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76-414: Alan Dower Blumlein ( / ˈ b l ʊ m l aɪ n / ; 29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording , stereophonic sound , television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered one of the most significant engineers and inventors of his time. He died during World War II , on 7 June 1942, aged 38, during

152-436: A First-Class Honours BSc two years later. In mid-1930, Blumlein met Doreen Lane, a preparatory school teacher five years his junior. After two-and-a-half years of courtship the two were married in 1933. Lane was warned by acquaintances before the wedding that, "There was a joke amongst some of his friends, they used to call it 'Blumlein-itis' or 'First Class Mind'. It seems that he didn't want to know anyone who didn't have

228-432: A mass-production basis, which limited them to a number of specialised applications. The MOSFET was invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960. It was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and mass-produced for a wide range of uses. Its advantages include high scalability , affordability, low power consumption, and high density . It revolutionized the electronics industry , becoming

304-403: A radio antenna , practicable. Vacuum tubes (thermionic valves) were the first active electronic components which controlled current flow by influencing the flow of individual electrons , and enabled the construction of equipment that used current amplification and rectification to give us radio , television , radar , long-distance telephony and much more. The early growth of electronics

380-486: A French woman of German descent. Alan's mother, Jessie Dower, was Scottish , daughter of William Dower (born 1837) who went to South Africa for the London Missionary Society . Alan was christened as a Presbyterian ; he later married in a Church of England parish church. Alan Blumlein's future career seemed to have been determined by the age of seven, when he presented his father with an invoice for repairing

456-441: A bus driver to allow him to drive the vehicle from Penzance to Land's End . On another he spent several hours assisting the operator of a railway signal box in his duties at Paddington Station . Electronics Electronic devices have hugely influenced the development of many aspects of modern society, such as telecommunications , entertainment, education, health care, industry, and security. The main driving force behind

532-510: A cutting head with linear characteristics which circumvented Western Electric's patents. Columbia continued to use acoustic recording methods for the cheaper labels, and to release discs made with old acoustic masters on the Harmony and Velvet Tone labels until around 1929. The repercussions of the stock market Crash of 1929 led to huge losses in the recording industry and, in March 1931, J.P Morgan,

608-540: A first class mind." Recording engineer Joseph B. Kaye, known as J. B. Kaye, who was Blumlein's closest friend and best man at the wedding, thought the couple were well matched. In 1924 Blumlein started his first job at International Western Electric , a division of the Western Electric Company . The company subsequently became International Standard Electric Corporation and then, later on, Standard Telephones and Cables (STC). During his time there, he measured

684-578: A grave mistake. Columbia had been making test electrical recordings since at least August 1924 with the Western Electrical system. Although the Columbia Phonograph Company of New York could not afford the royalty payments, Sterling was in a position to buy out the US operation and, as an American company, to purchase the licence for the new Western Electric patents. Satisfied with the progress of

760-418: A leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s. Since then, solid-state devices have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers , cathode-ray tubes , specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices . In April 1955,

836-566: A mix of the two types. Analog circuits are becoming less common, as many of their functions are being digitized. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage or current for signal processing, as opposed to the discrete levels used in digital circuits. Analog circuits were common throughout an electronic device in the early years in devices such as radio receivers and transmitters. Analog electronic computers were valuable for solving problems with continuous variables until digital processing advanced. As semiconductor technology developed, many of

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912-796: A petition for involuntary bankruptcy: Columbia went into receivership. Seeking to raise cash, Columbia sold the British branch in December 1922 to a group of investors led by Columbia's General Manager in Britain, the American-born Louis Sterling (1879–1958). Columbia in the US emerged from receivership in February 1924 as the Columbia Phonograph Company Inc., but was immediately faced with another crisis, as booming radio sales reduced

988-540: A physical space, although in more recent years the trend has been towards electronics lab simulation software , such as CircuitLogix , Multisim , and PSpice . Today's electronics engineers have the ability to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power supplies , semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor devices, such as transistors), and integrated circuits. Electronic design automation software programs include schematic capture programs and printed circuit board design programs. Popular names in

1064-531: A small team which developed the concept into a practical cutter. The other principal team members were Herbert Holman and Henry "Ham" Clark. Their work resulted in several patents. Early in 1931, the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company merged and became EMI . New joint research laboratories were set up at Hayes and Blumlein was officially transferred there on 1 November

