Frank Gray (researcher)
Encyclopedia
Frank Gray was a physicist and researcher at Bell Labs
who made numerous innovations in television, both mechanical and electronic, and is remembered for the Gray code
.
The Gray code
, or reflected binary code, appearing in Gray's 1953 patent, is a binary numeral system
often used in electronics
, but with many applications in mathematics
.
Gray conducted pioneering research on the development of television
; he proposed an early form of "flying spot scanner
" for early TV systems in 1927, and helped develop a two-way mechanically-scanned TV system in 1930.
With Pierre Mertz, Gray wrote the classic paper on the mathematics of raster scan
systems in 1934. He later participated in the early days of the digital revolution, with Raymond W. Sears, William M. Goodall, John Robinson Pierce
, and others at Bell Labs, by providing the binary code used by Sears in his PCM tube, a beam-deflection tube of the type that Sears and Pierce collaborated on, which was used in Goodall's "Television by pulse code modulation".
as co-inventor, Gray filed for two US patents in 1927: "Electro-optical system" (US 2,037,471, issued Apr. 14, 1936) and "Electro-optical transmission" (US 1,759,504, issued May 20, 1930), and one in just his own name: "Television system" (US 2,113,254, issued Apr. 5 1938). He patented many other similar-sounding inventions over the years that followed.
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
who made numerous innovations in television, both mechanical and electronic, and is remembered for the Gray code
Gray code
The reflected binary code, also known as Gray code after Frank Gray, is a binary numeral system where two successive values differ in only one bit. It is a non-weighted code....
.
The Gray code
Gray code
The reflected binary code, also known as Gray code after Frank Gray, is a binary numeral system where two successive values differ in only one bit. It is a non-weighted code....
, or reflected binary code, appearing in Gray's 1953 patent, is a binary numeral system
Binary numeral system
The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2...
often used in electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, but with many applications in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
.
Gray conducted pioneering research on the development of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
; he proposed an early form of "flying spot scanner
Flying spot scanner
A flying-spot scanner uses a scanning source of a spot of light, such as a high-resolution, high-light-output, low-persistence Cathode Ray Tube , to scan an image, usually from motion picture film or a slide...
" for early TV systems in 1927, and helped develop a two-way mechanically-scanned TV system in 1930.
With Pierre Mertz, Gray wrote the classic paper on the mathematics of raster scan
Raster scan
A raster scan, or raster scanning, is the rectangular pattern of image capture and reconstruction in television. By analogy, the term is used for raster graphics, the pattern of image storage and transmission used in most computer bitmap image systems...
systems in 1934. He later participated in the early days of the digital revolution, with Raymond W. Sears, William M. Goodall, John Robinson Pierce
John Robinson Pierce
John Robinson Pierce , was an American engineer and author. He worked extensively in the fields of radio communication, microwave technology, computer music, psychoacoustics, and science fiction. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he earned his Ph.D...
, and others at Bell Labs, by providing the binary code used by Sears in his PCM tube, a beam-deflection tube of the type that Sears and Pierce collaborated on, which was used in Goodall's "Television by pulse code modulation".
More patents
With Herbert E. IvesHerbert E. Ives
Herbert Eugene Ives was a scientist and engineer who headed the development of facsimile and television systems at AT&T in the first half of the twentieth century. He was also a critic of the special theory of relativity, and attempted to disprove the theory by means of logical arguments and...
as co-inventor, Gray filed for two US patents in 1927: "Electro-optical system" (US 2,037,471, issued Apr. 14, 1936) and "Electro-optical transmission" (US 1,759,504, issued May 20, 1930), and one in just his own name: "Television system" (US 2,113,254, issued Apr. 5 1938). He patented many other similar-sounding inventions over the years that followed.
External links
- Science Newsletter, April 16, 1927 (reproduced at Science News Online) "How New Television Process Works" with Gray's flying-spot scanner innovation
- Two Way Television 1930 booklet by AT&T, with photo of Frank Gray
- Complete 1930 booklet at TV History
