Format War - 1930s

1930s

• 240-line versus 405-line television broadcasts. In 1936, the BBC Television Service commenced television broadcasting from Alexandra Palace in North London. They began by using two mutually incompatible television standards broadcasting on alternate weeks. The 240-line Baird sequential system (now inaccurately called progressive) was broadcast using a mechanically scanned apparatus. In the intervening weeks, EMI-Marconi broadcast in 405 line interlaced using fully electronic cameras. Early sets had to support both systems, adding to their complexity. It was the BBC's intention to run the two systems side by side for a six-month trial to determine which would be finally adopted and which would be dropped. The BBC quickly discovered that the fully electronic EMI system had a superior picture quality and less flicker. Also the camera equipment was much more mobile and transportable (Baird's intermediate-film cameras had to be bolted to the studio floor as they required a water supply). In the event, the trial was brought to a premature end after three months by a disastrous fire in the Baird studios which destroyed most of Baird's equipment.