1140-615: A sufficient number of parachutes for all individuals involved. After the RAF investigative board completed its report on the Halifax crash, it was ordered to be kept secret by Prime Minister Churchill, and the cause of the crash was not revealed publicly, even to the relatives of the deceased. As a result, numerous unfounded rumours of German sabotage as the cause of the crash would circulate for many years afterwards. Alan Blumlein had two sons, Simon Blumlein and David Blumlein. Outside his work, Blumlein

1216-548: Is defined as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its information content. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit. Noise is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise may be electromagnetically or thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the circuit. Other types of noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical properties. Many different methods of connecting components have been used over

1292-595: Is the voltage comparator which receives a continuous range of voltage but only outputs one of two levels as in a digital circuit. Similarly, an overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the characteristics of a controlled switch , having essentially two levels of output. Analog circuits are still widely used for signal amplification, such as in the entertainment industry, and conditioning signals from analog sensors, such as in industrial measurement and control. Digital circuits are electric circuits based on discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits use Boolean algebra and are

1368-448: Is therefore the process of defining and developing complex electronic devices to satisfy specified requirements of the user. Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, laboratory experimentation is an important part of the development of electronic devices. These experiments are used to test or verify the engineer's design and detect errors. Historically, electronics labs have consisted of electronics devices and equipment located in

1444-567: The Columbia Graphophone Company , where he reported directly to general manager Isaac Shoenberg . His first project was to find a method of disc cutting that circumvented a Bell patent in the Western Electric moving-iron cutting head then used, and on which substantial royalties had to be paid. He invented the moving-coil disc cutting head, which not only got around the patent but offered greatly improved sound quality. He led

1520-621: The IBM 608 was the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the first all-transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercial market. The 608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for computer logic circuits and peripheral devices. However, early junction transistors were relatively bulky devices that were difficult to manufacture on

1596-820: The Victor Talking Machine Company ) and phonographs. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor discs. Edison discs and Columbia's acoustic records both had a nominal playback speed of 80 rpm. From about 1898 until 1922 the US parent company managed a UK subsidiary, the Columbia Graphophone Manufacturing Company. Its headquarters and studios were established in Victorian warehouses at 102-108 Clerkenwell Road shortly before

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1672-636: The amplitude / frequency response of human ears, and used the results to design the first weighting networks. In 1924 he published (with Professor Edward Mallett) the first of his only two IEE papers, on high-frequency resistance measurement. This won him the IEE's Premium award for innovation. The following year he wrote (with Norman Kipping ) a series of seven articles for Wireless World . In 1925 and 1926, Blumlein and John Percy Johns designed an improved form of loading coil which reduced loss and crosstalk in long-distance telephone lines. These were used until

1748-459: The electron in 1897 by Sir Joseph John Thomson , along with the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals , inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age. Practical applications started with the invention of the diode by Ambrose Fleming and the triode by Lee De Forest in the early 1900s, which made the detection of small electrical voltages, such as radio signals from

1824-734: The 1950s and 1960s, and was eventually replaced by the newly created EMI Records , as part of a label consolidation. This in turn was absorbed by the Parlophone Records unit of Warner Music Group in 2013. The Columbia Phonograph Company was originally founded in the US by Edward D. Easton in 1887, initially as a distributor with a local monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Delaware. It also made its own compatible cylinder recordings. In 1901, Columbia began selling disc records (invented and patented by Emile Berliner of

1900-448: The 1960s, U.S. manufacturers were unable to compete with Japanese companies such as Sony and Hitachi who could produce high-quality goods at lower prices. By the 1980s, however, U.S. manufacturers became the world leaders in semiconductor development and assembly. However, during the 1990s and subsequently, the industry shifted overwhelmingly to East Asia (a process begun with the initial movement of microchip mass-production there in

1976-531: The 1970s), as plentiful, cheap labor, and increasing technological sophistication, became widely available there. Over three decades, the United States' global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity fell, from 37% in 1990, to 12% in 2022. America's pre-eminent semiconductor manufacturer, Intel Corporation , fell far behind its subcontractor Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in manufacturing technology. By that time, Taiwan had become

2052-642: The Columbia Records trade mark in the UK and elsewhere, Sony Music now prefers the "walking eye" logo previously used by the old CBS Records, which is based on the Columbia Records logo introduced in the US and Canada in 1955. However, the "magic notes" logo is occasionally used, usually to give a 'retro' feel (such as on the 2016 vinyl reissues of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets , and on Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind ). The Columbia name

