Henri de France

Henri Georges de France (born September 7, 1911 in Paris , † April 29, 1986 in Paris) was a French engineer and television pioneer.

Black and white television

Henri de France founded the Compagnie Générale de Télévision in Le Havre on December 6, 1931 and presented a functioning 60-line television system. In February 1932 he succeeded in transmitting moving pictures over a distance: from the nearby Fécamp transmitter, he sent 38-line pictures on medium wave that could be received 500 km away. In October 1932, the Henri de France system then offered 120 lines of resolution, which were now transmitted on 30 MHz, at the upper end of the shortwave range , and as a result did not reach that far. In 1936 de France went to the Cahen company, where he initially sent his 120-line pictures. In the laboratory, however, he was already experimenting with 405 lines on a 21 × 24 cm screen, from which the French prewar standard with 455 lines emerged.

High definition television

From around 1940, de France worked on a high-resolution television system that was supposed to clearly surpass the standards of 405, 441 or 455 lines at the time, for which he went to the still unoccupied Lyon. In the monthly TSF pour nous, a magazine for professional radio technology, issue August 1942, he presented a television system with 767 lines. By 1947 he finally developed it further to the 819-line system that was introduced in France in 1949.

Color television

In 1954, NTSC color television was introduced in the United States. In order to eliminate the decisive disadvantage of NTSC, the color changes on the transmission path, de France developed a new system ( SECAM ) based on it, the patent of which he submitted on May 25, 1956. SECAM was officially presented in 1959, and on October 1, 1967, color broadcasting began on the second French television channel, which was only launched in 1964 (now France 2 ).

In addition to television technology, Henri de France also worked on radar technology.

Awards

Médaille de la Resistance
Officer of the Legion of Honor

literature

Andreas Fickers: "Politique de la grandeur" versus "Made in Germany". Political cultural history of technology using the example of the PAL-SECAM controversy (= Paris historical studies , Volume 78). Oldenbourg, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-486-58178-2 (Dissertation RWTH Aachen 2002, 436 pages)., See: Chapter: 3.3.3.1 Henri de France and the "Compagnie Française de Télévision" (CFT) .

Individual evidence

↑ Andreas Fickers received a Friedrich Wilhelm Prize from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen 2006 for this study ( online at perspectivia.net )

personal data
SURNAME	France, Henri de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	France, Henri Georges de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French engineer who developed the SECAM color television system
DATE OF BIRTH	September 7, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	April 29, 1986
Place of death	Paris

[1] Andreas Fickers received a Friedrich Wilhelm Prize from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen 2006 for this study ( online at perspectivia.net )