Editing John Logie Baird

{{Short description|Scottish inventor, known for first demonstrating television (1888–1946)}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_suffix          = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSE}}
| name                      = John Logie Baird
| image                     = John Logie Baird in 1917.jpg
| image_size                =
| alt                       =
| caption                   = Baird in 1917
| birth_name                =
| birth_date                = {{Birth date|df=yes|1888|8|13}}
| birth_place               = [[Helensburgh]], Dunbartonshire, Scotland
| death_date                = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1946|6|14|1888|8|14}}
| death_place               = [[Bexhill-on-Sea|Bexhill]], Sussex, England
| resting_place             = Baird family grave in [[Helensburgh Cemetery]]
| monuments                 =
| nationality               = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| other_names               =
| citizenship               = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| education                 = [[Larchfield Academy]], Helensburgh
| alma_mater                = {{ubli|[[Royal Technical College]] (now [[University of Strathclyde]]) <!-- not Strathclyde University -->|[[University of Glasgow]]}}
| occupation                = {{ubl|Inventor|Entrepreneur}}
| years_active              =
| employer                  =
| organization              = {{ubli|Consulting technical adviser, [[Cable & Wireless Ltd]] (from 1941)|Director, John Logie Baird Ltd|Director, Capital and Provincial Cinemas Ltd}}
| known_for                 = The world's first mechanical television system, including the first mechanical [[colour television]]
| spouse                    = {{marriage|Margaret Albu|1931}}
| partner                   =
| children                  = 2
| website                   = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} -->
| awards                    = {{ubli|Member of the [[Physical Society of London|Physical Society]] (1927)|Member of the [[Television Society]] (1927)|Honorary Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (1937)}}
}}

'''John Logie Baird''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRSE}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|oʊ|ɡ|i|_|b|ɛər|d}};<ref>[http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/baird "Baird"]: ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]'' – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition.</ref> 13 August 1888{{spaced ndash}}14 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical [[Mechanical television|television]] system on 26 January 1926.<ref>[https://www.bairdtelevision.com/the-televisor-successful-test-of-new-apparatus-1926.html "The "Televisor" Successful Test of New Apparatus"], The Times (London), Thursday 28 January 1926, p. 9 column C.</ref><ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Who invented the television? How people reacted to John Logie Baird's creation 90 years ago|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/12121474/Who-invented-the-television-John-Logie-Baird-created-the-TV-in-1926.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126005621/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/12121474/Who-invented-the-television-John-Logie-Baird-created-the-TV-in-1926.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 January 2016|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=26 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Who invented the mechanical television? (John Logie Baird)|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=43A_5kGJ2hw|publisher=Google.|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> He went on to invent the first publicly demonstrated colour television system and the first viable purely electronic [[Color television|colour television]] picture tube.<ref name="Historical Figures" /><ref name="Abramson" />

In 1928, the Baird Television Development Company achieved the first transatlantic television transmission.<ref name="Historical Figures" /> Baird's early technological successes and his role in the practical introduction of broadcast television for home entertainment have earned him a prominent place in television's history.