2128-527: The Columbia label with the eponymous EMI Records in January 1973. The last Columbia single was issued in 1989. EMI sold its remaining interest in the Columbia name in 1990 to Sony Music Entertainment (formerly CBS Records Group), which already owned Columbia Records in the U.S. and Canada. The formal reassignment of British registered trade marks from EMI, including the "magic notes" logo, took place in 1993. For

2204-709: The EDA software world are NI Multisim, Cadence ( ORCAD ), EAGLE PCB and Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB and LOGIC Schematic), Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA , KiCad and many others. Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and improve long term reliability. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipation include heat sinks and fans for air cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling . These techniques use convection , conduction , and radiation of heat energy . Electronic noise

2280-534: The First World War, and the buildings were a key location in the development of the British recording industry until the 1930s. In 1917, the Columbia Graphophone Company was registered as a British company, with the shares being held by the American firm. A general market downturn in 1921 affected the whole entertainment industry. Profits turned to losses, and in late 1922 the creditors of the US parent company filed

2356-556: The Pacemakers , the Seekers , the Yardbirds , Jeff Beck , and Pink Floyd . Led by A&R man Norrie Paramor , the label was arguably the most successful in Britain in the rock era prior to the beat boom . In the mid 1960s, UK Columbia added an audiophile imprint called Studio 2 Stereo . During that time, the Columbia Graphophone Company was absorbed into the Gramophone Company with

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2432-449: The US operation. On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the licensed Western Electric recording process and was using it on a regular basis by April. The royalty payments were considerable, and in 1928 Columbia hired the English electronics engineer Alan Blumlein to work on an alternative. By late 1930, he had developed a recording system including a moving-coil microphone and

2508-465: The US operations from 1925 until 1931. That year Columbia Graphophone in the UK merged with the Gramophone Company (which sold records under the His Master's Voice label) to form EMI . At the same time, Columbia divested itself of its American branch, which was eventually absorbed by Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS ) in 1938. The company's record label Columbia became a successful British brand in

2584-535: The advancement of electronics is the semiconductor industry , which in response to global demand continually produces ever-more sophisticated electronic devices and circuits. The semiconductor industry is one of the largest and most profitable sectors in the global economy, with annual revenues exceeding $ 481 billion in 2018. The electronics industry also encompasses other sectors that rely on electronic devices and systems, such as e-commerce, which generated over $ 29 trillion in online sales in 2017. The identification of

2660-458: The aircraft owing to several factors, including a loss of altitude while attempting to find an emergency field, the rapidly spreading fire, which blocked or impeded egress from the plane, and the fact that a sufficient number of parachutes were either not on board or were not being worn. Almost immediately following the crash, Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a directive requiring any test flights with civilians or scientific personnel to carry

2736-409: The basis of all digital computers and microprocessor devices. They range from simple logic gates to large integrated circuits, employing millions of such gates. Digital circuits use a binary system with two voltage levels labelled "0" and "1" to indicated logical status. Often logic "0" will be a lower voltage and referred to as "Low" while logic "1" is referred to as "High". However, some systems use

2812-438: The cinema. The sound reproduction systems of the early talkies only had a single set of speakers – the actor might be on one side of the screen, but the voice could come from the other. Blumlein declared to his wife that he had found a way to make the sound follow the actor. Blumlein explained his ideas to Isaac Shoenberg in the late summer of 1931. His earliest notes on the subject are dated 25 September 1931, and his patent had

2888-459: The circuit, thus slowing the computer. The invention of the integrated circuit by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce solved this problem by making all the components and the chip out of the same block (monolith) of semiconductor material. The circuits could be made smaller, and the manufacturing process could be automated. This led to the idea of integrating all components on a single-crystal silicon wafer, which led to small-scale integration (SSI) in

2964-486: The crash of an H2S-equipped Handley Page Halifax test aircraft while making a test flight for the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) on 7 June 1942. During the flight from RAF Defford , whilst at an altitude of 500 ft (150 meters) the Halifax developed an engine fire which rapidly grew out of control. The aircraft was seen to lose altitude, then rolled inverted and struck

3040-426: The doorbell, signed "Alan Blumlein, Electrical Engineer" (with "paid" scrawled in pencil). His sister claimed that he could not read proficiently until he was 12. He replied "no, but I knew a lot of quadratic equations!" After leaving Highgate School in 1921, he studied at City and Guilds College (part of Imperial College ). He won a Governors' scholarship and joined the second year of the course. He graduated with

