Is there a picture of his image?  You say above that he "proposed" a vertical sweep, in a demonstration.  You say his demonstration could have been leaked, which means it was being kept from the public, does it not?  At least there is a photograph, and documentation, of the line Farnsworth sent. Playerpage (talk) 01:04, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Let us respect Philo Farnsworth!