In 2006, Baird was named as one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history, having been listed in the [[National Library of Scotland]]'s 'Scottish Science Hall of Fame'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/john-logie-baird/index.html|title=John Logie Baird was voted the second most popular Scottish scientist|year=2009|work=Scottish Science Hall of Fame|publisher=National Library of Scotland|access-date=6 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719030658/http://www.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/john-logie-baird/index.html|archive-date=19 July 2010}}</ref> In 2015, he was inducted into the [[Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame]].<ref>[http://engineeringhalloffame.org/ "2015 Inductee: John Logie Baird"]. Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 October 2015</ref> In 2017, [[IEEE]] unveiled a bronze street plaque at 22 Frith Street ([[Bar Italia]]), London, dedicated to Baird and the invention of television.<ref>[https://www.ieee-ukandireland.org/ieee-milestone-celebration-the-evolution-of-television-from-baird-to-the-digital-age/ "IEEE Milestone Celebration"] – The Evolution of Television from Baird to the Digital Age. Retrieved 1 August 2020</ref> In 2021, the [[Royal Mint]] unveiled a John Logie Baird [[Fifty pence (British coin)|50p]] coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/john-logie-baird/|title=John Logie Baird &#124; the Royal Mint|access-date=2 October 2021|archive-date=25 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225060722/https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/john-logie-baird/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early years==
Baird was born on 13 August 1888 in [[Helensburgh]], Dunbartonshire, and was the youngest of four children of the Reverend John Baird, the [[Church of Scotland]]'s minister for the local St Bride's Church, and Jessie Morrison Inglis, the orphaned niece of the wealthy [[A. & J. Inglis|Inglis]] family of shipbuilders from [[Glasgow]].<ref>Burns, John Logie Baird, television pioneer p.1</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/baird_logie.shtml|title=BBC – History – John Logie Baird}}</ref>

He was educated at [[Larchfield Academy]] (now part of [[Lomond School]]) in Helensburgh; the [[University of Strathclyde|Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College]]; and the [[University of Glasgow]]. While at college, Baird undertook a series of engineering apprentice jobs as part of his course. The conditions in industrial Glasgow at the time helped form his socialist convictions but also contributed to his ill health. He became an agnostic, though this did not strain his relationship with his father.<ref>R. W. Burns (2000). John Logie Baird, Television Pioneer. IET. p. 10. {{ISBN|9780852967973}}. "Even Baird's conversion to agnosticism while living at home does not appear to have stimulated a rebuke from the Reverend John Baird. Moreover, Baird was freely allowed to try to persuade others—including visiting clergy—to his beliefs."</ref> His degree course was interrupted by the [[First World War]] and he never returned to graduate.

At the beginning of 1915 he volunteered for service in the British Army but was classified as unfit for active duty. Unable to go to the front, he took a job with the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company, which was engaged in munitions work.<ref>T. McArthur and P. Waddell, ''Vision Warrior'', Orkney Press, 1990</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2021}}

==Television experiments==
In early 1923, and in poor health, Baird moved to 21 Linton Crescent, [[Hastings]], on the south coast of England. He later rented a workshop in the Queen's Arcade in the town. Baird built what was to become the world's first working television set using items that included an old hatbox and a pair of scissors, some darning needles, a few bicycle light lenses, a used tea chest, and sealing wax and glue that he purchased.<ref name=AMH/> In February 1924, he demonstrated to the ''Radio Times'' that a semi-mechanical [[analogue television]] system was possible by transmitting moving silhouette images.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burns|first1=Russell|title=John Logie Baird, television pioneer|date=2000|publisher=Institution of Electrical Engineers|location=London|isbn=9780852967973|page=[https://archive.org/details/johnlogiebairdte0000burn/page/50 50]|url=https://archive.org/details/johnlogiebairdte0000burn|url-access=registration|quote=john logie baird 1924 demonstration radio times.}}</ref> In July of the same year, he received a 1000-volt electric shock but survived with only a burnt hand but, as a result, his landlord, Mr Tree, asked him to vacate the premises.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burns|first1=R.W.|title=John Logie Baird: Television Pioneer|date=2000|publisher=IET|page=59}}</ref>  Soon after arriving in London, looking for publicity, Baird visited the ''[[Daily Express]]'' newspaper to promote his invention. The news editor was terrified and he was quoted by one of his staff as saying: "For God's sake, go down to reception and get rid of a lunatic who's down there. He says he's got a machine for seeing by wireless! Watch him—he may have a razor on him."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/BAIRD_BIO.html |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040302130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/13071/20040303-0000/www.acmi.net.au/AIC/BAIRD_BIO.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 March 2004 |title=Australian Web Archive |publisher=webarchive.nla.gov.au |date=23 August 2006 |access-date=2 October 2013}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[File:John Logie Baird, Apparatus.jpg|thumb|left|John Logie Baird with his television apparatus, {{Circa|1925}}]]
In these attempts to develop a working television system, Baird experimented using the [[Nipkow disk]]. [[Paul Gottlieb Nipkow]] had invented this scanning system in 1884.<ref name=Ambramson87>Albert Abramson, ''The History of Television, 1880 to 1941'', McFarland, 1987, pp. 13–15.</ref> Television historian Albert Abramson calls Nipkow's patent "the master television patent".<ref name=Abramson87/> Nipkow's work is important because Baird, followed by many others, chose to develop it into a broadcast medium.

