2014/07/01 by Donald F. McLean · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Arts and Humanities · #Cinema and Media Studies #Art History and Market Analysis #Photography and Visual Culture #Quality (philosophy) #History #Period (music) #Advertising #Media studies #Sociology #Art #Business #Epistemology #Aesthetics #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1179/1758120614z.00000000048
openalex publication_date 2014/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
In January 1926, John Logie Baird gave what was considered at the time to be the first public demonstration of television. The image quality that people experienced can only be guessed; no details were released of the equipment and published reports were vague and inconsistent. Historians since then have been unable to add to the understanding and occasionally have confused the story through assumptions that are inconsistent with the available facts.This paper explores the period around Baird’s first demonstration in detail using a new in-depth analysis of the original Baird equipment now in museums, and a new contextual analysis of the original published material. It describes the most likely status of Baird’s television system in use in early 1926 and the likely quality of what people experienced.