Imagesource: Hzeller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The following has absolutely nothing in common with 8-bit systems. But it is such a cool revival of a really old technology, that we just had to include it in this issue.

Electromechanical TV actually existed, and was amazingly capable round about 90 years ago. And back in the days there have been real broadcast providers in Europe distributing their program via the magic of electromagnetic waves. 📺

We are talking about devices based on the Nipkow Disk. 

The author of the IEEE article Markus Mierse has built a working device using a 3D printer, an Arduino, a motor and some smaller parts and wires.

The functionality is surprisingly simple but the resulting moving image is quite respectable (even if small). Depending on the configuration and design, a Nipkow Disk can display only a few lines of an image. If you put the disk in a vacuum and increase the RPM, you can get a higher resolution. But there are purely mechanical limits to the system. I guess, that’s why we abandoned them. 😬

Nevertheless exciting, and Markus provides the necessary files for 3D printing as open source. In addition he demo’s the whole project in a short video.

A project for more than just a weekend, but definitely a worthwhile one.