Can
the inventor of the first color television be Latin American?
TRIVIA
The acronym XHGC stands for the initials of his last name. |
In
1940 at the age of 22, Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena obtained US Patent
No. 2,296,022, which protected his Trichromatic system
used for color television transmissions.
Gonzalez
Camarena was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1917.
In
1932, after two years of studies, he left the mechanical-electrical
engineering program at the National Polytechnic Institute to work
as an operator at the radio station of his countrys Department
of Public Education.
HIS
OTHER SELF
Besides being an inventor, Gonzalez Camarena liked astronomy,
he was a connoisseur of archeology and mexican history, played
several musical instruments and composed beautiful songs. |
In
1934 he built his first monochromatic television camera from scrap
materials he got from flea markets.
After
his US patent for the color television on August 19, 1940, he registered
his invention at the Mexican Office of Patents and Trademarks, No.
10,235, thus protecting himself against plagiarism and prohibited
use of his invention in his country.
He
immediately went to work, as chief operator, to the radio stations
XEW and XEQ in the Mexican capital.
In
1942 he began experimenting with television transmissions from his
home, and in 1946 he founded XEGC, the first experimental television
station in Mexico, with only two receptors built and installed by
himself; one in XEW and the other in the Mexican League of Radio
Experimenters.
My
ideal is to build economical receptors so that everyone can
have one.
|
In
1948 he established Gon-Com Laboratories to manufacture TV transmission
equipment, which he succeeded in exporting to the US two years later.
That
same year he invented the first remote control in Mexico, showcased
at the Presidential Objective Exposition that took place in the
center of the city.
Of
specific importance is the first black and white transmission of
a surgical procedure by closed circuit television during the 7th
Assembly of Surgeons, an experience that was repeated the following
year during the same Assembly, but this time in full color.
In
1950, he obtained the right to commercialize Channel 5 in Mexico
with the acronym XHGC, where two years later he began operations
on May 10th with a Mothers Day festival; but it wasnt
until August 18th that he began regular broadcasts.
WITHOUT
MONEY
He claimed not to have a penny from his inventions, as he had
invested all of his money in new research. |
In
1960, Gonzalez Camarena obtained in Mexico and in the US patents
for his Kaleidoscope, an innovative color television
system that was later improved and protected under a new patent
in 1962 as the simplified bi-color.
In
1963, XHGC began the first commercial color transmissions, broadcast
to televisions in ten shopping centers in Mexico City, where the
general public could enjoy them for free.
Unfortunately,
in 1965 Gonzalez Camarena died in a tragic automobile accident.
This
brilliant Latin American, without even reaching the age of 50 and
working entirely in his own country of Mexico, managed to excel
in a field traditionally reserved for scientists in first world
countries.
Guillermo
González Camarena, an example of the best of the latin spirit.
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