Paris Exhibit: 80 Years of French TV

[jhalphen]

Hi to All,

The Paris CNAM Museum is running an exhibition covering 80 years of French television until March 2015. There are mechanical TV demos using Roger Dupouy's 60 line Nipkow disk camera and receiver. Also, lots of pre-War TV gear belonging to the Museum.

see my slideshow here:
http://s281.photobucket.com/user/jha...ch%20TV?sort=9

Sorry! for some poor shots, i was ordered to turn off the camera's flash.

The Museum's official announcement about the expo:
http://www.arts-et-metiers.net/culture-tv

The Museum's database of scanned historical documents:
http://cnum.cnam.fr/

type "television" in the search field and 49 vintage documents will show up, many of which are from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Sorry! all in french.

Roger Dupouy's mechanical TV web site:
http://la-radiovision.fr/

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[Tom Albrecht]

I see one of the logos shown says "Fernsehsender Paris." Did the Germans set up their own TV station in Paris during their time there in WWII, or does that refer to something else?

This expo looks very nice, and it's interesting to see that the French had a significant contribution to TV development -- something I didn't know much about.

[Sandy G]

Thanks, Jerome !

[vts1134]

Originally Posted by Tom Albrecht

I see one of the logos shown says "Fernsehsender Paris." Did the Germans set up their own TV station in Paris during their time there in WWII, or does that refer to something else?

This expo looks very nice, and it's interesting to see that the French had a significant contribution to TV development -- something I didn't know much about.

I believe the Germans transmitted television signals via the Eiffel Tower to boost the morale of injured German troops recovering in hospitals.

[vts1134]

Wonderful exhibit, makes me wish I could visit. Thank you for sharing Jerome.

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by vts1134

I believe the Germans transmitted television signals via the Eiffel Tower to boost the morale of injured German troops recovering in hospitals.

Here's some further info on German TV in occupied France: The German 441-line system, introduced in 1937, remained in effect in Berlin until 1943 when the television tower was destroyed in an air raid. Even more surprising is the fact that the Germans took their television system to occupied France. From 1942 until their retreat in 1944, the Germans broadcast live cabarets as well as newsreels and short films from their captured transmitter on the Eiffel Tower. Both the Berlin and Paris transmitters were almost exclusively used to televise programs for wounded soldiers, with around 500 French-made television sets and about a 100 German sets in Parisian hospitals.
Received image from Paris [8K]
Paris interval signal received at Beachy
Head during the German occupation.
For two years these broadcasts were monitored by the R.A.F. intelligence service. A television receiving station was set up at Beachy Head to intercept transmissions from Paris, for which Wing Cdr. G.T.Kelsey secured two televisions from E.M.I. (a company for which he would later become an employee). The aerial consisted of a curtain array of 32 dipoles slung between two 150ft masts ; this was found necessary to eliminate strong signals from nearby radar stations. The transmisisons often contained news reels of bomb damage to France which provided useful information for the R.A.F.

Attachment: Off screen image of German TV broadcast from occupied France as received by RAF.
-Steve D.

[jhalphen]

Hi Tom,

Yes, the Germans set up FernsehSender Paris in 1943 to provide entertainment to wounded/recovering soldiers in Paris hospitals.

The station was run by a francophile, Kurt Hintzmann, who was married to a french wife. The station set up its studios 15 rue Cognacq-Jay and converted a dancing hall into several studios. The project was very innovative in terms of program content with a varied schedule including plays, drama, singers, orchestras, singing artists and movies.

Kurt Hintzmann took personal risks, covering many people and saving them from the STO (compulsory work deportation to Germany) and also protected many jewish artists and technicians. He was under close scrutiny by the Gestapo but got away with it with high-level protection in Berlin.

The station ceased broadcasting in august of 1944, days before Paris was liberated. He was ordered to destroy everything but disobeyed, a single tube was destroyed in the transmitter, the rest left intact. The experimental Telefunken Iconoscope cameras were shipped home to Berlin.

At the end of the war, the french inherited a state of the art 441 line TV facility. French TV remained in the Cognacq-Jay premises until its privatization in 1983!

Kurt Hintzmann came to live in France after the war, where he remained until his death. He received a medal for saving his work staff and was made an honorary President of Thomson-CSF for life.

A TV film named Cognacq-Jay was directed by Laurent Heynemann in 1993. It relates the entire story of FernsehSender Paris. It aired on Franco-German cultural TV channel ARTE, but unfortunately was not released on DVD.

Best Regards

jhalphen

[earlyfilm]

Originally Posted by Steve D.

. . . . .. From 1942 until their retreat in 1944, the Germans broadcast live cabarets as well as newsreels and short films from their captured transmitter on the Eiffel Tower. . . . . . For two years these broadcasts were monitored by the R.A.F. intelligence service. . . .

From the Eiffel Tower to Beachy Head line-of-sight is about 160 US miles (258 Km) and that is quite good for the sending and receiving equipment of the day!

Jas.

[old_tv_nut]

Thanks very much, Jerome, for the complete tour. Is that a stroboscopic pattern I see on one of the mechanical sets, presumably for help in setting motor speed?

[tubesrule]

Very nice presentation Jerome. I like seeing Roger get some exposure. Not sure if you can do anything, but you might mention to them the the viewing hood on the Baird Plessey Televisor is turned 90 degrees.

Darryl

[ChrisW6ATV]

Jerome-

Thank you for posting your pictures of the exhibit. I enjoyed seeing them.

[RCAGuy]

Jerome -- Thanks very much for taking the photos and posting the link! I spied a couple of Thomson mentions, which made me feel good (as a former Thomson guy.) C'est Magnifique!

[jhalphen]

Hi to All,

More photos of the Paris Culture TV exhibition:

http://louisegoingout.fr/culture-tv-...ion-francaise/

Completes my pictures, apparently this person had a journalist authorization and was allowed to use a flash, hence better picture quality.

Enjoy!

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[old_tv_nut]

Thanks, Jerome! The exhibit seems very well organized by time line, with a great variety of artifacts.

One picture has a fellow in a green shirt doing the green-screen weather - that's a no-no!

During the early days of color, the local Chicago NBC (RCA) owned station, WNBQ, was producing all local live programs in color. At the time, they could do a much cruder blue-screen chroma-key. They had a mid-day variety show on which they did one musical number where the female singer's dress was deliberately made of blue material, which then keyed in wild abstract patterns during her song.

[M3-SRT8]

Fantastique! What a museum!

Thank You, Jerome, for sharing this wonderful exhibit with us.

Vive La France!