[[Image:John Logie Baird and Stooky Bill.png|thumb|left|Baird in 1926 with his televisor equipment and dummies "James" and "Stooky Bill"]]
In his laboratory on 2 October 1925, Baird successfully transmitted the first television picture with a [[greyscale]] image: the head of a ventriloquist's dummy nicknamed "[[Stooky Bill]]" in a 32-line vertically scanned image, at five pictures per second.<ref>R. W. Burns, ''Television: An International History of the Formative Years'', p. 264.</ref> Baird went downstairs and fetched an office worker, 20-year-old William Edward Taynton, to see what a human face would look like, and Taynton became the first person to be televised in a full tonal range.<ref>Donald F. McLean, ''Restoring Baird's Image'', p. 37.</ref>

In June 1924, Baird purchased [[thallium(I) sulfide|thallium sulfide]] (developed by [[Theodore Case]] in the US)<ref name="IEEE">{{cite journal |title=John Logie Baird and the Secret in the Box: The Undiscovered Story Behind the World's First Public Demonstration of Television |journal=Proceedings of the IEEE |date=August 2020 |volume=108 |issue=8 |pages=1371–1382 |doi=10.1109/JPROC.2020.2996793 |last1=Inglis |first1=Brandon D. |last2=Couples |first2=Gary D. |doi-access=free }}</ref> from [[Cyril Frank Elwell]]. The chemical became an important part in the development of "talking pictures." Baird's implementation of the [[Thallium(I) sulfide|thallium sulfide]] resulted in the first live-animated image on lense from [[reflected light]]. He improved the [[signal conditioning]] from the thallium sulfide "cell" via temperature optimisation (cooling) and his own custom-designed video amplifier,<ref name="IEEE"/> pioneering the technology we now use today.

===First public demonstrations===
Baird gave the first public demonstration of moving silhouette images by television at [[Selfridges]] department store in London in a three-week period beginning on 25 March 1925.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cooke|first1=Lez|title=British Television Drama: A History|date=2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|page=9}}</ref>
[[File:John Logie Baird, 1st Image.jpg|thumb|upright|The first known photograph of a moving image produced by Baird's "televisor", as reported in ''[[The Times]]'', 28 January 1926 (The subject is Baird's business partner [[Oliver Hutchinson]].)]]
On 26 January 1926, Baird gave the first public demonstration of true television images for members of the [[Royal Institution]] and a reporter from ''[[The Times]]'' in his laboratory at 22 [[Frith Street]] in the [[Soho]] district of London, where [[Bar Italia]] is now located.<ref name="Historical Figures">{{cite web|title=Historic Figures: John Logie Baird (1888–1946)|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/baird_logie.shtml|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Inglis |first1=Brandon D. |last2=Couples |first2=Gary D. |title=John Logie Baird And The Secret In The Box: The Undiscovered Story Behind The World's First Public Demonstration Of Television |journal=Proceedings of the IEEE |date=August 2020 |volume=108 |issue=8 |pages=1371–1382 |doi=10.1109/JPROC.2020.2996793 |issn=1558-2256|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Kamm and Baird, ''John Logie Baird: A Life'', p. 69</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLean|first=Donald F.|date=July 2014|title=The Achievement of Television: The Quality and Features of John Logie Baird's System in 1926|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/1758120614Z.00000000048|journal=The International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology|language=en|volume=84|issue=2|pages=227–247|doi=10.1179/1758120614Z.00000000048|s2cid=110636009|issn=1758-1206}}</ref> Baird initially used a scan rate of 5 pictures per second, improving this to 12.5 pictures per second c.1927. It was the first demonstration of a television system that could scan and display live moving images with tonal graduation.<ref name="Telegraph"/>
[[File:John_Logie_Baird_Blue_Plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Blue plaque]] marking Baird's first demonstration of television at 22 Frith Street, Westminster, W1, London]]
He demonstrated the world's first colour transmission on 3 July 1928, using scanning discs at the transmitting and receiving ends with three spirals of apertures, each spiral with a filter of a different primary colour; and three light sources at the receiving end, with a [[commutator (electric)|commutator]] to alternate their illumination.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1925554|title=Patent US1925554 – Television apparatus and the like|access-date=23 January 2008}}</ref><ref>John Logie Baird, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US1925554 Television Apparatus and the Like], US patent, filed in UK in 1928.</ref> In the same year he also demonstrated stereoscopic television.<ref>R. F. Tiltman, [https://www.bairdtelevision.com/how-stereoscopic-television-is-shown-1928.html How "Stereoscopic" Television is Shown], ''Radio News'', Nov. 1928.</ref>

