Wirephoto
Encyclopedia
Wirephoto or telephotography is the sending of pictures by telegraph or telephone
.
Western Union
transmitted its first halftone
photograph
in 1921. AT&T
followed in 1924, and RCA sent a Radiophoto in 1926. The Associated Press
began its Wirephoto service in 1935, and held a trademark
on the term AP Wirephoto between 1963 and 2004. The first AP photo sent by wire depicted the crash of a small plane in New York's Adirondack Mountains
.
Technologically and commercially, the wirephoto was the successor to Ernest A. Hummel's Telediagraph of 1895, which had transmitted electrically scanned schellac-on-foil originals over a dedicated circuit connecting the New York Herald
and the Chicago Times Herald, the St. Louis Republic, the Boston Herald
, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Édouard Belin
's Belinograph of 1913, which scanned using a photocell and transmitted over ordinary phone lines, formed the basis for the AT&T Wirephoto service. In Europe, services similar to a wirephoto were called a Belino.
The first wirephoto systems were slow and did not reproduce well, and in 1929, Dr. Vladimir Zworykin an electronic engineer working for Western Electric came up with a system that produced a better reproduction and could transmit a full page in approximately one minute.
In the 1930s wirephoto machines of any reasonable speed were very large and expensive and required dedicated phone line, and news media firms like the Associated Press used expensive leased telephone lines to transmit wirephotos. In the mid-1930s a technology battle began for less expensive portable wirephoto equipment that could transmit photos over standard phone lines. One such device in the experimental stage was located in San Francisco when the large Navy air ship Macon crashed in the Pacific off of the coast of California. A photo was taken and transmitted to New York over regular phone lines. Later a totally portable wirephoto copier and transmitter was put into use by International News Photos, which could be carried anywhere and needed only a standard long distance phone line.
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
.
Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
transmitted its first halftone
Halftone
Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size, in shape or in spacing...
photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
in 1921. AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
followed in 1924, and RCA sent a Radiophoto in 1926. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
began its Wirephoto service in 1935, and held a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
on the term AP Wirephoto between 1963 and 2004. The first AP photo sent by wire depicted the crash of a small plane in New York's Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
.
Technologically and commercially, the wirephoto was the successor to Ernest A. Hummel's Telediagraph of 1895, which had transmitted electrically scanned schellac-on-foil originals over a dedicated circuit connecting the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
and the Chicago Times Herald, the St. Louis Republic, the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Édouard Belin
Édouard Belin
Édouard Belin was born in Vesoul, Haute-Saône on March 5, 1876, and died on March 4, 1963 in Territet .He is the inventor in 1907 of a phototelegraphic apparatus called the Bélinographe, a system able to send remote photographs, via telephone and telegraphic networks...
's Belinograph of 1913, which scanned using a photocell and transmitted over ordinary phone lines, formed the basis for the AT&T Wirephoto service. In Europe, services similar to a wirephoto were called a Belino.
The first wirephoto systems were slow and did not reproduce well, and in 1929, Dr. Vladimir Zworykin an electronic engineer working for Western Electric came up with a system that produced a better reproduction and could transmit a full page in approximately one minute.
In the 1930s wirephoto machines of any reasonable speed were very large and expensive and required dedicated phone line, and news media firms like the Associated Press used expensive leased telephone lines to transmit wirephotos. In the mid-1930s a technology battle began for less expensive portable wirephoto equipment that could transmit photos over standard phone lines. One such device in the experimental stage was located in San Francisco when the large Navy air ship Macon crashed in the Pacific off of the coast of California. A photo was taken and transmitted to New York over regular phone lines. Later a totally portable wirephoto copier and transmitter was put into use by International News Photos, which could be carried anywhere and needed only a standard long distance phone line.
See also
- Frederick BakewellFrederick BakewellFrederick Collier Bakewell was an English physicist who improved on the concept of the facsimile machine introduced by Alexander Bain in 1842 and demonstrated a working laboratory version at the 1851 World's Fair in London.-Biography:Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, he eventually moved to...
- Alexander BainAlexander Bain (inventor)Alexander Bain was a Scottish inventor and engineer who was first to invent and patent the electric clock. Bain installed the railway telegraph lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow.-Early life:...
- Giovanni CaselliGiovanni CaselliGiovanni Caselli was an Italian physicist. He is the inventor of the pantelegraph , the predecessor of the modern fax machine...
- FaxFaxFax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
- HellschreiberHellschreiberThe Hellschreiber or Feldhellschreiber is a facsimile-based teleprinter invented by Rudolf Hell. Compared to contemporary teleprinters that were based on typewriter systems, the Hellschreiber was much simpler and more robust, with only two moving parts...
- PantelegraphPantelegraphThe pantelegraph was an early form of facsimile machine transmitting over normal telegraph lines developed by Giovanni Caselli, used commercially in the 1860s, that was the first such device to enter practical service, It could transmit handwriting, signatures, or drawings within an area of up to...
- SSTV