Henri Georges de France (7 September 1911
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
– 29 April 1986 Paris) was a pioneering
French television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
inventor. His inventions include the
819 line French standard and the
SECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
color system. He was also apparently behind the
HD-MAC
HD-MAC (High Definition Multiplexed Analogue Components) was a broadcast television standard proposed by the European Commission in 1986, as part of Eureka 95 project. It belongs to the MAC - Multiplexed Analogue Components standard family. It is ...
high-definition standard.
On December 6, 1931, De France founded the Compagnie Générale de Télévision in
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, making television sets with a vertical definition of 60 lines. In February 1932, De France made several transmissions over a distance of 7 km from the "Radio-Normandie" station in
Fécamp
Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around ...
. These signals were received by a few people located over 100 km away. In October 1932, he achieved a definition of 120 lines. In 1956, he patented the SECAM color television system. On October 1, 1967 at 2:15pm
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast Ente ...
,
la deuxième chaîne switched from black and white to color using SECAM.
De France is interred in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
(cimetière du Montparnasse).
The public passage near
France Télévisions
France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...
buildings in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
is named ''Esplanade Henri de France''.
Patents
*
Apparatus for determining a direction', US 2513849, issued 4 July 1950
*
Television device for recording motion pictures thereof', US 2531031, issued 21 November 1950
*
Amplifier system', US 2589542, issued 18 March 1952
*
Communication system between two stations linked by television', US 2637022, issued 28 April 1953
*
Television system', US 2700700, issued 25 January 1955
*
Color television', US 2876278, issued 3 March 1959
French electrical engineers
20th-century French inventors
1911 births
1986 deaths
Scientists from Paris
Recipients of the Resistance Medal
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
{{France-tv-bio-stub