1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com. Hey there, and welcome to Tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works, and I heart radio and love all 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: things tech. And before I jump into what is going 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: to be the main focus pun intended for this episode, 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: I want to mention something about our CIA, because we're 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: continuing our story about our CIA and something that happened 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: to our c A. That was the year that Howard 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: Hughes would buy controlling steak in r k O Pictures, 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: the motion picture company and also theater chain. Our Cier 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: had purchased a theater chain and created r k OH 13 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: specifically in order to get a foothold with its optical 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: on film sound system. So if you listen to the 15 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: earlier episodes of Our Cia, you remember they went so 16 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: far as to create an entirely new film company in 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: order to establish this technology. Well that being done now 18 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: in ninety they no longer sought necessary to keep this 19 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: motion picture company around and sold off the controlling interest 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: to Howard Hughes, someone that I should probably do in 21 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: a full episode about in the future, but that is 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:31,479 Speaker 1: one complicated cat right there. Anyway, In nineteen forty nine, 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: David Sarnoff, the man who was the general manager and 24 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: then the president of our CIA, would then become the 25 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: chairman of the board of our CIA. He also remained 26 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: on as president of the company, so he had unprecedented 27 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: control of our CIA, and starting off, you may remember, 28 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: had a bit of a reputation of being something of 29 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: a control freak, someone who really wanted the company. He 30 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: worked for two Excel and he greatly resented anyone who 31 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: appeared to stand in the way of that. Well. In 32 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: the previous episode, the most recent one, I talked about 33 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: how our c A was a pioneer in consumer electronic 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: televisions and how the US government forced our c A 35 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: to spin off one of its two NBC radio and 36 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: television networks, which would become ABC. Also remember CBS, the 37 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: third of those of the big three networks in the 38 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: United States, actually grew out of a talent agent's failed 39 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: attempts to get his clients booked on NBC radio shows. 40 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: So we are now in an era in which we 41 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: have three broadcast giants, NBC, ABC and CBS. And NBC 42 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: and ABC both came from the same company, CBS came 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: out because no one at NBC would hire this guy's talent. Interestingly, 44 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,079 Speaker 1: so television is slowly starting to pick up, and as 45 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: I mentioned at the end of the last episode, our 46 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: c A would push a new innovation in the early 47 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, which was color television. But our c A 48 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: wasn't the only company working on color TV. CBS was 49 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: also very much in the game. Both companies have been 50 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: experimenting with color TV strategies since the nineteen forties, and 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: it was a CBS engineer who seemed to win, at 52 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: least at first. Now I want to chat about this 53 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: for a moment as well, because the system that this 54 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: guy made was truly amazing, and it was dependent upon 55 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: a peculiarity of human biology. We have what some people 56 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: refer to as the persistence of vision. This is the 57 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: same thing that makes animation work for us, animation or 58 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: or film. If you're looking at a real film, you know, 59 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: like something that's actually posted to photographic film, it's just 60 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: a series of still images. If we play those still 61 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: images back at a fast enough speed, we perceive what 62 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: appears to be movement, even though if you were to 63 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: slow it down enough you'd see it's just a series 64 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: of still images. There's no actual movement happening. The human 65 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: eye and brain can process about ten to twelve separate 66 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: images per second and can retain an image for about 67 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: a fifteen of a second. So if you have an 68 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: image and you replace it with a new image faster 69 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: than one fift of a second, you can create the 70 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: illusion of continuity of movement from one image to the next. Now, 71 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: a common term for this is the persistence of vision. 72 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: And again a lot of the different illusions depend upon 73 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: this is it's this limitation of our faculties. And a 74 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: guy named Peter Carl Goldmark, who was a Hungarian born 75 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: engineer who immigrated to America and then would work for CBS, 76 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: would rely upon this peculiarity to create an early form 77 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: of color television. And his system was an electro mechanical system, 78 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: and so I the television was a color wheel with red, green, 79 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: and blue sections on it, and both the camera the 80 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: television camera and the receiver or TV set had a 81 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: color wheel. The wheels positions and rotation would match precisely, 82 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: and the wheels would spin at an incredible one thousand, 83 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: four hundred forty times per minute. That was the speed 84 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: of rotation. So the light coming into the camera would 85 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: pass through this color wheel, which would kind of act 86 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: like a filter. So remember earlier when I mentioned in 87 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: the previous episode UH that an electron beam would make 88 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: sixty passes over a screen in a second, but it 89 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: would only hit the odd lines on one pass and 90 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: the even lines on the next pass. Those individual passes 91 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,799 Speaker 1: are called fields. So if you hit all the odd lines, 92 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: that's one field. All the even lines that's the second field. 