The video explores the history of video technology, from the first fax machine invented by Alexander Bain in 1843 to the development of modern video recording and storage. The narrator visits a collector of vintage video gear and explains how early video technology worked, including the use of Nipkow disks and cathode-ray tubes. He also discusses the challenges of recording and storing video images, including the use of film cameras to capture TV screens and the invention of the first video tape recorder in 1956. The video concludes by noting the advancements in video technology, including the transition from film to digital and the impact of video on society.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. Alexander Bain invented the first fax machine in 1843.
2. Alexander Bain's fax machine used a transmitter and receiver with synchronized pendulums to send and receive images.
3. The Nipkow disk, invented by Paul Nipkow in 1884, is a disc with a spiral of holes that scans an image into a one-dimensional electrical signal.
4. The Nipkow disk was used in early television systems to scan images and create electrical signals.
5. The cathode-ray tube (CRT) was used in early television systems to display images.
6. The CRT used an electron gun to fire electrons at a phosphor-coated screen, creating a visible image.
7. The number of lines scanned by the electron beam in a CRT is typically 525, but this is achieved by scanning every other line each 60th of a second.
8. Interlacing is a technique used in CRTs to create the illusion of a continuous moving image.
9. The persistence of vision is the phenomenon that allows us to perceive a continuous image from a series of still images.
10. The image orthicon tube, also known as the "Emmy," was a common vacuum tube design used in early television cameras.
11. The image orthicon tube used a photoelectric substance to release electrons in proportion to the light that hit them, creating an electron image.
12. The electron image was then scanned by an electron beam and amplified to create a visible image.
13. In the early days of television, video cameras existed but there was no way to record video, so live broadcasting was the norm.
14. To time-delay programming, television networks would film a television screen with a cinema camera and then broadcast the film later.
15. This method was expensive and wasteful, and by 1954, television networks were using more film than all the film studios in Hollywood combined.
16. The first workable video tape recorder was invented in 1956 and was the size of a large desk.
17. The video tape recorder used two-inch magnetic tape with video heads spinning at 14,000 RPM.
18. The invention of the video tape recorder revolutionized the television industry by allowing for the recording and storage of images.
19. The technology has since evolved to include VHS, Beta, DV, and mini DV, and now solid-state storage.
20. In 2012, digital technology surpassed film as the preferred method for shooting top-grossing movies.