3116-874: The early 1960s, and then medium-scale integration (MSI) in the late 1960s, followed by VLSI . In 2008, billion-transistor processors became commercially available. An electronic component is any component in an electronic system either active or passive. Components are connected together, usually by being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular function. Components may be packaged singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits . Passive electronic components are capacitors , inductors , resistors , whilst active components are such as semiconductor devices; transistors and thyristors , which control current flow at electron level. Electronic circuit functions can be divided into two function groups: analog and digital. A particular device may consist of circuitry that has either or

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3192-452: The electronic logic gates to generate binary states. Highly integrated devices: Electronic systems design deals with the multi-disciplinary design issues of complex electronic devices and systems, such as mobile phones and computers . The subject covers a broad spectrum, from the design and development of an electronic system ( new product development ) to assuring its proper function, service life and disposal . Electronic systems design

3268-520: The end of the analogue telephony era. The same duo also invented an improved form of AC measurement bridge which became known as the Blumlein Bridge and subsequently the transformer ratio arm bridge . These two inventions were the basis for Blumlein's first two patents. His inventions while working at STC resulted in another five patents, which were not awarded until after he left the company in 1929. In 1929 Blumlein resigned from STC and joined

3344-415: The firm's profitability. The same year, Bell Labs - Western Electric had developed a new electrical recording system to replace the old acoustic recording methods, and was offering exclusive rights to Victor although its Chairman's illness had led to delays. Louis Sterling as Managing Director had turned around the fortunes of UK Columbia, and persuaded Western Electric that granting a monopoly would be

3420-562: The following ways: The electronics industry consists of various sectors. The central driving force behind the entire electronics industry is the semiconductor industry sector, which has annual sales of over $ 481 billion as of 2018. The largest industry sector is e-commerce , which generated over $ 29 trillion in 2017. The most widely manufactured electronic device is the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), with an estimated 13   sextillion MOSFETs having been manufactured between 1960 and 2018. In

3496-489: The functions of analog circuits were taken over by digital circuits, and modern circuits that are entirely analog are less common; their functions being replaced by hybrid approach which, for instance, uses analog circuits at the front end of a device receiving an analog signal, and then use digital processing using microprocessor techniques thereafter. Sometimes it may be difficult to classify some circuits that have elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example

3572-512: The ground. The crash occurred near the village of Welsh Bicknor in Herefordshire. Two of Blumlein's colleagues, Cecil Oswald Browne and Frank Blythen, also died in the crash. The Halifax was carrying a highly-secret cavity magnetron as part of the H2S test system, and the immediate recovery of the device was essential. A team led by Bernard Lovell arrived at the crash scene the same night, and took

3648-709: The label maintaining its identity. EMI engaged in litigation with CBS regarding the importing of American records bearing the Columbia imprint into areas where EMI owned the Columbia name. Releases from the British Columbia Graphophone Company appeared in Japan under Nippon Columbia until 1962, when licensing was switched to Toshiba Musical Industries . EMI decided to reserve the HMV label for classical repertoire and had transferred HMV's remaining pop acts to Columbia and Parlophone by 1967. EMI began to replace

3724-413: The loosened nut caused increasingly excessive valve clearance eventually allowing collision of the valve head with the rising piston fracturing the valve stem , which then allowed the inlet valve to drop open, resulting in the ignition by the spark plug of the pressurised fuel/air mixture within the inlet manifold and, eventually, the pumping of the ignited fuel outboard of the rocker cover and along

3800-470: The magnetron. "Then reports of a crash in south Wales began to come in and the rest of that night was just a nightmare. I was driven by the C-in-C of the aerodrome [Defford], a man called King, and winding through these lanes near Ross-on-Wye searching for this wreckage, and then the field with the burnt-out Halifax, and of course it was wartime, there was no time for emotions, our first duties were to search for

3876-467: The major shareholder, steered the Columbia Graphophone Company (along with Odeon Records and Parlophone , which it had owned since 1926) into a merger with the Gramophone Company (HMV) to form Electric and Musical Industries Ltd ( EMI ). By the time of the merger, the Gramophone Company had not fully developed an alternative to Western Electric's process and was still paying royalty fees, so it

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3952-399: The most widely used electronic device in the world. The MOSFET is the basic element in most modern electronic equipment. As the complexity of circuits grew, problems arose. One problem was the size of the circuit. A complex circuit like a computer was dependent on speed. If the components were large, the wires interconnecting them must be long. The electric signals took time to go through

