Harold Law (1911-1984)
L
aw is recognized throughout the electronics industry for development of the shadow mask color television tube, used in the vast majority of color TV receivers throughout the world. The first color television set was introduced in 1954; today there are approximately 180 million color sets in use in the United States.
Law's method uses light to simulate electron rays for printing phosphor screens in shadow mask color tubes. The technique locates and fixes phosphor elements precisely where they are needed on the face plate to achieve independent excitation by electron beams of the red, green and blue emitting phosphors. As many as a quarter million are laid down in a standard TV tube.
Law also developed the fabrication techniques that lead to the first practical color picture tube demonstrated by RCA in 1950. Among his key contributions were the "lighthouse" to simulate the shadowing of electron beams on the tube's face plate and the corresponding photo deposition of a mosaic of tiny phosphor dots to produce the color picture. Still used today, Law's techniques made possible the hundreds of millions of color TV receivers produced in the last 40 years.
Law also was one of a trio of RCA Laboratories scientists, along with Albert Rose and Paul Weimer (1991 Hall of Fame inductees), who developed the Image Orthicon, an outstanding TV camera tube. His contribution was development of the glass-mesh target structure including a technique for making very fine high transmission metals meshes from ruled glass master. Originally built for the military, the Image Orthicon became the workhorse for commercial telecasting after World War II because it had tolerance and sensitivity for photographing live events, particularly sports, under difficult and changing lighting conditions.
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