===Broadcasting===
In 1927, Baird transmitted the world's first long-distance television pictures over {{convert|438|mi|km}} of telephone line between London and Central Hotel at [[Glasgow Central station]].<ref>[http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=History%20Places&vxClipId=1380_SMG1671&vxBitrate=300 Interview with Paul Lyons] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208195018/http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/video.html?vxSiteId=60fdd544-9c52-4e17-be7e-57a2a2d76992&vxChannel=History+Places&vxClipId=1380_SMG1671&vxBitrate=300 |date= 8 December 2008 }}, Historian and Control and Information Officer at Glasgow Central Station</ref>
This transmission was Baird's response to a 225-mile, long-distance telecast between stations of AT&T Bell Labs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLean|first=Donald F.|date=June 2019|title=Seeing Across Oceans: John Logie Baird's 1928 Trans-Atlantic Television Demonstration [Scanning Our Past]|journal=Proceedings of the IEEE|volume=107|issue=6|pages=1206–1218|doi=10.1109/JPROC.2019.2911770|issn=0018-9219|doi-access=free}}</ref> The Bell stations were in New York and Washington, DC. The earlier telecast took place in April 1927, a month before Baird's demonstration.<ref name="Abramson87">Albert Abramson, ''The History of Television, 1880 to 1941'', McFarland, 1987, pp. 99–101.</ref>
[[File:John Logie Baird and mechanical television.jpg|thumb|right|Baird demonstrating his mechanical television system in New York, 1931]]
Baird set up the [[Edward Manville|Baird Television Development Company Ltd]], which in 1928 made the first transatlantic television transmission, from London to [[Hartsdale]], New York, and in 1929 the first television programmes officially transmitted by the [[BBC]].  In November 1929, Baird and [[Bernard Natan]] established France's first television company, Télévision-Baird-Natan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Scottish fact of the day: first TV signal broadcast|url=http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/scottish-fact-of-the-day-first-tv-signal-broadcast-1-2931348|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=9 October 2017}}</ref> Broadcast on the BBC on 14 July 1930, ''[[The Man with the Flower in His Mouth]]'' was the first drama shown on UK television.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Man with the Flower in his Mouth|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02d2sm7|publisher=BBC|date=9 October 2017}}</ref> The BBC transmitted Baird's first live outside broadcast with the televising of [[Epsom Derby|The Derby]] in 1931.<ref>{{cite news|title=BBC's first television outside broadcast|url=http://www.bbceng.info/additions/2016/first-scanner-prospero-2010a.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bbceng.info/additions/2016/first-scanner-prospero-2010a.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=Prospero}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Iain Logie Baird (April 2021) |title=Televising the Derby (1931)|url=https://www.bairdtelevision.com/televising-the-derby-1931.html|publisher=www.bairdtelevision.com}}</ref> He demonstrated a theatre television system, with a screen two feet by five feet (60&nbsp;cm by 150&nbsp;cm), in 1930 at the [[Coliseum Theatre|London Coliseum]], Berlin, Paris, and [[Stockholm]].<ref>{{cite news|author=John Logie Baird |title=Television in 1932 |url=https://www.bairdtelevision.com/television-in-1932-bbc-annual-report-1933.html|publisher=www.bairdtelevision.com}}</ref> By 1939 he had improved his theatre projection to televise a boxing match on a screen {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} by {{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>"Baird Television Limited – Growing Demand For Home Receivers – Success of Large Screen Projections in Cinemas – etc". ''[[The Times]]'', 3 April 1939 p23 column A.</ref>