93 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,919 Speaker 1: Two fields make up a video frame because then you 94 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: have all the lines, then you have all the lines 95 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: that make up the entire picture, So that's a video frame. Now, 96 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: that standard wouldn't work for the color images in gold 97 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: Mark's system because there would be noticeable flicker from the 98 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: different colors. If you were only doing this at sixty 99 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: really really thirty frames a second, it would actually end 100 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: up being closer to twenty because you have to divide 101 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: it by three one for each color. Instead, gold Mark 102 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: would increase the field rate to one forty four fields 103 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: per second instead of thirty. Each color would get scanned 104 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: twice in a second, and the number of frames or 105 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: complete images shown on screen would drop down to twenty 106 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: four frames per second instead of thirty frames per second. 107 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: Gold Mark decreased the resolution of the image from five 108 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: lines to four hundred five lines, which means you're you're 109 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 1: making the picture smaller. Uh. And the reason he did 110 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: this was because otherwise he would need a lot more 111 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: bandwidth per channel to send that much information to a receiver. Anyway, 112 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: because of that persistence of vision, these colors, while they're 113 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: technically changing very very quickly, our eyes and our brains 114 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: can't keep up with that. They can't distinguish how those 115 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,559 Speaker 1: colors are changing so fast from red, green, and blue, 116 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: so we perceive a mixture of those colors. And thus, 117 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: with a combination of electronic and mechanical elements, gold marks 118 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: approach allowed for color TV. And it gets way more 119 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: technical and psychological really to describe exactly how this works 120 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: so that you represent all the different colors, but this 121 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: is the basics of how the system worked. By the way. 122 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: Side note, gold Mark was also in charge of the 123 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: team that would develop the micro groove technology that would 124 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: make thirty three and a third RPM long playing vinyl 125 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: records possible. And since our c A had previously attempted 126 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: to market thirty three and a third RPM records, though 127 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: they did not do so with a micro groove. I 128 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: sis be. Saranoff felt gold Mark was a thorn in 129 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: his side. After all, Goldmark had created a new standard 130 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: for color TV and a new standard for records, and 131 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: uh Sarnov wasn't really happy when other people took the lead, 132 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: or other companies took the lead. R c A had 133 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: its own version of this same sort of mechanical color 134 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: television approach they had developed there's independently of gold Mark. 135 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: But the CBS version provided a better picture, and so 136 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty the f c C made the CBS 137 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:39,199 Speaker 1: approach the standard for color televisions. Now temporarily it was 138 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: only temporarily the standards. So if you've listened to my 139 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: earlier episodes on our c A, you know that David 140 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: Sarnoff wanted to be the leader in all things, and 141 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: he was fiercely competitive, and I suspect he was very 142 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: much infuriated that the FCC would choose the technology of 143 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: a rival company. Actually, I don't have to suspect he 144 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: absolutely was, because Sarnoff led a crusade against CBS and 145 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: the f c C. So r C A and another 146 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: company called Color Television sought an injunction against the f 147 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: CC's decision to go with the CBS standard. That actually 148 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: put a temporary halt on Color Television's because while the 149 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: matter was being decided, CBS couldn't accept any sort of 150 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: sponsorship money for color television programming, so there was no 151 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: money coming in to support the programming. Uh, there was 152 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: very little chance to make the programming in the first place. 153 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: CBS wasn't going to invest in something without knowing for 154 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: sure that it could go forward with it, so it 155 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: kind of put the brakes on Color TV. Now, the 156 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: courts rejected this injunction. Our c A then appealed it, 157 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: and this went up the court system, and in nineteen 158 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: fifty one the matter got all the way up to 159 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Supreme 160 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: Court also agreed with the FCC, or at least they 161 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: said the FCC had not acted improperly in state that 162 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,199 Speaker 1: the CBS standards were fine. But Sarnov was not ready 163 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: to give up. Once it was clear that gold marks 164 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: CBS approach was going to win out, our c A 165 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: concentrated on moving away from this electro mechanical approach toward 166 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: a purely electronic method of transmitting and displaying color television. Meanwhile, 167 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: CBS was running into trouble of its own. The company 168 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: was finding it hard to convince a public, a market, 169 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: a consumer market to purchase a new, expensive television set. 170 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: And not only is it new and expensive, it was 171 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: incompatible with existing black and white broadcasts. It was a 172 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: different resolution, and it was a different methodology. And in 173 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: the summer nineteen fifty the United States entered the Korean War, 174 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: which disrupted CBSS manufacturing processes, which meant the company couldn't 175 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: make sets for people to buy. Only a couple of 176 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: hundred sets had been produced at that point. Color television 177 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: had stalled out early, and that gave Sarnov some time 178 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: to iss team into getting the all electronic approach ready 179 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: for display. So how did this electronic version work? Well, 180 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: I talked in the last episode about how cathode ray 181 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: tube TVs work, so I'm not gonna go over all 182 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: that again because it's exactly the same thing up to 183 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: a point. The cathode ray tube is like a giant 184 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 1: light bulb, and it has special phosphors that glow when 185 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: struck by electrons. The filament inside the cathode. Ray two 186 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,839 Speaker 1: gives off an electron stream that anodes are positively charged 187 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: elements focus and direct towards specific points or pixels on 188 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: the back side of the screen. Service that creates television pictures. 