4028-646: The new CBS Records created from the purchase of Oriole Records (UK) in late 1964. The loss of American Columbia product had forced UK Columbia to groom its own talent such as Russ Conway , John Barry , Cliff Richard , the Shadows , Helen Shapiro , Frank Ifield , Freddie and the Dreamers , the Dave Clark Five , Shirley Bassey , Frankie Vaughan , Des O'Connor , Ken Dodd , the Animals , Herman's Hermits , Gerry and

4104-413: The outboard section of the starboard wing to separate from the centre section at approximately 350 feet (100  meters) of altitude. With the loss of a substantial part of the starboard wing, all control over level flight was lost, and the plane rolled inverted and struck the ground at approximately 150 mph (240 kph). The board found that the crew and passengers had not jumped immediately from

4180-403: The output transformer to provide feedback to the second grid, which improved the amplifier's linearity. With the tap placed at the anode end of the primary winding, the tube (valve) is effectively connected as a triode , and if the tap was at the supply end, as a pure pentode . Blumlein discovered that if the tap was placed at a distance 15–20% down from the supply end of the output transformer,

4256-437: The outside of the engine, leading to an extensive fire in the engine nacelle . Due to the fire originating in the induction system, where the supercharged fuel/air mixture was at higher pressure than atmospheric, the heart of the fire was much hotter burning and intense than would be the case in a simple fuel fire. Constantly fuelled by the broken intake , the fire burned rapidly along the wing and fuselage, eventually causing

4332-405: The post-war Star Tiger and Star Ariel disappearances – and assisted by Rolls-Royce , who had made the Halifax's Merlin engines, found that the crash was caused by engine fire, attributed to the unscrewing of a tappet nut on the starboard outer engine, which had been improperly tightened by an RAF engine fitter while inspecting the engine three hours prior to the crash. During the flight

4408-500: The precious highly-secret equipment, and collect the bits-and-pieces of it." – Bernard Lovell. After the RAF investigative board completed its report on the Halifax crash on 1 July 1942, it was distributed to a restricted list of approved recipients, but not publicly divulged. In the interests of wartime secrecy, the announcement of Blumlein's death was not made for another three years. The investigative board, headed by AIB Chief Inspector Vernon Brown – who later also investigated

4484-411: The project was a closely guarded secret at the time and consequently only a brief announcement of his death was made some two years later, to avoid providing solace to Hitler. His invention of the line type pulse modulator (ref vol 5 of MIT Radiation Laboratory series) was a major contribution to high-powered pulse radars, not just the H2S's system, and continues to be used today. Blumlein was killed in

4560-540: The reverse definition ("0" is "High") or are current based. Quite often the logic designer may reverse these definitions from one circuit to the next as they see fit to facilitate their design. The definition of the levels as "0" or "1" is arbitrary. Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and some prototype computers made, but have not gained any significant practical acceptance. Universally, Computers and Digital signal processors are constructed with digital circuits using Transistors such as MOSFETs in

4636-550: The same year. During the early 1930s Blumlein and Herbert Holman developed a series of moving-coil microphones, which were used in EMI recording studios and by the BBC at Alexandra Palace . In June 1937, Blumlein patented what is now known as the Ultra-Linear amplifier (US Patent 2,218,902, dated 5 June 1937). A deceptively simple design, the circuit provided a tap on the primary winding of

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4712-552: The same year. Much of the development work on this system for cinematic use was completed by 1935. In Blumlein's short test films (most notably, "Trains at Hayes Station", which lasts 5 minutes 11 seconds, and, "The Walking & Talking Film"), his original intent of having the sound follow the actor was fully realized. In 1934, Blumlein recorded Mozart 's Jupiter Symphony conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham at Abbey Road Studios in London using his vertical-lateral technique. Television

4788-599: The secret trial of an H2S airborne radar system then under development, when all on board the Halifax bomber in which he was flying were killed when it crashed at Welsh Bicknor in Herefordshire . Alan Dower Blumlein was born on 29 June 1903 in Hampstead , London. His father, Semmy Blumlein, was a German-born naturalised British subject. Semmy was the son of Joseph Blumlein, a German of Jewish descent, and Philippine Hellmann,

4864-411: The test recordings, in March 1925, Louis Sterling (backed by J.P. Morgan & Co.), acquired a controlling interest in the parent company, Columbia US, for $ 2.5 million (about £500,000) in order to take advantage of Western Electric's patents. The firm continued in business as the Columbia Graphophone Company in many countries as a British company. Sterling, originally from New York, became chairman of

