Television

TELEVISION. - It consists in the transmission and reproduction at a distance of moving images, by means of electromagnetic waves.

I. TECHNICAL ASPECTS AND HISTORICAL NOTES

The process by which this transmission and reproduction takes place consists first of all in a decomposition of the image into a very great number of small elements, each of which comprises a determined value of luminous flux, translated into a corresponding electrical value through a photoelectric cell. The current thus determined is sent over a distance in the order of the subdivision of the image into elements, as a modulating wave of electromagnetic waves of very high frequency. At the receiving station the electrical impulses are again translated into elementary luminous fluxes proportionally to the current itself; these are reordered in space, with a synchronism corresponding to the order of succession from element to element in the transmitted image, so that the visual impression of the reconstructed image is produced. The speed of the succession of images does not reach 1/25 of a second, that is, the images follow one another at intervals shorter than the persistence of visual impressions on the retina of the human eye, that is, of 1/15 of a second. Today a speed of 1/50 of a second has even been attained. In the reception of the transmitted image there is therefore the impression of continuity.

The great dates that mark the course of the discovery, improvement and utilization of television are relatively recent. In 1880 M. Leblanc conceived scanning with vibrating mirrors; in 1883 P. Nipkow invented the disk of the same name; in 1889 Weiller presented the mirror wheel; in 1907 Rosing laid the foundations of the method with the cathode-ray oscillograph; but only with the improvement of the photoelectric cell and of the electronic tube did television become possible. Subsequently, television improved more and more, especially from the time when the transition was made from mechanical television, little stable and lacking in detail, to the present, more perfect one, owing to the facilitation represented by the iconoscope due to Vladimir Zworykin, whose first results of 1923 were perfected in 1938. In 1939, through the work of Jams and Rose, came the orthiconoscope, perfected in 1946 by Rose and Weimac.

Meanwhile, in 1935 the first transmission stations were inaugurated: at Berlin-Witzleben and at the Eiffel Tower, and experimental television and cathode-ray analysis installations multiplied in the United States, in England, in Italy. In 1937 there were regular transmissions in various cities of Europe and America. In Italy excellent experimental broadcasts were made in 1939-40, through the work of EIAR (today RAI), from the Torre del Parco in Milan and from Monte Mario in Rome, with apparatus built in Italy. In 1949 the National Research Council established a special Study Commission for television, and today RAI, the universities and industry are concerned with its revival.

After the war of 1939-45, television services were resumed in England by the B.B.C. in 1946. In the United States too, the public service inaugurated in 1941 by a New York station was resumed after the war. In 1946 the link between Washington and New York was established. From 1948 television spread more and more with the multiplication of transmission stations, the improvement of programs, and the lowering of the cost of receiving sets. At the end of 1948 more than a million sets had already been sold: today the figure of many millions has been reached, and more than 150 stations transmit, of which more than a hundred with regular transmissions.

According to U.N.E.S.C.O. information from the end of 1952, in the United States there are 19 million receivers; in Canada 100 thousand, with 2 stations; in England 5 stations and 1,500,000 receivers; in France 2 stations and 40 thousand receivers; in the U.R.S.S. 3 stations and 60 thousand receivers. Experimental transmissions are carried out in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Japan, Yugoslavia, Spain. In many other countries television installations are being prepared. In Vatican City too there is a station, given to the Holy Father Pius XII by France.

At present the projection of transmitted images is possible on screens for family use, of 1 sq. m. of surface or a little more; but the eidophore, conceived by Fischer of Zurich and the subject of studies by Thiemann, makes use of a process for the amplification of light, and already today provides a picture of about 10 sq. m. with a quite good average brightness and excellent detail. But it remains to be made more practical. The diffusion of the television image today takes place by radio, with ultrashort waves and microwaves. Programs specially produced, or scenes of real life, can be picked up, and there are mobile apparatuses that make it possible to pick up, by means of radio links, events that unfold on a very large scale. For practical reasons it is often advisable to record the scene and retransmit it at the moment most suitable for the viewer, generally toward evening, when he is better able to watch it. This is done by means of cinematography, but it is a more difficult and costly process. Films can also be transmitted by television. Experiments have been made in the transmission of color images. In America, England and France the attempts to achieve stereoscopic transmissions are still in the experimental phase. The method of stratovision is also under study, with the use of relay stations installed on aircraft flying at about 9,000 m. in predetermined circuits around the transmitting stations.

II. MORAL PROBLEMS AND OBSERVATIONS

It is easy to understand what delicate problems arise from the spread of television, which brings the multiform life of the world into the home, even by means of sight. These are problems of a psychological nature, because of the inevitable repercussion that televisual projection has on man's faculties (intellect, will, imagination, sensibility), because of the ease with which he is kept informed of events and made acquainted with people, because of the direct influence that things and people exercise on the formation of his mentality, on his opinions and habits, on his very customs and way of life. Problems of a cultural nature, because of the new and wonderful contribution that television brings to the spread of knowledge and experiences in every field of culture, for the benefit of all (to the extent that it becomes more accessible to all) and with the powerful influence exercised by the visual element in facilitating knowledge or aesthetic taste, and in arousing desires and inquiries. Problems of a social nature, because of the new and great impetus given by television to mutual acquaintance and therefore to the drawing together of people, to the formation of public opinion, to the quickening of social and international awareness.

But the most serious problem is the moral one, that is, with regard to the good and the evil that can come from television, especially if one considers that television, at least today, concerns for the most part a family audience, which it seizes in the very...

within the very walls of the home. And this problem was felt very early in the circles interested in television itself, and noteworthy in this regard is the Code of television drawn up in the United States of America by a Board designated by the broadcasters themselves, to which all North American transmitting stations appear to have adhered. It was published by the American magazine Broadcasting Telecasting on 10 Dec. 1951. In it the seriousness of the problem is emphasized, precisely because of the penetration of ideas and customs that takes place through television into the homes of viewers, among children, young people and adults, of every race, faith and cultural level, with an effective influence upon the whole man. Here, then, are its fundamental points with particular reference to moral values: 1) in favor of education and culture. Television greatly increases the educational influence of the school, of higher centers of culture, of the Church, and must therefore keep in contact with these institutions, seeking their counsel and cooperation. It is therefore the precise responsibility of stations, agencies, announcers and sponsors of programs to seize every opportunity to ensure that broadcasts contribute to the elevation of the public, to the advancement of culture and of social education, taking into account the wishes of the community itself.

2) As for programs, it is accordingly established that everything extremely frivolous, obscene or indecent be excluded from broadcasts, as well as every word that could lend itself to ambiguity, on the basis of a list of such words to be prepared by the Commission charged with revising the Code. Attacks on religion and on the various religious beliefs are not permitted. The name of God and of His attributes is always to be pronounced with due reverence. Religious rites, even when they occur outside the appropriate programs, must be adequately presented, so that the minister, priest or rabbi who appears in them loses nothing of his dignity. Care must be taken that the commercial criterion does not prevail over the qualitative one, even in contests held among the public. Full respect will be maintained for the sanctity of marriage and for what the home represents. Divorce may not serve as the basis of a plot, nor be justified as a solution to the marital problem. Illicit sexual relations will not be presented as recommendable, and every depiction of sexual and unnatural crimes must be excluded. The same criteria of caution must be followed with regard to illegal drugs, alcoholic beverages, gambling, sporting spectacles, the pain and physical defects of particular persons, astrological, phrenological, numerological, chiromantic exhibitions, etc., tragic plots, medical, legal, etc. advice, spectacles that arouse cruelty, ambition, selfishness, the presentation of crimes, and everything that can provoke excessively vivid emotions. Every, even apparent, justification of crime must be avoided, while instead the law will be exalted and its representatives presented with respect and dignity.

3) Duties toward children. To present a just vision of the world, avoiding everything that can arouse the violence of the instincts. To make programs suited to them, and to take every precaution especially for the hours of the day when they can watch the programs. To instill in them through television moral and social ideals, concepts of submission and respect for parents and authorities.

4) Decency and decorum. Care must be taken to maintain the greatest dignity in the presentation of figures, as regards anatomical parts, clothing, postures and movements, especially in dance. One must proceed with good taste and delicacy in everything that in any way relates to sex.

5) Duties toward the community. The television producer and his staff must remember that they carry out a function in favor of the community and must seek to obtain the good of their fellow citizens.

6) News and political commentary. True news must be broadcast, with commentary distinct from the newscast, with marked characteristics of balance; the broadcasting of alarming and exciting news, especially in the criminal field, will be avoided. Commentaries must serve and complete the public's knowledge.

7) Public controversies. — 8) Political television.

9) Religious programs. Due space must be granted to them, while avoiding attacks on any religion; observing the greatest respect throughout the program; using worthy persons; emphasizing strictly religious truths, above partial or polemical points of view that are not in close connection with religion and morality; giving just proportion to broadcasts by the various beliefs.

10) Announcements. — 11) Acceptance of advertisements for pharmaceutical products. — 12) Presentation of gifts. — 13) Rules and procedures to be followed for the application of the Code.

These noble intentions must be translated into reality, never placing the economic or commercial criterion before the ethical one, as indeed the public demands in its vast majority.

III. TELEVISION AND CATHOLICS

The importance that television can have as a weapon of the apostolate is evident. Catholics have in fact sought to make use of it and to be present in order to guide its work, in accordance with the ethical requirements recalled above. Important achievements have been made in various countries, but especially in the United States of America and in France. The work in this field is particularly fostered and promoted by the Association Catholique Internationale pour la radiodiffusion et la télévision, UNDA, whose beginnings go back to 1928. It has its central headquarters in Fribourg (Switzerland), and has a network of centers and correspondents throughout the world. Its program is to coordinate Catholic activities in the fields of radio and television; to promote the founding of Catholic organizations concerned with radio and television; to cooperate with other institutions that have the same spirit; to prepare programs for radio and television. Its president is Fr. J. B. Kors, O.P.

The action of Catholics in this field takes multiple forms: religious broadcasts for parishes, teleclubs, schools for the training of competent personnel, action in families, the press at the service of television, education in the criticism of television, influence on programs, etc., and all of this on an international plane where television can be a valuable coefficient of the unity of the world. It should also be added that the Mass followed on television is not valid for the purposes of fulfilling the obligation of the holy day. The papal blessing, however, received via television, is valid (AAS, 31 [1939], 277).

Raimondo Spiazzi