189 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: I guess I did go over it again. I never learned. 190 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: So how does color television work? How is it different 191 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: from this? Because this approach, really it just means that 192 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: when electrons hit the phosphors, the phosphors get excited and 193 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: they start to glow. If they get a lot of energy, 194 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: they glow brighter. That they get a little energy, they 195 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: don't grow glow as brightly, and if they don't get 196 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: any energy, they're dark. And that combination gives you the 197 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: images of black and white pictures that move across your 198 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: TV screen. This is happening lots of times per minute, 199 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: right like, every every single pixel is being eliminated thirty 200 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: times per second. So it's pretty amazing. Or at least 201 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: the electron beam is passing over, maybe not activating, but 202 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: passing over every phosphor thirty times a second, sixty times. 203 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: For a second, the electron beam is actually crossing the 204 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: entire screen. It's only but it only concentrates on the 205 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: odd lines or the even lines. So how does the 206 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: color television work in comparison, Well, the basics are the same. 207 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: You still have the filament that generates the electrons. You 208 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: still have the phosphors, You still have the positively charged 209 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: elements directing the stream of electrons. You still direct the 210 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 1: beam across the screen line by line from the upper 211 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: left to the lower right, sixty times per second, at 212 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: least in the United States. But there are three ways 213 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: a color TV screen differs from a black and white screen. First, 214 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: you have three electron beams, not just one, and each 215 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: of those beams is responsible for one of the three 216 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: main colors from which all other color on screen originates. 217 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: So they're called the red, green, and blue streams. Now, 218 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: let me get that clear. The electron streams themselves are 219 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: not red, green, and blue. They are electrons you don't see, 220 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: like a red laser, a blue laser, and a green laser. 221 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: We could call them streams one, two, and three and 222 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: it would be just the same. But they are responsible 223 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: for specific groups of phosphor dots, and the phosphor dots 224 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: are what are red, green, or blue. So one stream 225 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: will only activate the green dots. One will only activate 226 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: the red dots and one will only activate the blue dots. 227 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: So if you have a black and white screen, you 228 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: have that whole sheet of phosphor, that substance that gives 229 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: off light when electrons excited to a higher energy state. 230 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: With a CRT color TV set, you have three different 231 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: kinds of phosphors that correspond with those colors imagined earlier, red, green, 232 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: and blue. Now explain how this works in greater detail 233 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: in just a moment, but first let's take a quick 234 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: break to thank our sponsor. All Right, The phosphors in 235 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: a color CRT television are either in dots or stripes 236 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: on the back side of the screen. The screen that's 237 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: on the inside of the TV from where you are 238 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: and between the phosphors and the electron beams is another 239 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: layer that you don't find in black and white televisions. 240 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: It's a metal screen. It's called a shadow mask, and 241 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: the shadow mask has timing perforations that line up precisely 242 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: with the phosphor positions on the back side of the 243 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: screen to create the pixels that will create your television 244 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: screen picture. So you turn on your color TV and 245 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: you change the channel to something that's in color. Maybe 246 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: it's Kurmit the frog singing rainbow connection, which is pretty sweet. 247 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: So Kurment is green. So everywhere Kermit is on the screen, 248 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: you have the green electron beam hitting those green phosphors 249 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: to create green pixels. Uh. You also have the other 250 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: beams hitting the other phosphors to change that color green 251 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: to just the right hue. The red and blue beams 252 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: excite phosphors to make colors red and blue. So how 253 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: do you get all the other colors, Well, it's by 254 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: that combination that was just talking about. The combining the phosphors, uh, 255 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: and combining them at different intensities creates all the different colors. 256 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: So if you were to excite the red, green, and 257 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: blue phosphors at a single pixel with the same energy, 258 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: you would create a dot of white light. Those colors 259 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: would combine, you would get white. If you want it black, 260 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: then you would just not have any of the electron 261 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: beams hitting any of the phosphors at that pixel. Every 262 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: other color is some combination of those phosphor is getting 263 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: lifted to that excited state by these electron beams. So 264 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: in these old CRT TV sets, every single point of 265 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: light on a screen. Every single dot has three smaller 266 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: phosphor dots behind it, and the color you see on 267 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: screen depends upon which electron beams are active at that 268 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: specific point in any given instant. And all of this 269 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: is happening all across all the dots on the screen 270 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: thirty times a second, so pretty phenomenal. So I still 271 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: find this an amazing thing that's happening so fast that 272 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: we perceive it as motion. We perceived the color as 273 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: being a solid color instead of a combination of different colors, 274 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: