US2177247A - Electrical transmission of color pictures - Google Patents

Electrical transmission of color pictures Download PDF

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Publication number
US2177247A
US2177247A US138683A US13868337A US2177247A US 2177247 A US2177247 A US 2177247A US 138683 A US138683 A US 138683A US 13868337 A US13868337 A US 13868337A US 2177247 A US2177247 A US 2177247A
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United States
Prior art keywords
prints
picture
colored
line
scanning
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Expired - Lifetime
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US138683A
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English (en)
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William G H Finch
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Individual
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Priority to US138683A priority Critical patent/US2177247A/en
Priority to US204496A priority patent/US2290228A/en
Priority to GB8954/39A priority patent/GB526585A/en
Priority to FR857550D priority patent/FR857550A/fr
Priority to CH215530D priority patent/CH215530A/de
Priority to BE433812D priority patent/BE433812A/xx
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Publication of US2177247A publication Critical patent/US2177247A/en
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03C—PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES; PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, e.g. CINE, X-RAY, COLOUR, STEREO-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES; AUXILIARY PROCESSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
    • G03C7/00—Multicolour photographic processes or agents therefor; Regeneration of such processing agents; Photosensitive materials for multicolour processes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/46—Colour picture communication systems
    • H04N1/50—Picture reproducers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/46—Colour picture communication systems
    • H04N1/64—Systems for the transmission or the storage of the colour picture signal; Details therefor, e.g. coding or decoding means therefor

