Restoring Baird's Image

What is it about?

In the early 1980s, Don McLean sought out and restored the surviving discs from Baird’s experiments with Phonovision. Using computer-based techniques in an investigation reminiscent of an archaeological dig, he not only revealed the images on the discs but also uncovered details of how the recordings were made. The story of Phonovision, the restoration project, and how McLean’s subsequent work on amateur ‘off-air’ recordings of the BBC’s 30-line Television Service has overturned established views on mechanically scanned television.

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Why is it important?

Heavily illustrated with previously unpublished or rarely seen historic photographs, the book provides primary source data on a poorly understood period in Baird's history. It also helps to explain a poorly understood and complex period in television’s history, as well as shedding light on the achievements of Baird, the development of video recording and the definition and invention of television itself.