01.03.2007 - 1907 - 2007 | Manfred von Ardenne | Episode 3: The day Electronic Television was born

The breakthrough of the fully electronic television came on 14 December 1930 when the electronic flying-spot scanner was realized for the first time. Manfred von Ardenne later wrote about this in a personal memorandum:

„I explained my idea to Emil Lorenz and immediately we became enthused such you feel in rare moments only and mostly prior to big events. In a feverish haste we grasped two electron beam tubes from the production stores, composed two generators for the line output from components of a low-frequency lab, plugged a broadband amplifier and took a lens of high luminous intensity as well as a photo cell of low inertia from the optical laboratory.“

Gratification for both came on the same evening: Manfred von Ardenne put a pair of scissors into the optical path of the flying-spot scanner. In the same moment its outlines became visible at the screen of the receiving tube at the far end of the room. This test was repeated with a slide the following day: The result was even more impressive.  

From: G. Barkleit: "Manfred von Ardenne - Selbstverwirklichung im Jahrhundert der Diktaturen" (Manfred von Ardenne - Self-fulfilment in the Century of the Dictatorships), Publisher: Duncker & Humblot, Berlin (2006)