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Show Radio Soon to Be Carrier of Sight Expert Predicts Reception of Programs of Vision and Sound. "Radio broadcasting today Is recognized rec-ognized for what It 1st A great humanizing hu-manizing and cultural force, educationally educa-tionally comparable only to the press of our country," said Slerlln H. Ayles-worth, Ayles-worth, president of th National Broadcasting company, In an address to the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania. "Reflect on the fact that already radio broadcasting commands an audience au-dience of 20,000,000 persons in the United States and that by the end of 1927 this audience probably will be Increased to 27,000,000 or 28,000,000 listeners. "A new science of electro acoustics acous-tics has been created for broadcasting. broadcast-ing. Our engineers have progressed greatly In learning how to handle sound In the air. Mlkea Ar Better. "Microphone technique has been Improved to the extent that not only the middle register, but the high notes and low notes of music or the speaking speak-ing rolce, can now be handled by the ' microphone, "Modulation systems have been worked out by which distortion In radio transmission practically has been eliminated. "Sound control systems have been developed by which an Invisible radio-conductor radio-conductor mixes and controls the output out-put of the microphone, so that a concert con-cert might be transmitted In perfect fona by the broadcasting station." Radio broadcasting, Mr. Ayleswortli pointed out, has still many problems to solve. He continues : "With the great advnnces made In the technique of radio transmission, with nearly every American boy a radio 'expert,' It may seem strange, perhaps, that there are any fundamental funda-mental problems left for the electrical electri-cal engineer to solve In radio broadcasting. broad-casting. Yet It Is made plain to me by our own engineers that a vast, tin-known tin-known continent of space, between the radio broadcasting station and the radio receiving set, still remains to bo explored before we can say we huve fully plumbed the possibilities of radio communication. "Unless broadcasting transmission (s to slow up the progress of broadcast broad-cast reception, the broadcasting station sta-tion must ever look forward to the goal of perfection. It Is apparent that no receiving set developed can give better results than the best available broadcast transmission. Some of Mysteries. "We have theories about everything, every-thing, but we have yet to discover, It seems, why electro-mngnetlc waves can cover greater distances over salt water than over land; why with the same power from the transmitting station we can reach greater areas over flat land than over hilly country, coun-try, over moist land than dry bind. "Our engineers are still balked by the exasperating phenomena of shortwave short-wave transmission, when reception is of: en good 1,000 miles away from the broadcasting station and almost Impossible Im-possible nt the distance of 100 miles from the transmitter. "Great progress has been made In controlling static disturbances, but the engineering mind will not rest content until It has tracked the beast to Its lair and put a final stop to Its depredations. The mystery of 'fading,' 'fad-ing,' or the sudden variation of signal strength sometimes noted in radio re-cept'on, re-cept'on, has not yet been pierced. "Great tasks of discovery still challenge chal-lenge the radio scientist, and the Na tional Broadcasting company In addition addi-tion to its administrative, and operating op-erating activities, must pursue an unremitting un-remitting course of scientific Investigation." Investi-gation." Photographic Progress. The phenomenal progress made In radio photography In recent years, Mr. Aylesworth said, had brought radio ra-dio television at least within thinking think-ing distance. Laboratory developments, develop-ments, he Indicated, would soon demonstrate dem-onstrate that photographic Images could be transmitted by radio In seconds, sec-onds, rather than in minutes as heretofore. here-tofore. "Even In the discussion of a subject as ethereal as radio," he declared, "it 1 may not be permissible to take one's feet o(T the gmund. Yet the concurrence concur-rence of events Is such thnt it Is difficult diffi-cult to ket-p flie mind from projecting Itself to the day when radio "ill not only be the grcTit carrier of sound, bat the carrier of sicht. "When fuoimMe documents nn ! pictures are transmitted across t'm oro.m by r;;!!n In 'JO minutes and this Is Its present commercial record there Is nt le.-nt room for speculation specula-tion as to radio television. "When one year later, a half-tone photograph t-nnsmltted in two minutes min-utes by ra'Ko. and tbl is a fest recently re-cently accomplished nndiT laboratory conili'ions by Doctor A iex.ir.olerson of the advisory er.irneerir.u' sf:!T of the National T'-onV--h: z ereynnny. the prou ess Is imW"-i rem-' r':::Me. T.ut when we r;re t, -M, as I have been, that Irc-ov.-.T arc, 'rat::: ro"-belnj ro"-belnj devf 'or. -1 in a ,--.-.-it clocirical laboratory Is expected to transmit a photograph by radio In seconds, rather rath-er than In minutes, we are approaching, approach-ing, to some appreciable extent, the day when an Image may be flashed in a fraction of a second. "But here you will have to paint your own picture, dream your ov-n dreams, choose your own seat by the fireside screen and receive the programs pro-grams of sight and sound which some day the National Broadcasting company, com-pany, In co-operation with Its associates asso-ciates In the electrical field, may develop." |