1. Pictures can now be sent over the telephone by sound signals. A new machine does this by looking at a picture and telling what it sees over the telephone to a similar machine at the receiving end, which then translates the sound signals it hears back into the form of a picture.
2. At the sending end, the photograph, drawing business form or document is placed in the machine. At the receiving end, the reproduction appears on ordinary paper. An illustration of ordinary letter size takes six minutes to be received and reproduced.
3. This is how the machine works. Inside the machine optical devices rotate and pick up reflected light which is focused on and passed through a filter to a photocell or Ğelectronic eyeğ. The photocell generates a signal which is amplified to produce voltages of varying strength.
4. The voltages are converted into sound, and it is this audible signal which is transmitted over the telephone, just as music or voice transmitted.
5. At the receiving telephone, the sound is reconverted to an electronic signal and then into a varying voltage. This voltage is applied to a drive mechanism. The mechanism is activated to extend and print out a corresponding dark area of the transmitting picture. The length of the document determines the time needed for transmission.