Scophony


Scophony was a sophisticated mechanical television system developed in Britain by Scophony Limited, which used mirrors mounted on high-speed rotating drums to project an image upon a screen.
The company Scophony Limited was established by entrepreneur Solomon Sagall in the early 1930s to exploit the patents of inventor George William Walton. In 1932, Ferranti invested £3,500 in the company, however in 1934 Ferranti turned down the option to invest a further £10,000 to re-structure Scophony Limited, and in 1935 EKCO replaced Ferranti as the company's main investor.
In 1938, the Scophony company demonstrated three types of 405 line mechanical television receivers at the Radiolympia exhibition in London: a home receiver, with a picture area of approximately 24" x 22" and two systems intended for theater operation, one producing a 6 ft x 5 ft image and the other a 9 ft x 12 ft image.
Several of the theater systems were installed and operated successfully but none of the receivers were sold as production was halted due to the impending war.
Scophony's system used several innovative devices: