Plaque commemorating the worlds first high definition television service 1936 at the BBC, at Alexandra Palace, North London.
The Alexandra Palace television station in North London (grid reference TQ297901) is one of the oldest television transmission sites in the world. What was at the time called "high definition" (405-line) TV broadcasts on VHF were beamed from this mast from 1936 until the outbreak of World War II. It then lay dormant until it was used very successfully to foil the German Y-Gerät radio navigation system during the last stages of the Battle of Britain. After the war, it was reused for television until 1956, when it was superseded by the opening of the BBC's new main transmitting station for the London area at Crystal Palace. In 1982 Alexandra Palace became an active transmitting station again, with the opening of a relay transmitter to provide UHF television service to parts of North London poorly covered from Crystal Palace. The transmitter is owned and maintained by Arqiva. In 1936 the east wing of the building was leased by the BBC, which inaugurated the world's first high definition broadcast television service from two studios on the second floor and a transmitter mast constructed atop the eastern tower. In the earliest days the service was provided in two formats, the Baird 240-line optical system and the Marconi-EMI 405-line electronic system, each format being sourced from its own studio. A year after the launch of the service the Baird system closed and 405-line transmissions continued from both studios. In its early days the television transmissions could only be received by a hardy core of radio enthusiasts, and even then over a restricted radius of 25 miles or so, but gradually television receivers became more commonplace.
Size: 4992px × 3480px
Location: Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1936, alexandra, bbc, blue, glc, hd, london, north, palace, plaque, service, television, worlds
