Nipkowie

Nipkowie, also known as Nipkow Disks, refers to a technology invented by Paul Nipkow in 1884. The Nipkow disk is a mechanically scanning image device, and is considered a significant precursor to electronic television.

The Nipkow disk is a rotating disk with a series of holes arranged in a spiral pattern. As the disk rotates, each hole scans a slightly different line of an image. Light passing through the holes is captured by a light-sensitive cell, which converts the light intensity into an electrical signal. This electrical signal represents the brightness of each point in the scanned image. On the receiving end, a similar disk, synchronized with the transmitting disk, recreates the image by modulating the intensity of a light source according to the received electrical signal.

Although Nipkow never built a working television system himself, his invention laid the groundwork for later developments in mechanical television. John Logie Baird and other early television pioneers used the Nipkow disk in their experimental systems in the 1920s and 1930s. Mechanical television systems using Nipkow disks were eventually superseded by electronic television technology, which offered higher resolution and faster scanning rates. While no longer in use for television broadcasting, the principle of the Nipkow disk remains a significant historical landmark in the development of visual communication technology.