Television
Philo Farnsworth, USA, patent 1,773,980 of 1930. The electronic television a farm boy imagined in rows of beans.
Overview
Farnsworth conceived raster scanning at 14 plowing Idaho potato rows, then built the all-electronic image dissector by 1927. Patent 1,773,980 issued 1930. RCA's Zworykin and Sarnoff fought him through interference wars, ultimately paying royalties in 1939. Farnsworth appeared on TV's I've Got a Secret in 1957 stumping the panel. His electrons-in-rows idea remains every screen's essence. He reportedly hated what was broadcast, but loved the beam.
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