4940-416: The title " Improvements in and relating to Sound-transmission, Sound-recording and Sound-reproducing Systems ". The application was dated 14 December 1931, and was accepted on 14 June 1933 as UK patent number 394,325. The patent covered numerous ideas in stereo, some of which are used today. Some 70 claims include: Blumlein's binaural experiments began in early 1933, and the first stereo discs were cut later

5016-665: The tube or valve would combine the positive features of both the triode and the pentode design. Blumlein may or may not have invented the long-tailed pair , but his name is on the first patent (1936). The long-tailed pair is a form of differential amplifier that has been popular since the days of the vacuum tube (valve). It is now more pervasive than ever, as it is particularly suitable for implementation in integrated circuit form, and almost every operational amplifier integrated circuit contains at least one. In 1931, Blumlein invented what he called "binaural sound", now known as stereophonic sound . In early 1931, he and his wife were at

5092-571: The world's first scheduled "high definition" (240 lines or better) television service – which was later adopted as the CCIR System A . Blumlein was so central to the development of the H2S airborne radar system (to aid bomb targeting), that after his death in June 1942, many believed that the project would fail. However it survived and was a factor in shortening the Second World War . Blumlein's role in

5168-583: The world's leading source of advanced semiconductors —followed by South Korea , the United States , Japan , Singapore , and China . Important semiconductor industry facilities (which often are subsidiaries of a leading producer based elsewhere) also exist in Europe (notably the Netherlands ), Southeast Asia, South America, and Israel . Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd.

5244-756: The years. For instance, early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such as FR4 , or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper ( SRBP , also known as Paxoline/Paxolin (trade marks) and FR2) – characterised by its brown colour. Health and environmental concerns associated with electronics assembly have gained increased attention in recent years, especially for products destined to go to European markets. Electrical components are generally mounted in

5320-488: Was a lover of music and he attempted to learn to play the piano, but gave it up. He enjoyed horse riding and occasionally went cub hunting with his father-in-law. He was interested in many forms of engineering, including aviation, motor engineering and railway engineering. He obtained a pilot's licence and flew Tiger Moth aircraft of the London Aerodrome Club at Stag Lane Aerodrome . On one occasion, he persuaded

5396-449: Was a technically advantageous move. Since the Gramophone Company (HMV) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Victor, and Columbia in America was a subsidiary of UK Columbia, Victor now technically owned its largest rival in the US. To avoid antitrust legislation, EMI had to sell off its US Columbia operation, which continued to release pressings of matrices made in the UK. The American company

5472-453: Was developed by many individuals and companies throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Blumlein's contributions, as a member of the EMI team, started in earnest in 1933 when his boss, Isaac Shoenberg, assigned him full-time to TV research. His ideas included: Blumlein was also largely responsible for the development of the waveform structure used in the 405-line Marconi-EMI system – developed for the UK's BBC Television Service at Alexandra Palace ,

5548-724: Was eventually absorbed by Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS ) (another of its former offshoots) in 1938. EMI continued to operate the Columbia record label in the UK until the early 1970s, and in all other territories except for the US, Canada, Spain and Japan, until it sold its remaining interest in the Columbia trademark to Sony Music Entertainment in 1990. Under EMI, UK Columbia's releases were mainly licensed recordings from American Columbia until 1951 when American Columbia switched British distribution to Philips Records . UK Columbia continued to distribute American Columbia sister labels Okeh and Epic until 1968 when American Columbia's then parent CBS moved distribution of all its labels to

5624-581: Was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom . Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company , it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a management buy-out after the parent company went into receivership. In 1925, it acquired a controlling interest in its American parent company to take advantage of a new electrical recording process. The British firm also controlled

5700-484: Was rapid, and by the 1920s, commercial radio broadcasting and telecommunications were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long-distance telephony and the music recording industry. The next big technological step took several decades to appear, when the first working point-contact transistor was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain at Bell Labs in 1947. However, vacuum tubes continued to play

5776-543: Was still on some EMI releases between 1973 and 1990 (such as Baltimora 's " Tarzan Boy " in 1985, Jeanne Mas and the 1987 Kiki Dee album Angel Eyes ), but it had ceased acting as a fully functioning label. In Australia and Germany, EMI continued using the Columbia label throughout the 1970s and to at least 1980, but added the EMI label in 1973. Through its ownership of the former Columbia/EMI catalogue, Parlophone Records' new owner Warner Music Group assumed Columbia's artist roster and catalogue. New reissues bear

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