Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-01-01 / 5. szám
FOR THE EARS AND FOR THE EYES Hungarian inventor Peter Goldmark A Goldmark television set with the color wheel A few decades ago, at Hungarian social events in Connecticut, we often saw Peter Goldmark. He blended in with the people even though he was a famous inventor working with Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). We talked with him about his color television technology, and sound recording and playing instruments. He answered our questions in a humble way, making sure that it was on a level that we all understood. Peter Carl Goldmark was bom in Hungary on Dec. 2, 1906, to a family steeped in music and art. A superior cellist as a child, Goldmark decided against a career in music and instead studied engineering. He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1931, before moving on to work for a British radio company. After two years in England, he emigrated to the United States, where he joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) as a construction engineer. It was at CBS that he would develop his most famous inventions. In those days, in the 1930s, the black and white pictures in only a few channels of the television, also very few shows had a limited audience. In 1940, inspired by the lush color of the film Gone with the Wind, Goldmark decided that it was possible for television to deliver color images. He set out to create what has become known as the fieldsequential system, a method of sending a series of primary colors to the eye. In 1946 Goldmark, working at CBS, demonstrated his color television system. His system produced color pictures by having a red-blue-green wheel spin in front of a cathode ray tube. They used this color picture produced by mechanical means in 1949 to broadcast medical procedures from Pennsylvania and Atlantic City hospitals. , Viewers in Atlantic City were able to see broadcasts of operations at the convention center. Newspaper reports gave account that the realistic way seeing surgery in color led to viewers getting sick and some to faint. Although Goldmark's mechanical system was eventually replaced by an electronic system, he is recognized as the 1st to introduce a color television system. RCA produced and electronic system that became the standard. Strange as it may be that was invented by an other Hungarian, Kálmán Tihanyi. In his 11 years as chief TV engineer, Goldmark developed both the original technology for color TV and the concept of This is the record player that was built into the luxury Chrysler cars video recording, which led to development of the VCR. In those days it was the radio that entertained Americans with news, sitcoms, and many other things that we are still used to. In the industry many thought television would never become an important factor. Goldmark strongly argued that television will become important and everything would be shown in true color. In the mid-1940s Goldmark changed his focus to sound recording and began developing a new sound technology—the long-playing record (LP). Goldmark was frustrated with the poor sound quality of 10-inch, 78-rpm discs and annoyed by the frequent need to flip sides. In 1945 he and a team of engineers began developing a better record. The team adopted the vinyl material and the 33 1/3- rpm speed. They enlarged the diameter to 12 inches and experimented with recording techniques to capture sound better. By 1948, the LP was ready to be introduced to the public. They could hold much more music—an entire symphony—and produce better sound then a 78. Goldmark, who had spent the 1940s making records bigger, now turned his attention to making them smaller. Their 33 1/3 RPM longer play records decisively beat RCA's 45 RPM recording system. Goldmark had engineered a revolution in the recording industry. His CBS colleagues began another project—developing a record player for the car. To be viable, the car record player had to be small enough to fit in the glove compartment. The result was a seven-inch record. Making the record smaller and cutting the speed to half, at the same time using three times as many grooves in the same area. The problem was to eliminate the effects of road vibration, which caused the record to skip. The record player was Page 4