From 1929 to 1935, the BBC transmitters were used to broadcast television programmes using the 30-line Baird system, and from 1932 to 1935 the BBC also produced the programmes in their own studio, first at Broadcasting House and then later at 16 Portland Place.<ref>{{cite news|author=Iain Logie Baird |title=1932 Television Demonstrated in 1952 |url=https://www.bairdtelevision.com/1932-television-demonstrated-in-1952.html|publisher=www.bairdtelevision.com}}</ref> In addition, from 1933 Baird and the Baird Company were producing and broadcasting a small number of television programmes independent of the BBC from Baird's studios and transmitter at the Crystal Palace in south London.<ref>Ray Herbert, ''[http://www.bairdtelevision.com/crystalpalace.html The Crystal Palace Television Studios: John Logie Baird and British Television]'', accessed online 6 January 2019</ref>

On 2 November 1936, from [[Alexandra Palace]] located on the high ground of the north London ridge, [[First day of BBC television|the BBC began]] alternating Baird 240-line transmissions with [[EMI]]'s electronic scanning system, which had recently been improved to [[405-line television system|405-lines]] after a merger with [[Marconi]]. The Baird system at the time involved an intermediate film process, where footage was shot on cinefilm, which was rapidly developed and scanned.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} [[Image:Baird experimental broadcast.jpg|thumb|right|An early experimental television broadcast]]The trial was due to last for 6 months but the BBC ceased broadcasts with the Baird system in February 1937, due in part to a disastrous fire in the Baird facilities at Crystal Palace. It was becoming apparent to the BBC that the Baird system would ultimately fail due in large part to the lack of mobility of the Baird system's cameras, with their developer tanks, hoses, and cables.<ref>Kamm and Baird, ''John Logie Baird: A Life'', p. 286</ref> Commercially Baird's contemporaries, such as George William Walton and [[William Stephenson]], were ultimately more successful as their patents underpinned the early television system used by [[Scophony]] Limited who operated in Britain up to WWII and then in the US. "Of all the electro-mechanical television techniques invented and developed by the mid 1930s, the technology known as Scophony had no rival in terms of technical performance."<ref>Paul Marshall, ''Inventing Television: Transnational Networks of Co-operation and Rivalry, 1870-1936'', [https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54509330/FULL_TEXT.PDF Link]{{page needed|date=September 2022}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2022}} In 1948 Scophony acquired John Logie Baird Ltd.

