Nipkow disk

A Nipkow disk is a mechanical, geometrically operating image scanning device (by itself, it performs neither image acquisition or reproduction), invented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, which was primarily used as a fundamental component in mechanical television.

Usage and Applications

One of the few, if not the only advantage of using a Nipkow disk is that the image sensor (that is, the device converting light to electric signals) can be as simple as a single photocell or photodiode, since each instant only a very small area (a pixel) is visible through the disk (and viewport), and so decomposing an image into lines is done almost by itself with little need for scanline timing, and very high scanline resolution. A simple acquisition device can be built by using an electrical motor driving a Nipkow disk, a small box containing a single light-sensitive (electric) element and a conventional image focusing device (lens, dark box, etc.).

Related Topics:
Sensor - Photocell - Photodiode - Pixel - Timing - Resolution - Dark box

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Another advantage is that the receiving device is very similar to the

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acquisition device, except that the light-sensitive device is replaced by a

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variable light source, driven by the signal provided by the acquisition device.

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Some means of synchronizing the disks on the two devices must also be devised (several options are possible, ranging from manual to electronic control signals).

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These facts helped immensely in building the first mechanical television, the Radiovision by means of the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird, as well as the first "TV-Enthusiasts" communities and even experimental

Related Topics:
Mechanical television - Radiovision - John Logie Baird

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image radio broadcasts, back in the 1920s.

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