and uh, it's it appears to be seamless to us. 275 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: It really says one something interesting about the limitations of 276 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: human biology that we are not able to see these 277 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: differences because actual limitations on on us as as bags 278 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: of meat, and to the lack of limitations on human ingenuity, 279 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: that we can actually create systems that depend upon these 280 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: limitations and do so in a way that's not predatory, 281 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: but is is beneficial or at least entertaining. Now, color 282 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: television only works if you have something capturing an image 283 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: and color to begin with. Obviously, you couldn't send a 284 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: black and white feed from a camera that can only 285 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: capture images in black and white and expect it to 286 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,719 Speaker 1: come out in color. So r c A introduced the 287 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: world's first commercially available color television camera in nineteen fifty two. 288 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: This was called the r c A t K forty. 289 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: There had been previous cameras in the t K line, 290 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: but those are black and white cameras. The company would 291 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: then introduce the r c A t K forty A 292 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four, and that camera would become the 293 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 1: first mass produced color television camera in the world. This 294 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: was the culmination of many years of work. The company 295 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: had largely made the move toward developing an all electronic 296 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: approach starting around nine That's when they began to see 297 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: that they needed to to abandon the electro mechanical approach 298 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: that CBS was developing because CBS was just way too 299 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: far ahead. The first few cameras were all meant as 300 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: prototypes and sort of developmental steps toward the t K forty. 301 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: So r c A did make some color cameras before 302 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: the t K forty, but they were all prototypes, experiments, 303 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: internal things. The first two cameras that the company developed 304 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: were often referred to as the Wardman Park cameras because 305 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: they were used in a Special Color Studio and the 306 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: Wardman Park neighborhood in Washington, d C. R c A 307 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: operated the studio there in part because it was close 308 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: to the seat of government and therefore the f c C. 309 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,719 Speaker 1: So this was our CIA's attempt at making a system 310 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: that would be easy to show off to the f 311 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: c C and then hopefully persuade the FCC to choose 312 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: our CIA's approach as the standard for color television. Next 313 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: came a couple of cameras that were still prototypes that 314 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: were referred to as coffin cameras. They were called that 315 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: because the operators would joke that the cameras were large 316 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: enough to bury a man inside of them. These were 317 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: mainly used in our CIA's New York studios at thirty 318 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: Rockefeller Center. You remember the show thirty Rock where NBC 319 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: is centered. That that's our CIA's old studios. Often the 320 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: tests were broadcast to the r c A exhibition hall, 321 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: which was right across from thirty Rock, and the demonstrations 322 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: were public, really public, and this was another one of 323 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: Starnoff's ideas. He was determined to bring as much attention 324 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: to our CIA's efforts as possible, which would create added 325 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: pressure on the f c C as the public got 326 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: a chance to see a color set, and more importantly, 327 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: it was a color television that could still show black 328 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: white programming because unlike the mechanical one that CBS was developing, 329 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: this one had the same number of lines of resolution 330 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: as a black and white set. You could send black 331 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: and white content to a color set, it would be 332 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: displayed in black and white, but you could actually still 333 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: watch older programming. Very important unless you're planning on changing 334 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 1: the entire format of broadcast overnight, which is a pretty 335 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: tough thing to do once you've already established a standard. 336 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: During this prototyping, the camera crews noted that the cameras 337 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: would tend to get real hot, not just from the 338 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: internal operations going on inside the camera, but also from 339 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: soaking up energy. So one of the limitations of color 340 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: television UH in the early days was that you needed 341 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,679 Speaker 1: a really brightly lit studio. It's very similar to color film. 342 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: You needed to have a lot of light, and those 343 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: lights would get really hot and that would heat up 344 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: the cameras. Also, if you were shooting on Look Paian, 345 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 1: you would soak up sunlight and get really hot, and 346 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 1: electronics and heat are not there. They don't go well 347 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: together typically, so in order to avoid overheating, our c 348 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: chose to make the t K forty cameras silver that 349 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: would reflect some of that light away from the camera. 350 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 1: This was after some enterprising camera crews had done a 351 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: d I Y approach and taken silver paint and coded 352 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: earlier prototype cameras in silver paint to deflect some of 353 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: that light to to make sure that it didn't get 354 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,239 Speaker 1: too hot, and our c A took a note and 355 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: decided to make that an official design point. These cameras 356 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: also had what are called lens turrets. If you take 357 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: a look at old school television cameras, you'll see that 358 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: they appear to have four lenses poking out of the 359 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: front of them. That's actually a lens turret. It's kind 360 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: of a disc that has different lenses mounted on it, 361 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,040 Speaker 1: and then you can turn the disc so that a 362 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: different lens is actually active. So the the whole purpose 363 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,880 Speaker 1: of this is to create different focal lengths of of lenses. 