Baird's television systems were replaced by the first fully electronic television system developed by the newly formed company EMI-[[Marconi Company|Marconi]] under Sir [[Isaac Shoenberg]], who headed a research group that developed an advanced camera tube (the Emitron) and a relatively efficient hard-vacuum cathode-ray tube for the television receiver.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sir Isaac Shoenberg, British inventor|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Shoenberg |access-date=22 July 2020 |work=Encyclopaedia Britannica|quote=principal inventor of the first high-definition television system}}</ref> [[Philo T. Farnsworth]]'s electronic "Image Dissector" camera was available to Baird's company via a patent-sharing agreement. However, the Image Dissector camera was found to be lacking in light sensitivity, requiring excessive levels of illumination. The Baird company used the Farnsworth tubes instead to scan cinefilm, in which capacity they proved serviceable though prone to drop-outs and other problems. Farnsworth himself came to London to the Baird [[Crystal Palace School|Crystal Palace]] laboratories in 1936 but was unable to fully solve the problem; the fire that burned Crystal Palace to the ground later that year further hampered the Baird company's ability to compete.<ref>Kamm and Baird, ''John Logie Baird: A Life'', pp. 286–289.</ref>

===Fully electronic===
[[File:Baird first color photo.jpg|thumb|right|This live image of [[Paddy Naismith]] was used to demonstrate Baird's first all-electronic [[colour television]] system, which used two projection CRTs. The two-colour image was similar to the later Telechrome system.]]
Baird made many contributions to the field of electronic television after mechanical systems became obsolete. In 1939, he showed a system known today as hybrid colour using a [[cathode-ray tube]] in front of which revolved a disc fitted with colour filters, a method taken up by [[CBS]] and RCA in the United States.<ref name="Colour television"/>

As early as 1940, Baird had started work on a fully electronic system he called the "[[Telechrome]]". Early Telechrome devices used two electron guns aimed at either side of a phosphor plate. The phosphor was patterned so the electrons from the guns only fell on one side of the patterning or the other. Using [[cyan]] and [[magenta]] phosphors, a reasonable limited-colour image could be obtained.
[[File:Thinktank Birmingham - Baird.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A Baird television advertisement c. 1949]] In 1941, he patented and demonstrated this system of three-dimensional television at a definition of 500 lines.  On 16 August 1944, he gave the world's first demonstration of a practical fully electronic [[colour television]] display.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hempstead|first1=Colin|title=Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Technology|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|page=824}}</ref> His 600-line colour system used triple [[Interlaced video|interlacing]], using six scans to build each picture.<ref name="Abramson">Albert Abramson, ''The History of Television, 1942 to 2000'', McFarland & Company, 2003, pp. 13–14. {{ISBN|0-7864-1220-8}}</ref><ref name="Colour television">[https://www.bairdtelevision.com/high-definition-colour-television-19401944.html The World's First High Definition Colour Television System]</ref>

In 1943, the Hankey Committee was appointed to oversee the resumption of television broadcasts after the war. Baird persuaded them to make plans to adopt his proposed 1000-line Telechrome electronic colour system as the new post-war broadcast standard. The picture resolution on this system would have been comparable to today's HDTV ([[High-definition television|High Definition]] Television). The Hankey Committee's plan lost all momentum partly due to the challenges of postwar reconstruction. The monochrome 405-line standard remained in place until 1985 in some areas, and the 625-line system was introduced in 1964 and ([[PAL]]) colour in 1967. A demonstration of large screen three-dimensional television by the BBC was reported in March 2008, over 60 years after Baird's demonstration.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Challenges of Three-Dimensional Television|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP173.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP173.pdf|page=1|archive-date=9 October 2022|url-status=live|agency=BBC|date=7 June 2016}}</ref>

==Other inventions==
Some of Baird's early inventions were not fully successful. In his twenties he tried to create [[diamonds]] by heating [[graphite]]. Later Baird invented a glass razor, which was rust-resistant, but shattered. Inspired by pneumatic tyres he attempted to make pneumatic shoes, but his prototype contained semi-inflated balloons, which burst (years later this same idea was successfully adopted for [[Dr. Martens]] boots). He also invented a thermal undersock (the Baird undersock), which was moderately successful. Baird suffered from cold feet, and after several trials, he found that an extra layer of cotton inside the sock provided warmth.<ref name=AMH>American Media History, Fellow, p. 278</ref>