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the electrical transmission of colored pictures to remote points.
  • Telepicture systems have come into rather extensive use for rapid transmission of pictures between widely separated oflices of a newspaper chain.
  • the electrical transmission of pictures has been commercially restricted to the black and white types due to the extreme precautions heretofore necessary in the transmission of. coll0 ored photographs.
  • a colored picture may be resolved into three primary color separation prints such as blue, red and yellow which may be superimposed to faithfully reconstruct the colored picture.
  • any misalignment or other inaccuracy occurring among the three prints during their electrical translation will cause color streaks and distortions when they are superimposed to form the final picture.
  • the three prints are arranged parallel to each other'upon a single record sheet and the prints are scanned transverse to their parallel arrangement so that similar portions of the picture are simultaneously scanned.
  • the colored reproductions produced by my present invention bear very fine detail, and substantially all traces of streaksand the scanning lines which make up the picture are toned out so as to be unnoticeable. A small three-dimensional effect occurs in the final colored picture due in some extent, to the superposition of.
  • Newspaper services are enabled by my present invention to economically transmit to remotely scattered plants of their organization comic strips, colored advertisements and colored fea- 10 ture supplements for newspapers, colored copy for magazines, and for other purposes.
  • the transmission of such pictures may be readily carried out over a telephone line without physical interconnection thereto, and using conventional 15 black-white facsimile systems.
  • the three colored prints composing the colored picture may be received directly upon the sensitive film or may be directly engraved upon printing plates for the presses as will be hereinafter fully described.
  • Another object of my present invention is to provide a novel method for electrically transmitting the primary color separation prints of a colored picture to a remote point.
  • a further object of my present invention is to provide a novel method of producing a colored facsimile with relatively great detail, and free 80' from streaks and distortions inherent in commercial facsimile transmission systems.
  • Figure 1 illustrates my preferred arrangement of the three primary color prints upon a record sheet for transmission.
  • Figure 2 is a plan view of a preferred telepicture transmitter for transmitting the colored picture over a telephone system.
  • Figure 3 is a plan view of the picture receiver corresponding to Figure 2.
  • Figures 4 and 5 are illustrations of portions of the received prints used for describing my present invention.
  • Figure 6 illustrates the superposition of the three color separation prints to form the final colored picture.
  • Figure '7 illustrates how my present invention overcomes misphasing distortion in the electrical transmission of colored photographs.
  • a colored photograph may be resolved into three individual monochrome prints correspond- 55 ing to the three primary colors, red, blue and yellow.
  • the prints corresponding to the primary colors may be prepared by conventional color photography methods.
  • a photograph of still-life may be made by taking three successive photographs of the scene using correspondingly colored light filters to produce the primary colored prints.
  • a single-exposure camera employing reflecting mirrors is used to. simultaneously snap the three primary colored prints.
  • the color filter used for each individual primary color print absorbs all the color comgraphic film, resulting in a black-white negative in each instance.
  • the light which reaches the film during exposure is the filtered light which affects the emulsion on the film to a degree proportional to the intensity of the particular color passing through the filter.
  • a colored scene or photograph is composed of varying amounts of the primary colors.
  • the original brilliant color of the photograph is reproduced by suitably preparing and arranging the primary color prints. It is to be understood that the individual primary color prints are merely black-white counterparts of the respective colors and bearing the relative intensities of these colors.
  • An important feature of my present invention resides in the positioning of the three colorseparation prints for transmission and reception in a particular manner so as to eliminate variations in picture transmission.
  • the transmission variations do not materially affect the appearance of ordinary black-white pictures but are serious for colored facsimile reproduction due to the superposition of three individual prints.
  • the prints B, R and Y are arranged so that their axes ll, l2 and iii are all substantially parallel for reasons to be hereinafter set forth.
  • the color separation prints B, R and Y are prepared from the monochrome or black-white negatives resulting from the original color separation photography procedure.
  • the B, R and Y prints of my preferred embodiment are positives of the original negatives.
  • the B, R and Y positive prints may be individually prepared and secured to a common backing sheet, I prefer to print them directly on sheet ill in the parallel arrangement referred to.
  • -Sheet Iii accordingly contains the three prints B. R and Y, arranged in parallel one beneath the other.
  • the prints are the black-white counterparts of the respective tones or intensity values of the primary colors blue, red and yellow making up the original picture colors.
  • the illustrated scene shows three adjacent mountain peaks with the sun ll in the background.
  • the general outline of the picture usually appears in all three prints, but the relative shading in the different portions of the prints varies in accordance with the elemental coloring in the original print.
  • the B, R and Y prints are not arranged in perfect vertical alignment as the illustration in Figure 1 shows.
  • the sun ll for example, is not vertically aligned in the three prints.
  • Any point of the picture is preferably not horizontally displaced more than one-half inch or an inch with respect to the corresponding point in the other of the.
  • the horizontal axis I mean an axis such as H, l2 or l3 which may be drawn through corresponding portions of the B, R and Y prints arranged one abovethe other.