364 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,920 Speaker 1: Rather than having to physically remove them and swap them out, 365 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: they were all mounted on the camera. You could just 366 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,479 Speaker 1: change whichever one was active at a given time, so 367 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: the commons set up on one of these lens turrets 368 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: was to have one eight and a half inch lens, 369 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,880 Speaker 1: one million meter lens, one nine millimeter lens, and one 370 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,439 Speaker 1: fifty millimeter lens. And I gave the camera operator and 371 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: director some options to choose the focal point for specific cameras. 372 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: You know, whether it was going to be a close 373 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: up or a wide shot, they could choose whichever lens 374 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: they wanted to use. Now, it was possible to change 375 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: lenses during a live show. Typically you would do so 376 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: by switching to a different camera and then changing the 377 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: lens on camera one while camera two is active, but 378 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: this was pretty uncommon. Usually they would just set the 379 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 1: lenses for whatever shot they wanted and that was it 380 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: was gonna stay as our c A had introduced lens 381 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: turrets with the older black and white television cameras, so 382 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: this was kind of a holdover from those days. Now, 383 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: once light passed through the lens of one of these 384 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: color cameras, it would hit a beam splitter and that 385 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,920 Speaker 1: would divide the light into three beams. Each of those 386 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,479 Speaker 1: beams of light would then hit an individual orthocon tube. Now, 387 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,360 Speaker 1: in the previous episode, when I was talking about black 388 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: and white TVs. I talked about a special component called 389 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,640 Speaker 1: the iconoscope, which was in charge of taking light, having 390 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: it hit a photo electric base, and then using an 391 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: electron beam to scan it, and that would send out 392 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: the signal. The orthocon was the successor to the iconoscope. 393 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: It used a low velocity electron beam instead of a 394 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: high velocity electron beam. The econoscope used the high velocity ones, 395 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: but the problem with that was that it would sometimes 396 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: produce secondary electrons and so you would get quote unquote 397 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 1: noise in the signal. The orthocon used low velocity electron 398 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: beams which would not create these secondary electrons, and again 399 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: it would use it to scan a photoelectric mosaic on 400 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: a special plate inside the tubes. The lights hitting that plate, 401 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: the electron beam is scanning the plate, and that's what's 402 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: creating the signal. So in this case, the light comes 403 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: into the camera, it splits into three beams, and each 404 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: beam goes into a separate orthocon and you can guess 405 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: each of those orthocns was dedicated for a specific representation 406 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: of color red, green, or blue, and these cameras would 407 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: then send that signal out to be transit transmitted over 408 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: to the color televisions. They were large cameras, they're relatively primitive. 409 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: They required lots of adjustments and tweaking to keep them 410 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 1: tuned to the proper colors. But they worked. And the 411 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: most important aspect of this whole approach was one of practicality. 412 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,919 Speaker 1: That was how our c A was really leaning into 413 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: this technology. The CBS color television was incompatible with the 414 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: older black and white sets, as I mentioned, So the 415 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: CBS approach meant that you were going to have to 416 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: go out and buy a brand new, very expensive television 417 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: set if you wanted to watch this new programming, and 418 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: you would have to have an older black and white 419 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: set if you wanted to continue to watch all the 420 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: programming that was made just for black and white televisions. 421 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: So it was not a very attractive technology to consumers. 422 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: You weren't. It wasn't backwards compatible, as we would say 423 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: in the in the video game console age, So uh, 424 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: this was not something a lot of people were excited about. 425 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: The r c A approach was different. It would allow 426 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: people with monochromatic televisions to still view color broadcasts, they 427 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: just wouldn't be in color. You could tune into a 428 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: color program on a black and white set, you would 429 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: just get the black and white representation of that. CBS 430 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: found itself stuck. There was a manufacturing issue with building 431 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: out TV sets, especially during the Korean War. There was 432 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,680 Speaker 1: a programming issue of creating material for those sets. There 433 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: was the market issue with people getting to buy new, 434 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: expensive technology. So ultimately Sarnov was able to win the 435 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: battle for the color television format. The FCC would ultimately 436 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: drop the standards that they had adopted that had come 437 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: from CBS. Instead the National Television System Committee, which was 438 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: the second entity to have that name. Previously, the first 439 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: version was formed to develop the standard for black and 440 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,640 Speaker 1: white TV transmissions. So this version was this new organization 441 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: with the same name essentially was reformed with the purpose 442 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: of creating the new color television broadcast standard. It did 443 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: so and published the standard to nineteen fifty three, and 444 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: it was pretty much the same as r c a's standard. 