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The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 2

Location:
Kokomo, Indiana
Issue Date:
Page:
2
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

There's a New Look To Wirephotos In Tribune There's a difference in wirephotos in The Tribune today. It's a difference for the better and it's here to stay. Beginning operation of The Associated Press Automatic Wirephoto, The Tribune now offers to its readers a quality of wirephoto reproduction superior to that of all other newspapers in Indiana, and believed to be unsurpassed by any other newspaper in the United States. Within 20 seconds after The Associated Press completes a transmission on its photo network, the Automatic Wire- photo drops a finished glossy print of the picture into a tray, ready for use by Tribune editors. This is from 10 to 30 minutes faster than a glossy print can be produced from other types of receivers.

The Automatic Wirephoto receiver was made possible by the development of "rapid access" photographic paper, which has the developing and fixing chemicals built into its surface. The incoming signals denoting light and shadow are recorded directly onto this paper during a transmission. After completion of a transmission which usually takes eight minutes for a standard-size 8 10 inch picture the machine dips the paper into an activating chemical. This starts the photo development. Seconds later it immerses it into a stabilizing fluid which halts development at just the right instant for a clear, sharp picture.

The picture then is quick-dried in the machine and emerges from a slot. Before Automatic Wirephoto a glossy print was produced by manual developing and prinling of the picture after a transmission. Before each transmission, the Automatic Wirephoto receiver prepares itself to record the incoming picture. The special paper unwinds from a roll and wraps around a receiving drum or cylinder. A "guillotine" paper cutter automatically severs it from the roll.

Tiie drum then begins to revolve, synchronized with the transmitter which may be thousands of miles away. Since it began the first photo network serving newspapers more than three decades ago, the AP has introduced many advances in picture transmission. These include: a small portable transmitter which can hook into the national network over ordinary telephone wires to transmit pictures from the scene of a remote newsbreak; small lightweight receivers; the sending of pictures by radio signal across oceans; AP Photo- fax receivers, which record the picture on paper by an electrolytic process and are the first receivers to operate without an attendant; the transmission of color separations for color printing and many technical improvements in picture quality and sending and receiving operations. The AP network began with 47 newspapers in 25 cities. Now there are more than 650 newspapers and television station on the nationwide Wirephoto network.

AP operates its own two-way leased cable between New York and London, devoted exclusively to picture transmission. Its European Wirephoto network connects 15 countries, reaching as far as Moscow. It sends and receives news pictures to and from other parts of the world by radio and cable. Despite the many changes over the years, the basic principle of sending a picture by wire or radio remains the same. The heart of the system is a photoelectric cell.

The photoelectric cell beam scans a spot 1-100th of an inch square. It takes eight minutes for it to scan every bit of an 8 10 inch news picture. i if it if i it Examine the Difference. To better acquaint readers with the magnitude of increased service to them in the way of wirephoto coverage, The Tribune collected several photographs as received over The Associate Press Photofax, the system previously used here, and The Associated Press Automatic Wirephoto, the electronic marvel put into operation here today. The transmission was made from the same photograph and reception on the two receivers was simultaneous.

Examine the differences above it will be seen that the lettering on signs (note the arrows) is clearly readable in the Automatic Wirephoto (top) while it is almost indistinguishable in the Photofax copy. All the letter- ing on all signs in the Automatic Wire- photo is much clearer than that in the Photofax. to the left, The Tribune has taken a Photofax of the Hubert Humphrey home that came under question the other day, and spliced in sections of the photograph as received over Automatic Wirephoto. Note the definition of the gravel in the Automatic Wirephoto over that in Photofax. Note the sharpness in the fence as received in the Automatic Wirephoto over that in Photofax: Note how the tree in the right background is much clearer in the new system.

below are a Photofax and Automatic Wirephoto of a demonstration in Czechoslovakia. In this illustration, the differences speak for themselves..

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About The Kokomo Tribune Archive

Pages Available:
579,711
Years Available:
1868-1999