Hovhannes Adamian, inventor of color television

Hovhannes Adamian is known as the inventor of color television. Being an electronics engineer, he became the author of more than 20 inventions, mostly in the sphere of tele-transmission and telegraphy.

Studying at the universities of Munich, Zurich, Berlin, and Sorbonne, he got specialized in the sphere of technical sciences. In 1908, he patented a signal transmission apparatus with two-color (white and red) tubes which could transmit only static images.

However, much of the documentation and the device itself were lost during the bombing of Munich during World War II.

Later in 1928, Adaman presented to the public a new device that was able to transfer black-and-white static images. In 1925, he received a patent for a three-color (red, green, blue) electromechanical television system. In his Yerevan lab, Adamian demonstrated “Herates”, a device for broadcasting color images.

The first experimental color television based on the Armenian inventor’s tricolor principle was shown in London in 1928. In 1945, the “Columbia” broadcasting company made trial broadcasting in New York, and from 1951 Adamyan’s system was recognized as static and spread all over the world.

Yerevan Radio and Electronics technical secondary school were named after Hovhannes Adamian.

Taken from: Mano Chil