  • the axis referred to corresponds to some imaginary line drawn through the same portions of each of the B, R and Y prints,'which line is parallel with respect to the other when the prints are placed one above the other on sheet I 0.
  • Sheet i0 containing the color separation prints B, R and Y is mounted upon the drum I 5 of the telepicture transmitter l6 shown in Figure 2.
  • the transmitter I6 is powered by a synchronous motor I'I energized from an alternating current line at leads l8.
  • Drum I5 is rotated, preferably at 100 revolutions a minute, through reduction gearing I20.
  • Drum I5 is removably mounted on the transmitter mechanism and contains sheet mounting clamps 2i at a predetermined portion thereof for fastening the record sheet Hi.
  • All electrooptical scanner 22 is moved along tracks 2323 arranged parallel to the axis of the-drum by means of a feed screw 24 geared to reduction gearing 20.
  • Electrooptical scanning carriage 22 is preferably moved at the rate of one inch per minute so as to scanthe record sheet l0 one hundred lines per inch.
  • the scanning lines schematically shown at 25 form a continuous helix about the cylindrically arranged sheet I0. Scanning lines 25 are shown.
  • the transverse angle of the scanning lines 25 corresponds to the helical lead angle of preferably .01 inch in the present example.
  • the electrooptical scanner at 22 contains a photoelectric cell which generates electrical ourthe transmitter.
  • the signals are conducted along cable 26 to an electronic amplifier 21.
  • a carrier wave or audio frequency tone generated at the amplifier unit 21 is modulated in accordance with the picture currents generated at the scanner 22 in a manner described in my Patent No. 2,047,863 hereinabove referred to.
  • the amplified picture modulated carrier current is passed through a coupling solenoid 28 which is placed coaxially with the induction coil Iii within the phone box II of the telephone station at the transmitter.
  • a telephone connection is established between the telephone station 32 at the transmitter and the corresponding telephone station 33 at the receiver across necting telephone wires 34.
  • the picture signals are electromagnetically induced into the telephone line 34 across the induction coil. These currents flow through the induction coil 35 at the receiving station shown in Figure 3, and are picked-up by the pick-up solenoid 38 of the facsimile receiver unit 31.
  • the picture signals picked-up by solenoid 38 are introduced to the receiver amplifier 38 for amplification and connection to the electrooptical system within receiver carriage 4..
  • the electrical current variations corresponding to-the picture variations at the transmitter scanner 22 are detected and translated into correspondingly varying light intensities and projected upon the light sensitive record sheet 4i mounted upon the receiver drum 42 rotated in synchronism with the transmitter drum ii.
  • the design of the telepicture receiver 31 corresponds to that of the transmitter unit i6, and is driven by motor 43 at the predetermined speed of motor l1.
  • the receiver drum 42 is continuously rotated by the motor 43 which is maintained substantially close to the predetermined synchronous speed by a governing mechanism such as a mechanical governor'44 attached to it.
  • the receiver scanner is driven parallel to the axis of drum 4! and records on sheet 4
  • the facsimile reproduction of the record sheet i0 upon sheet 4i may be performed with varying line width, varying line density, half-tone spots.-
  • Figure 4 diagrammatically illustrates the porthe interconduction.
  • the scanning lines 48 are parallel and form an angle with the vertical axis of sheet 4
  • the orientation of the respective portions of the prints at the transmitter With perfect synchronous reception of the triple-print facsimile, the orientation of the respective portions of the prints at the transmitter. Accordingly, it will be noted that the sun I 4 is not in vertical alignment but corresponds to itsalignment in Figure 1.
  • the colored picture reproduction is prepared by using a gelatin or other conventional transparent sensitive film 4i and creating the corresponding light and dark areas on the film corresponding to the transmitting shade variations of the original positives (or negatives) B, R and Y.
  • the received prints B, R and Y are in the form of positives" upon translucent or transparent film 4
  • the B, R and Y portions of the film are severed and represent the blue, red. and yellow portions of the picture.
  • the blue, red and yellow prints are idenwill be identical to their orientation on sheet ill tified in some predetermined manner such as by their location on the sheet 4
  • the tinting or coloring of the individual prints to blue, red or yellow may be performed by dyeing the bleached films with an aniline dye or by toning them with metallic salt solutions which combine with the silver retained in the print in a manner well known in the photographic art. Toning the film brings out the high lights of the final picture in a better manner than the dyeing process does.
  • the monochrome colored B, R and Y. prints are then superimposed to tically to indicate the manner in which they are to be superimposed.
  • the sun l4 for example is seen to lie along a straight line as are the other portions of the prints.
  • the scanning lines 45 of exaggerated width for illustration, is seen to be parallel in the three prints. However, it is important to note, that the scanning lines 45, of B. R and Y prints are not aligned but intersect so'that superposition will cause overlapping between the edges and central portions of the scanning regions or lines 45. This factor causes the effective elimination of possible streaks in the final picture. 1
  • FIG 6 I illustrate a preferred manner for preparing the final colored photograph by the three color prints.
  • the tinted or toned blue, red and yellow films B, R, and Y are accurately superimposed one above the other and upon a white backing sheet 46 with transparent adhesive material.
  • the superposition of the films is such as to match the outline of the picture with corresponding portions falling in line.
  • the scanning lines 45 on the. respective prints have been' drawn in to illustrate the advantages of my present invention.
  • the scanning region lines 45 on the Y print correspond to the lines already described in connection with Figures 4 and 5.
  • the illustration shows the R. print positioned above the Y print.
  • the scanning lines "eat the overlapping region of R and Y appearmore dense since the borders of the scan-.
  • the scanning line region 45b illustrating the superposition of the three prints B, R and Y is more densesince the outline of the scanning lines 45 overlap as will now be evident.
  • An important advantage of the relatively high detail colored reproduction having its scanning lines, streaks, marks and other minor faults which creep in in practical picture transmission toned out, is that the color reproduction may be enlarged as much as threeor four-to-one and still retain the pleasing appearance of a quality picture.
  • the enlargement of the colored'picture is performed by photographically enlarging in a conventional manner each of the B, R and Y prints as they are produced upon the film 4
  • the enlarged black-white prints are bleached and then dyed or tinted in the manner already described.
  • the receiving apparatus 37 is maintained in substantial synchronism with the transmitter l6 by the governor 44. However, a slight difference in synchronism between the transmitter and receiver will cause a progressive phase shift in the reproduction and produce the result illustrated in Figure 'l.
  • the axes ll, I2 and 13' of the prints are no longer parallel to the recordsheet 4
  • illustrates the progressive phase shift of each line of scanning from the left to the right side of the sheet due to the difierence in scanning speed at the receiver from that at the transmitter. This phenomenon is described in detail in my co-pending application Ser. No. 128,920 referred to hereinabove.
  • are accordingly progressively displaced in correspondence with the phase shifting operation.
  • the shifting of the axes andphasing line 41 is slightly exaggerated for illustrative purposes but in a practical arrangement is not more than about seven degrees.
  • the practical advantage of maintaining the prints aligned in parallel arrangement is that similar portions of the prints are correspondingly displaced.
  • colored photographs of any character and particularly colored pictures for newspaper work where economical transmission to difierent units of a newspaper chain is important may be car'- rled out with ordinary black-white picture apparatus.
  • Colored pictures for comic sections of newspapers, for special feature sections, for advertisem'ents, for magazines and the like, can all be economically transmitted with such apparatus without requiring special precautions to avoid inherent commercial distortions.
  • the received triple print facsimile may be used for the photolithographic process accompanying printing operation. It is also feasible to directly engrave the triple print records upon a zinc or other metallic plate for printing. Variations and modifications of my present invention will be evident to those skilled in the art, and accordingly I do not intend to be limited except as set forth in the following claims.
  • the method of transmitting a colored picture which comprises preparing a set of primary color separation prints from the picture, arranging the prints substantially parallel to each other and horizontally displaced with respect to each other not more than one-half inch, successively scanning said prints line byline transverse to the parallel axes thereof, transmitting said prints to a distant station by electrical signals varying in accordance with the elemental shading of the prints, producing a transparent record of the prints by a scanning line of finite width, and superimposing the transparent records whereby the scanning lines composing each print are substantially parallel and overlap to tone out the irregularities in the electrical production of the prints to produce a colored picture with sharp deta l.
  • the method of transmitting a colored picture which comprises preparing a set of primary color separation prints from the picture, arranging the prints substantially parallel to each other and horizontally displaced with respect to each other not more than one-half inch, successively scanning said prints line by line transverse to the parallel axes thereof, transmitting said prints to a distant station by electrical signals varying in accordance with the elemental shading of the prints, producing a transparent record of the prints by a' scanning line of ilnite width,- successively composing the prints by scanning in substantial synchronism with the transmitter scanning operation whereby phase displacements simultaneously occur in all prints to maintain the records thereof symmetrical, and
  • Themethod of transmitting a colored picture which comprises arranging individual primary color separation prints of the picture substantially parallel to each other and staggered not more than one-half inch with respect to the direction transverse to the parallel direction, successively scanning the prints line by line transverse to the parallel axes thereof, transmitting electrical signals to a distant station corresponding to the scanning ,of the prints, and producing monochrome facsimiles of the prints by successive line by line reproduction whereby irregularities in the print due to distorted reception are blended out upon superposition of the facsimiles in producing the colored reproduction of the picture.
  • the method of transmitting a colored picture which comprises arranging individual primary color separation prints of the picture substantially parallel to each other and staggered not more than one-half inch with respect to the direction transverse to the parallel direction, successively scanning the prints line by line transverse to the parallel axes thereof, transmitting electrical signals to a distant station corresponding to the scanning of the prints, and producing monochrome facsimiles of the prints by successive line by line reproduction at a rate near the transmitting scanning rate whereby irregularities in the print due to distorted reception are blended out upon superposition of the facsimiles in producing the colored reproduction of the picture and whereby distortions in the outline of the facsimiles due to loss in synchronism of reception correspondingly affect the individual facsimiles in a manner to permit accurate superposition of the prints for the colored reproduction.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Silver Salt Photography Or Processing Solution Therefor (AREA)
  • Facsimiles In General (AREA)
  • Facsimile Scanning Arrangements (AREA)
  • Fax Reproducing Arrangements (AREA)
US138683A 1937-04-24 1937-04-24 Electrical transmission of color pictures Expired - Lifetime US2177247A (en)