Between 1926 and 1928, he attempted to develop an early video recording device, which he dubbed [[Phonovision]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLean|first=Donald F|date=April 1985|title=Computer-based analysis and restoration of Baird 30-line television recordings|journal=Journal of the Royal Television Society|volume=22|pages=87–94}}</ref> The system consisted of a large Nipkow scanning disk attached by a mechanical linkage to a [[Disc cutting lathe|record-cutting lathe]]. The result was a disc that could record a 30-line video signal. Technical difficulties with the system prevented its further development, but some of the original Phonovision discs have been preserved.<ref>[http://www.tvdawn.com/ "The dawn of TV: Mechanical era of British television"]. TVdawn.com.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=McLean, Donald F.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44693906|title=Restoring Baird's image|date=2000|publisher=Institution of Electrical Engineers|others=Institution of Electrical Engineers.|isbn=0-85296-795-0|location=London|oclc=44693906}}</ref>

Baird's other developments were in [[Optical fiber|fibre-optics]], radio direction finding, [[infrared]] [[Night vision|night viewing]] and [[radar]]. There is discussion about his exact contribution to the development of radar, for his wartime defence projects have never been officially acknowledged by the [[UK government]]. According to Malcolm Baird, his son, what is known is that in 1926 Baird filed a patent for a device that formed images from reflected radio waves, a device remarkably similar to radar, and that he was in correspondence with the British government at the time.<ref>[http://www.bairdtelevision.com/ "Television, Radar and J.L. Baird"]. Bairdtelevision.com.</ref> The radar contribution is in dispute. According to some experts, Baird's "Noctovision" is not radar. Unlike radar (except [[continuous wave radar]]), Noctovision is incapable of determining the distance to the scanned subject. Noctovision also cannot determine the coordinates of the subject in three-dimensional space.<ref>Russell Burns, John Logie Baird (N.C.: The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2001), 119.</ref>

==Death==
From December 1944, Logie Baird lived at 1 Station Road, [[Bexhill-on-Sea]], East Sussex, he later died there on 14 June 1946 after suffering a stroke in February.<ref name="Hastings">{{cite news|title=125th birthday of the inventor of television John Logie Baird |url=http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/125th-birthday-of-the-inventor-of-television-john-logie-baird-1-5436074 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131194231/http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/125th-birthday-of-the-inventor-of-television-john-logie-baird-1-5436074 |archive-date=31 January 2016 |publisher=[[Hastings Observer]] |date=2 September 2013|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref> The house was demolished in 2007 and the site is now occupied by apartments named Baird Court.<ref name="Hastings"/> Logie Baird is buried beside his parents in [[Helensburgh Cemetery]], Argyll, Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/johnlogiebairdte0000burn|title=John Logie Baird : television pioneer|first=R. W.|last=Burns|date=2 October 2000|publisher=London : Institution of Electrical Engineers|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Honours and portrayals==
[[File:JOHN LOGIE BAIRD 1888-1946 Television pioneer lived here.jpg|thumb|upright|Blue plaque erected by Greater London Council at 3 Crescent Wood Road, Sydenham, London]]
Australian television's [[Logie Award]]s were named in honour of John Logie Baird's contribution to the invention of the television.

