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441-line is the number of
scan lines A scan line (also scanline) is one line, or row, in a raster scanning pattern, such as a line of video on a cathode ray tube (CRT) display of a television set or computer monitor. On CRT screens the horizontal scan lines are visually discernible, ...
in some early electronic monochrome analog
television system In Canada, a television system is a group of television stations which share common ownership, branding and programming, but which for some reason does not satisfy the criteria necessary for it to be classified as a television network under Cana ...
s. Systems with this number of lines were used with 25 interlaced frames per second in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
from 1937 to 1956,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
from 1939 to 1943, Italy from 1939 to 1940, as well as by
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
with 30 interlaced frames per second from 1938 to 1941. Broadcasts were planned in Finland for 1940, but eventually cancelled due to World War II. Some experiments with similar systems were carried out on the USSR in the 1930s and Japan in 1939.


Germany

After trials with a 375-line system during the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936, by 1937 Germany had introduced a 441-line with 50 interlaced fields per second television system that replaced the previous 180 lines network relayed by a special
Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...
(National Post Office) cable network in the country's main cities (
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital o ...
,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
). The system's line frequency was 11.025 kHz and the broadcast frequencies were 46.0 MHz for vision and 43.2 MHz for sound, using a 4 MHz channel bandwidth. Its
image aspect ratio The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to its height, and is expressed with two numbers separated by a colon, such as ''16:9'', sixteen-to-nine. For the ''x'':''y'' aspect ratio, the image is ''x'' units wide and ''y'' units high ...
was close to 1.15:1. A project began in 1938 involving the National Post and several companies including Bosch,
Blaupunkt Blaupunkt GmbH () was a German manufacturer of mostly car audio equipment. It was owned by Robert Bosch GmbH from 1933 until 1 March 2009, when it was sold to Aurelius AG of Germany. It filed for bankruptcy in late 2015 with liquidation proceed ...
, Loewe,
Lorenz Lorenz is an originally German name derived from the Roman surname Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum". Given name People with the given name Lorenz include: * Prince Lorenz of Belgium (born 1955), member of the Belgian royal family by ...
, and
Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" ap ...
that aimed to produce 10,000 receivers for the television system. Telefunken marketed the FE VI, announced in 1936, with a 26 x 21 cm screen and a tuning range of 38-60 MHz.. The next year, 1937, the FE-VI was introduced, with a larger 50 x 40 cm screen. In 1938 the TF 1 was released, with a 20 x 17 cm screen and a tuning range of 40-55 MHz. In 1937 Loewe created the FE-D, with a 24x20 cm screen and a tuning range of 35-55 MHz. In 1938 TeKaDe created a single model, the FS38, with a 30 x 27 cm screen and a tuning range of 43-52 MHz. Other brands like Fernseh AG also created models like the DE 6, also introduced in 1938, with a 32 x 27 cm screen and a tuning range of 40-53 MHz A single-channel TV receiver, the
Einheitsempfänger In August 1939, Nazi Germany introduced the ''Einheits-Fernseh-Empfänger E1'' (i.e. ''Unitary-TV-receiver E1''), also called ''Volksfernseher'' (i.e. ''People's TV''), a 441-line, 25 interlaced frames per second (or more correctly 50 fields per ...
was created in 1939. It had a 29 cm (diagonal) screen, and consumed 185 watts when receiving television signals and 60 watts when receiving audio only. Only a few units were built before the outbreak of World War II. Due to the onset of
the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
only about 50 devices were installed in military hospitals and various government departments. The transmitter's aerials in Berlin were destroyed during an Allied Forces' bombing in November 1943, but the station was also relayed by a special coaxial cables network to "wide screen" public "TV-rooms" () so it carried on this way until 1944. Technical details:


France

By 1941 the "Fernsehsender Paris" station transmitted from the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...
in Paris using the German 441-line system and its main technical characteristics, while however keeping the previous French 455 lines broadcast frequencies 42 MHz - 46 MHz in use from 1938 to 1940, thus with a larger visual bandwidth than the station operating in Berlin. Television programs were mainly for wounded soldiers of the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
occupation troops who recovered in the Greater Paris Area hospitals, but they also included French-language shows. Broadcasts were monitored in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
during the Second World War to gather intelligence information from
occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied z ...
. The line frequency was 11.025 kHz with vision broadcast at 46.0 MHz and sound at 42.0 MHz. Aerials were independent for audio and vision at the top of the Eiffel tower, both vertically polarized. No gain being obtained from these pre-war basic aerials, the effective radiated power was only the transmitter's peak one, i.e. 30 kW which enabled a good reception in a radius of 100 km (62 miles) around Paris. As displayed in J.M. Frost's WRTH (
World Radio TV Handbook The ''World Radio TV Handbook'', also known as ''WRTH'', is a directory of virtually every radio and TV station on Earth, published yearly. The importance of the book has greatly diminished with the online availability of up-to-date frequency inf ...
) editions at that time, the transmitter's frequencies (42-46 MHz) were listed as channel "F1" or channel "S" (or "Special" channel) in the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...
's official documents. After July 1952 the 441-line transmitter was no longer broadcasting separate programs, but simply picked up the national network's picture through an 819 - 441-line "optical converter" (a 441-line camera, slightly out of focus, pointed at an 819-lines monitor equipped with an oval spotlight
cathode ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), ...
). Broadcasts were due to cease on January 1, 1958, as the 819 lines standard had been adopted in 1948 for the national network. However, after a long elections coverage night, most of the 441-line equipment was destroyed by fire on January 3, 1956. It was decided to indemnify the 3,000 owners of remaining 441-line sets and to entitle them to reduced rates for their new 819 lines receivers. Technical details:


Italy

Following pre-war tests in 343 lines done by a
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
engineer named Castellani, broadcasts using the 441-line system began in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in 1939 with regular services from
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
using 2kW power and
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
using 400W of power in the frequency band of 40-45 MHz. As in France technical parameters – VHF frequencies excepted – were identical to those in use in Germany. Broadcasts were discontinued on May 31, 1940.


United States

In September 1938 the Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) recommended the 441-line system developed by
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
and Farnsworth Television. Tests started a year before, in an attempt to perfect a 343-line system, with RCA executives petitioning the
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
for approval of their new standard.Alexander B. Magoun, ''Television: The Life Story of a Technology''. Greenwood, p. 65. . In early 1938
Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased ...
's experimental transmitter W3XE in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
was already using the system. TV broadcasts were publicly launched in April 1939 by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, during the New York World's Fair, using the W2XBS station. The first pre-built TV receivers were sold on a very limited basis, mostly in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Manufacturers included RCA,
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
, DuMont, and Andrea Radio Corporation. By June 1939, regularly scheduled broadcasts were available in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. By October nineteen TV broadcast licenses had been issued, including stations in New York, Philadelphia (W3XE),
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
,
Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Cens ...
,
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
,
Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
(W2XB),
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
and
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
. By November General Electric's station in Schenectady started broadcasts. W2XBS in New York broadcast up to fifty-eight hours of programming per month until December 1939, to an estimate of 2,000 receiving sets. Reception area was a radius of 40- from the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
. Following a decision of the
NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
(National Television System Committee), the 525-line standard replaced the 441-line standard on July 1, 1941. Technical details:


Soviet Union

In the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
a specification for a 441-line format at 25 fps interlaced was developed in 1940. This was developed from broadcasts and tests started in 1937 from Moscow, using the older 343-line system, based on RCA equipment. Due to
WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the 441-line system never reached the broadcast stage.


References


Bibliography

*


External links


(in German) Rolf Wigand: Technische Beschreibung des E 1 (Zeitgenössischer Artikel in „Radio-Mentor", pdf 295 kB)


* http://www.compulink.co.uk/~rrussell/tccgen/manual/tcgen0.html * American ''Early Television Museum''

{{DEFAULTSORT:441 Lines Television technology History of television