Priority Applications (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US138683A US2177247A (en) 1937-04-24 1937-04-24 Electrical transmission of color pictures
US204496A US2290228A (en) 1937-04-24 1938-04-27 Color picture
GB8954/39A GB526585A (en) 1937-04-24 1939-03-21 Improvements in or relating to facsimile transmission systems
FR857550D FR857550A (fr) 1937-04-24 1939-03-31 Systèmes de transmission de fac-similés ou analogues
CH215530D CH215530A (de) 1937-04-24 1939-04-03 Verfahren zur elektrischen Übertragung eines mehrfarbigen Bildes.
BE433812D BE433812A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1937-04-24 1939-04-13

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US138683A US2177247A (en) 1937-04-24 1937-04-24 Electrical transmission of color pictures
GB8954/39A GB526585A (en) 1937-04-24 1939-03-21 Improvements in or relating to facsimile transmission systems
FR857550T 1939-03-31
CH215530T 1939-04-03
BE433812T 1939-04-13

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US2177247A true US2177247A (en) 1939-10-24

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US138683A Expired - Lifetime US2177247A (en) 1937-04-24 1937-04-24 Electrical transmission of color pictures
US204496A Expired - Lifetime US2290228A (en) 1937-04-24 1938-04-27 Color picture

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US204496A Expired - Lifetime US2290228A (en) 1937-04-24 1938-04-27 Color picture

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US (2) US2177247A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
BE (1) BE433812A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CH (1) CH215530A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
FR (1) FR857550A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB526585A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4081828A (en) * 1976-03-15 1978-03-28 Geosource, Inc. Method for halftone reproduction of continuous tone images
US6002543A (en) * 1986-05-14 1999-12-14 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Receiving apparatus and method for selectively receiving and recording image data in response to setting of an automatic receiving mode and reproducing image data in response to a manual instruction

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN114354606B (zh) * 2022-03-21 2022-06-03 广东省农业科学院植物保护研究所 一种用于监测病毒对植物影响的系统及方法

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4081828A (en) * 1976-03-15 1978-03-28 Geosource, Inc. Method for halftone reproduction of continuous tone images
US6002543A (en) * 1986-05-14 1999-12-14 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Receiving apparatus and method for selectively receiving and recording image data in response to setting of an automatic receiving mode and reproducing image data in response to a manual instruction

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE433812A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1939-05-31
CH215530A (de) 1941-06-30
GB526585A (en) 1940-09-20
US2290228A (en) 1942-07-21
FR857550A (fr) 1940-09-18

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