Catherine Thomas in 1904. And Very Early Color Television.

            The Postcard

A Peacock Series Platino-Photo postcard that was published by the Pictorial Stationery Co. Ltd. of London.

The card was posted in Carnarvon on Tuesday the 7th. June 1904 to:

Mr. A. C. Eyers,
1, Brighton Terrace,
Battersea Park,
London S. W.

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"Many thanks for a
book of the old town".

Catherine Thomas

Catherine Thomas was born on the 11th. May 1866, in Llanegryn, Merionethshire, Wales. Her father, James Thomas, was 21 and her mother, Mary Thomas, was 31. 

Catherine married Edward Gabriel on the 9th. January 1892, in Dolgellau, Merionethshire, Wales. They were the parents of at least 9 sons and 2 daughters.  She died in 1944, at the age of 78.

Welsh National Dress

The popular image of Welsh national dress, i.e. that of a woman wearing a tall black hat with a red cloak over a decorative checked apron, is one which largely developed in the 19th. century as part of a conscious revival of Welsh culture during a period when traditional Welsh values were under threat.

Raymond D. Kell

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, the 7th. June 1904 marked the birth of Raymond Davis Kell, most often known as Ray Kell. He was a television researcher at RCA who was awarded the Stuart Ballantine Medal in 1948 for being a pioneer in the development of color television.

Ray was born in Kell, Illinois, and received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1926. From 1927 to 1930 he was engaged in television research in the radio consulting laboratory of General Electric. 

From 1930 he worked in the research division of the RCA Manufacturing Company. He received a "Modern Pioneer" award from the National Association of Manufacturers in February 1940 for inventions in television.

The Kell Factor

Ray was the origin of the term "Kell factor." This is a number describing the loss of vertical resolution from that expected for the number of active scanning lines. Many researchers have come up with different Kell factors which are based on parameters such as aperture shape, image content, and measurement technique. 

A generally accepted figure for the Kell factor is around 0.68, which, multiplied by the 484 active NTSC scanning lines, yields a vertical resolution of 330 lines.

Taken on: November 17, 2021

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