445 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: Sarnoff had one, at least for the time being. I've 446 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: got a lot more to say about what r c 447 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: A did during this age, but before I get to that, 448 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break to thank our sponsor. Our 449 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: c A begins to manufacture color television sets. Now. Now 450 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: they've set the standard. Now they're going to make the 451 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: actual products. Originally, the early sets had either fifteen inch 452 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: or nineteen inch screens, but by n all r c 453 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 1: A sets were twenty one inches in screen size, and 454 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: you measure that on the diagonal. Other companies would continue 455 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: to manufacture the smaller screen sets, but our CI A 456 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: focused on twenty one is the standard now. Interestingly, r 457 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: c A was not the first manufacturer to offer a 458 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: consumer color television set that was running on what was 459 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: effectively our CIA's color television transmission standards. Westinghouse would introduce 460 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: a color television ahead of our CIA in nineteen fifty four. 461 00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: It's sold for one thousand two dollars princely, some petcularly 462 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: when you factor in inflation. If you were to do that, 463 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,680 Speaker 1: you would see that in today's cash, that would cost 464 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: you about twelve thousand dollars. R c A would follow 465 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: this up in less than a month with its own 466 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: first television set, color television set called the c T 467 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: one hundred. That one had a price tag of one 468 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, so about ten grand in today's cash. Pretty 469 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: expensive to watch some color TV. Now it may come 470 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: as a little surprised that not many people picked up 471 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: a new CT one hundred at that price tag. Our 472 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: c A pursued some pretty enthusiastic marketing strategies. In other words, 473 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: they held a very expensive advertising campaign trying to get 474 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: interest up, but at that price it just wasn't going 475 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: to happen. By August of nine, not even two months 476 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: after its debut, r c A would drop the price 477 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: tag to four dollars, which was still a huge chunk 478 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: of change. But at that price, r c A was 479 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: actually losing money on every sale because the sets were 480 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: so expensive to make. Even so, if the company had 481 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: failed to sell its sets, that would have cost our 482 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,239 Speaker 1: c A even more money in the long run. So 483 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: this was a way to get early adopters on board 484 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: and pave the way for future less expensive television's. Color 485 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: television wouldn't really pick up steam in the consumer marketplace 486 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: until the nineteen sixties. That's when the quality really improved, 487 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: the price dropped, and there was more programming available to 488 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: watch as well. Shows like Disney's Wonderful World of Color, 489 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: which debuted in nineteen sixty one, helped a lot, but 490 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 1: color television sales wouldn't overtake black and white TV sales 491 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy. Meanwhile, our c A and CBS did 492 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: battle over which company would define the future of television. 493 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: At that same time, Sarnov was waging a separate war 494 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: about radio waves. His adversary was someone who used to 495 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: be a close friend of his, a guy named Edwin 496 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: Howard Armstrong. Armstrong was an electrical engineer. He had attended 497 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: Columbia University. Brilliant guy, apparently one of those people who 498 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: really was only interested in studying anything that directly appealed 499 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: to him and had no interest whatsoever in any other subjects. 500 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: Armstrong had already achieved a great deal by the late 501 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. But we're concerned specifically with his work in 502 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: FM radio. FM stands for frequency modulation, as opposed to 503 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: AM radio, which stands for amplitude modulation. In both cases, 504 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: we're talking about changing a radio wave in some way 505 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: to transmit information. So it's all about varying something some 506 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: aspect of the radio wave. And with a M or 507 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: amplitude modulation, it's all in the name. It's all about 508 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 1: the amplitude, the strength of a radio signal by varying 509 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: that modulating the strength of the signal. You can encode 510 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: audio onto a radio wave, and you have a receiver 511 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: and it has a device to decode that modulation, essentially 512 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: to reverse this process so that whatever information was laid 513 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: on top of that radio wave can to be played back. 514 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: You can convert it into an audio signal, uh an 515 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: electrical signal really that represents an audio signal. Send that 516 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: to an amplifier and then onto speakers. But a M 517 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: has some drawbacks, and a big one is that it 518 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: is interference really can come into a M transmissions quite easily. 519 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,239 Speaker 1: Stuff like electrical equipment can introduce interference or thunderstorms, and 520 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: you get static and other noise that gets introduced into 521 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: the signal, so you don't get a clean signal start off. 522 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:52,680 Speaker 1: Want to eliminate all of that static that noise. Armstrong 523 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: wanted to experiment with frequency modulation, which was already a 524 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: known method at that time but had yet to reduced 525 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: results that were remarkably better than a M broadcasts. And 526 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: as the name suggests, instead of messing with the strength 527 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 1: of a radio wave, you mess with its frequency. You 528 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: increase or decrease its frequency to encode audio. On top 529 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: of that radio wave. Otherwise it's a very similar system. 530 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: You would have a receiver that would pick up the 531 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: radio wave and a decoder that would take that modulation 532 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: of frequency and convert it back into an electrical signal 533 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: that would represent audio. So Armstrong believed that the reason 534 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: why FM had not really shown to be better than 535 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: a M was because earlier attempts had focused on two 536 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: narrow arrange for modulation. People were not changing the frequency enough, essentially, 537 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: so Armstrong began to experiment with wide band FM. He 538 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: filed and received five patents for his approach, and he 539 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: had an agreement with our c A that said the come, 540 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: but he was going to have the right of first 541 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: refusal on any patents that Armstrong was able to secure. 