Kaleidoscope Paints Television Screen (Oct, 1940)

Kaleidoscope Paints Television Screen

Kaleidoscope pictures have gone on the air. Just as musical selections fill interludes in sound broadcasting, the eye-pleasing patterns of light entertain “lookers-in” between television features from the National Broadcasting Company’s station W2XBS. To transform a kaleidoscope from a child’s plaything into a scientific novelty of 1940, engineers first photograph a simple design upon movie film. The film then passes through a studio projector tube lined with mirrors, which multiply the design eight times to produce a symmetrical image. Two auxiliary projectors make a frame for the pictures, and superimpose any desired words or symbols upon the designs.