The exact beginning of what most of us refer to as television is debatable. In 1842 Alexander
Bain managed to transmit a still image over wire, inventing what can readily be called the first
fax machine. In 1884 Paul Gottlieb Nipkow went a step further, and discovered (and patented)
a way to scan a moving image and transmit it sequentially. Nipkow’s process used two
synchronized, spinning disks, each with a spiral shaped pattern of holes in it. On the
transmitting side, a disk was placed between the subject and a light sensitive element. The
receiving side had a similar disk placed between a light source and the viewer. The resolution
of Nipkow’s disk system depended upon the number of holes in the disk. His system was
thought to have been able to achieve between 18 and 30 lines of resolution and marked the
beginning of the era of electromechanical television.