542 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: While working in FM, he demonstrated his system to our 543 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 1: c A. R c A would actually test it out 544 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: fairly extensively in the mid nineteen thirties, and it was 545 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: pretty clear that the system was superior to a M 546 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: for the purposes of radio broadcasts within a given region. 547 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: A M signals could be picked up further away than 548 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: FM in most cases, but our c A was so 549 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: focused on developing television that relatively little attention was given 550 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: to the FM developments, and ultimately Armstrong wasn't presented with 551 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 1: any sort of deal for his work. A short while later, 552 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: Armstrong brought his ideas to some other companies. Our CIA 553 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: wasn't doing anything with them, and his intent was partnering 554 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,480 Speaker 1: with those other companies and licensing his patents in order 555 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: to start changing radio stations over from a M to FM, 556 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: which would actually require lots of work that would require, uh, 557 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: not just a format switch, but new equipment. FM and 558 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: AM transmitters and receivers are not compatible. You can't have 559 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: both in the same radio set. If you have a receiver, 560 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: it may have an FM receiver and an a M receiver, 561 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,839 Speaker 1: but they are two separate receivers. They're not it's it's 562 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: it's not a compatible technology again, because you're looking at 563 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,280 Speaker 1: different modulations and you're looking at different sizes of radio 564 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,399 Speaker 1: waves as well. So in nine r c A says, 565 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,239 Speaker 1: you know what, this FM thing makes a lot of 566 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: sense to us now now that we're really looking at it, 567 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: that we've got a deal to make with you, and 568 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: they present their Armstrong with a really attractive contract. He 569 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:50,800 Speaker 1: would get a cool one million dollars which in today's 570 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: money is around eighteen million dollars. In return, our c 571 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: A would get a royalty free license to use his 572 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: FM patents. It was supposed to be a non exclusive deal, however, 573 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 1: so our CIA would not get the exclusive rights to 574 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,440 Speaker 1: use this. They just wouldn't pay any royalties on anything 575 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,920 Speaker 1: they earned, and in return Armstrong would get this one 576 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: million dollar fee. However, Armstrong had already made arrangements with 577 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,319 Speaker 1: other companies to license his patents and they had to 578 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: pay royalties on everything they sold. Anything that made use 579 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,359 Speaker 1: of one of his patents, he would get a little 580 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: cut of it. And he felt like if he signed 581 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: this agreement with our CIA, it wouldn't be fair to 582 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: these other companies that had to pay him every time 583 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 1: they sold something. If our CIA didn't have to do 584 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 1: the same thing, how is that fair? So he refused. 585 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,359 Speaker 1: He said, I'm sorry, the steel is not gonna work 586 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: with me, and that ticked off Sarnoff to no end. 587 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: So who sar Enough directs his engineers to work on 588 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,959 Speaker 1: FM tech of their own rather than license Armstrong's work 589 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,880 Speaker 1: and give him royalties. He says, forget it, Let's just 590 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:01,800 Speaker 1: make our own FM tech and the company starts to 591 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: develop systems that they claim do not infringe upon Armstrong's patents. 592 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: R c A then took another step because Sarnov isn't 593 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: pleased with just trying to sidestep Armstrong. He wants to 594 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: punish Armstrong, and the company begins to encourage other companies 595 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: to not license Armstrong's patents, in other words, cutting off 596 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 1: Armstrong's source of revenue. Because Armstrong is not making radios himself, 597 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:36,920 Speaker 1: he's licensing his designs to other companies, and now r 598 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,359 Speaker 1: c A saying, oh, don't do that. He know, we've 599 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,879 Speaker 1: come up with our own FM transmission stuff. Don't bother 600 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,280 Speaker 1: paying him for this stuff. So Armstrong goes and sues 601 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,800 Speaker 1: our c A and NBC, and he's pretty confident and 602 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: he's gonna win right off the bat. But the legal 603 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,320 Speaker 1: proceedings lasted much longer than he anticipated, and the expense 604 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: drained his personal finances by some of his patents had 605 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: actually fired, so he couldn't even really leverage those anymore, 606 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:08,440 Speaker 1: and the lawsuits were continuing. Meanwhile, his mental health was deteriorating. 607 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: He felt strongly that he was being cheated out of 608 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,640 Speaker 1: his money and the credit for his work, and what's worse, 609 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: this mirrored something that had happened to Armstrong earlier in 610 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: his life. He had worked on an invention that he 611 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: felt he was responsible for, but ultimately the credit went 612 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: to a different engineer, so he felt like this was 613 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,480 Speaker 1: happening all over again. In the winter of nineteen fifty four, 614 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,879 Speaker 1: after having driven away his own wife, he actually hit 615 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: her during an argument, and she had left him to 616 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,720 Speaker 1: leave and uh and live with her sister. Armstrong decided 617 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 1: to end his own life. He jumped out of the 618 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: window of his thirteenth floor apartment and uh landed on 619 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: a on a balcony tend stories below and died. He 620 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,279 Speaker 1: had a suicide note in his pocket that expressed his 621 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: deep regret for hit his wife and for his actions, 622 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,680 Speaker 1: and Sarnoff would shrug off any responsibility he might have 623 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: played in Armstrong's deterioration. He said, I didn't kill Armstrong. 624 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,160 Speaker 1: Now Armstrong's wife, Marian, took over the case on behalf 625 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: of her deceased husband, and she pursued it with determination. 