Baird became the only posthumous subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' when he was honoured by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at the BBC Television Theatre in 1957.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Nick |title=Late great engineers: John Logie Baird- the founding father of television |url=https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/in-depth/late-great-engineers-john-logie-baird-the-founding-father-of-television/ |work=The Engineer |date=6 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2014, the [[Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers]] (SMPTE) inducted Logie Baird into The Honor Roll, which "posthumously recognizes individuals who were not awarded Honorary Membership during their lifetimes but whose contributions would have been sufficient to warrant such an honor".<ref>{{cite web|title=SMPTE® Announces 2014 Honorees and Award Winners|publisher=Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers|url=https://www.smpte.org/news-events/news-releases/2014honorsandawards|access-date=10 November 2014|ref=31|archive-date=5 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005053219/https://www.smpte.org/news-events/news-releases/2014honorsandawards|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2023, John MacKay portrayed John Logie Baird in both the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series ''[[Nolly (TV series)|Nolly]]'' and the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[The Giggle]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who confirms further castings for 60th anniversary specials {{!}} Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-further-cast-newsupdate/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=www.radiotimes.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
In 2013, [[Historic Environment Scotland]] awarded a plaque to commemorate Logie Baird. It can be found in Helensburgh.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Logie Baird|url=https://engineeringhalloffame.org/profile/john-logie-baird |website=Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame |access-date=2024-08-20}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[History of television]]

{{Portal|Television}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
*{{citizendium}}

==Further reading==
'''Books'''
*Baird, John Logie, ''Television and Me: The Memoirs of John Logie Baird''. Edinburgh: [[Mercat Press]], 2004. {{ISBN|1-84183-063-1}}
*Burns, Russell, ''John Logie Baird, television pioneer''. London: The [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]], 2000. {{ISBN|0-85296-797-7}}
*Kamm, Antony, and Malcolm Baird, ''John Logie Baird: A Life''. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing, 2002. {{ISBN|1-901663-76-0}}
*McArthur, Tom, and Peter Waddell, ''The Secret Life of John Logie Baird''. London: Hutchinson, 1986. {{ISBN|0-09-158720-4}}.
*McLean, Donald F., ''Restoring Baird's Image''. The Institute of Electrical Engineers, 2000. {{ISBN|0-85296-795-0}}.
*Rowland, John, ''The Television Man: The Story of John Logie Baird''. New York: Roy Publishers, 1967.
*Tiltman, Ronald Frank, ''Baird of Television''. New York: Arno Press, 1974. (Reprint of 1933 ed.) {{ISBN|0-405-06061-0}}.

'''Patents'''
*{{US patent|1699270}}
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2006124 Television Apparatus], US patent, filed 1926.
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE19169 Method of and Means for Transmitting Signals], US patent for Baird's "Noctovision" infrared television system, filed 1927.
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US1925554 Television Apparatus and the Like], US patent for Baird's colour television system, filed 1929 (in UK, 1928).

==External links==
{{Commons category|John Logie Baird}}
* [http://www.bairdtelevision.com/ John Logie Baird official website (the Baird family)]
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/580156/index.html John Logie Baird biography at BFI Screenonline]
* [http://www.heroescentre.co.uk/hall-of-fame/science-innovation/science-innovation-john-logie-baird/ John Logie Baird's entry on Helensburgh Heroes web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926180616/http://www.heroescentre.co.uk/hall-of-fame/science-innovation/science-innovation-john-logie-baird/ |date=26 September 2020 }}
* [http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/collections-stories/science-and-technology/colour-television/ John Logie Baird's colour television] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214233853/http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/collections-stories/science-and-technology/colour-television/ |date=14 February 2016 }} at [[National Museum of Scotland]]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=ud4DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1935+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA321 "Television for Millions" ''Popular Mechanics'', September 1935]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=uN4DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA878 "Electron Camera Shoots Television Images" ''Popular Mechanics'', June 1935]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=uN4DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA879 "London Station To Serve Ten Million People" ''Popular Mechanics'', June 1935]
* {{PM20|FID=co/049316|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=Baird Television Ltd (London)}}

{{Telecommunications}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, John Logie}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish businesspeople]]
[[Category:People from Helensburgh]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Strathclyde]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Scottish agnostics]]
[[Category:Scottish electrical engineers]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish inventors]]
[[Category:Scottish physicists]]
[[Category:History of television in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Television pioneers]]
[[Category:Television technology]]
[[Category:People educated at Larchfield Academy]]
[[Category:Box Hill, Surrey]]
[[Category:Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish engineers]]
[[Category:Scottish company founders]]