626 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: At the end of nineteen fifty our Cier and Marion 627 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,759 Speaker 1: Armstrong reached a settlement. The amount was said to be 628 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:28,759 Speaker 1: around a million dollars, which was the r CIER had 629 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,439 Speaker 1: proposed to Armstrong in return for the royalty free use 630 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: of the patents. Pretty tragic story. Now, before I sign off, 631 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 1: I should also mention that at the same time, our 632 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,680 Speaker 1: Cier was working on technology that was not meant for 633 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: your average consumer. I've been focusing on the consumer tech 634 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: because that's the stuff most of us are familiar with, 635 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,279 Speaker 1: the things we come in contact with. Radio's, television, that 636 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:52,840 Speaker 1: kind of thing. But the company had become an important 637 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,279 Speaker 1: partner with the U. S Military during World War Two. 638 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:57,560 Speaker 1: They had developed a lot of components that were used 639 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: in radar systems, but that relationship the military continued after 640 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 1: World War Two was over. In the late nineteen forties, 641 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,239 Speaker 1: r c A developed a system called Typhoon to help 642 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:13,920 Speaker 1: the Navy test missile designs. Typhoon was a guided missile simulator, 643 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,720 Speaker 1: So the idea was that would let Navy engineers test 644 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:22,720 Speaker 1: out different ideas, different designs under different test conditions, all 645 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:26,480 Speaker 1: in a computer simulated environment, which meant they didn't have 646 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,760 Speaker 1: to go out and actually build rockets and then seek 647 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:32,839 Speaker 1: out those conditions and test them for real. That gets 648 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 1: really expensive. It's a logistic nightmare. This way they could 649 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,200 Speaker 1: do it in a simulated environment and test out these 650 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 1: different ideas before ever committing to a specific design. Typhoon 651 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,759 Speaker 1: debut in Princeton at r c AS R and D facility. 652 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,719 Speaker 1: It had more than four thousand electron tubes and it 653 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 1: took up fifty three computer racks. The room it was 654 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: in had to be air conditioned to keep everything at 655 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,759 Speaker 1: the right operating temperature. It was not common to find 656 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,319 Speaker 1: air conditioning in a lot of Princeton buildings at that 657 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:07,759 Speaker 1: time before this, so our c A also developed electron 658 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,719 Speaker 1: microscopes and the television microscope during these years, but I 659 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: don't really have enough time in today's episode to go 660 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,439 Speaker 1: into detail on those. We'll pick up with a little 661 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 1: bit of that in the next episode, but we're really 662 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: going to try and focus on wrapping up our CIA's history, 663 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: uh at least up to present day in our next episode, 664 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,479 Speaker 1: so we're gonna skip over a lot of stuff to 665 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: hit the highlights. Anyway. Our CIA's work also branched out 666 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:34,719 Speaker 1: beyond electronics. I think this is something worth commenting on. 667 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:38,240 Speaker 1: The company developed reading aids for people with impaired vision, 668 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,719 Speaker 1: and they also had come up with a new way 669 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,600 Speaker 1: of producing penicillin, which seems kind of crazy, but no, 670 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:49,919 Speaker 1: it's absolutely true. Our Cia was producing penicillin. They used 671 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,960 Speaker 1: radio frequency heating during the process. So one of the 672 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 1: stages of penicillin production requires you to remove water from 673 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:01,480 Speaker 1: penicillin shortly after you've separated in penicillin out from the 674 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 1: solution you develop it in. So you develop penicilla in 675 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,000 Speaker 1: a solution you separated out from the solution, you then 676 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,960 Speaker 1: have to remove as much water as you can efficiently 677 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:13,080 Speaker 1: and safely. So our CIA's approach, you used radio frequency 678 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,120 Speaker 1: heating to dry the penicillin more efficiently and economically to 679 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,239 Speaker 1: make it viable. But before our Cia could even take 680 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,160 Speaker 1: advantage of this discovery, before they could go to market 681 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:26,480 Speaker 1: with it, the researchers who are working on this project 682 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: at our ci A discovered that they can use a 683 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:33,080 Speaker 1: chemical approach that was even more effective and more efficient, 684 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,640 Speaker 1: producing more purified penicillin more efficiently. So our Cia was 685 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,720 Speaker 1: able to help doctors secure sources of penicillin to treat 686 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 1: infections around the world, which is pretty incredible. Now, in 687 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,040 Speaker 1: our next episode, like I said, we're gonna wrap up 688 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,200 Speaker 1: the history of our Cia, We're gonna hit the highlights, 689 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: which is going to be a lot of highlights in 690 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: a short amount of time, because we're leaving off in 691 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 1: the mid fifties, so we've got fifty years to cover. However, 692 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 1: that being said, a lot of those years involve a 693 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 1: lot of big general steps that can be summarized much 694 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 1: more effectively than a deep discussion of how color TV 695 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:14,560 Speaker 1: works or FM radio. So we won't dive so much 696 00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 1: into the technical detail, but I look forward to covering 697 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 1: that with you guys in the next episode. If you 698 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,680 Speaker 1: have suggestions for future episodes, send me a message. The 699 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:27,680 Speaker 1: email is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, 700 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:30,720 Speaker 1: or pop on over to our website that's tech Stuff 701 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,080 Speaker 1: podcast dot com. You'll find different ways to contact me 702 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: there in the archive of the episodes. Also, don't forget 703 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:40,200 Speaker 1: to head over to t public dot com slash tech Stuff. 704 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 1: That's our merchandise store. Everything you purchase goes to help 705 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,279 Speaker 1: the show, and we greatly appreciate it. We're gonna be 706 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,439 Speaker 1: putting up some new designs there pretty soon. Look forward 707 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,000 Speaker 1: to seeing those, and I will talk to you again 708 00:42:52,880 --> 00:43:01,240 Speaker 1: really soon for more on this thousands of other topics. 709 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:12,640 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot com