videophone

videophone, device that simultaneously transmits and receives both audio and video signals over telephone lines.

In addition to the two-way speech transmission traditionally associated with the telephone, for many years there has been an interest in transmitting two-way video signals over telephone circuits in order to facilitate communication between two parties. Two-way video communication systems employ a videophone at each end. The videophone incorporates a personal video camera and display, a microphone and speaker, and a data-conversion device. The data-conversion device permits transmission of video over telephone circuits through the use of two components: a compression/expansion circuit, which reduces the amount of information contained in the video signal, and a modem, which translates the digital video signal to the analog telephone line format.

Another form of video transmission over telephone lines is videoconferencing. A videoconferencing system is quite similar to a videophone, except that the camera and display at each end are intended to serve a group of people. Frequently, the video camera in such a system may focus on either individuals or the group, often under control of the local user or under remote control of the distant party.

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Early videophones

The first public demonstration of a one-way videophone occurred on April 7, 1927, between Herbert Hoover (then U.S. secretary of commerce) in Washington, D.C., and officials of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in New York City. This was followed by the first public demonstration of a two-way videophone, on April 9, 1930, between AT&T’s Bell Laboratories and its corporate headquarters, both in New York City. This two-way system employed early television equipment and a closed circuit; by 1956 Bell Labs had developed a videophone that could be employed over existing telephone circuits. Further studies led to the development of the first complete experimental videophone system, known as Picturephone, in 1963. By 1968 Bell engineers had developed a second-generation Picturephone, which was put into public service in 1971.

Analog videophones

The second-generation Picturephone was designed as a complete system. All aspects of the system—such as terminal equipment, local loop transmission, switching, long-distance transmission, and private branch exchange—were designed and developed to support two-way video communication over telephone circuits. Picturephone employed analog black-and-white video transmission similar to that used in television broadcasting. The crucial difference lay in the bandwidth of the video signals. Conventional television employed a 4.5-megahertz signal, which could transmit the information required to trace the standard American analog television picture of 525 lines per frame at a rate of 60 frames per second. In order to reduce the video signal to 1 megahertz—a bandwidth that could be supported by telephone lines—Picturephone employed a picture frame of approximately 250 lines. The screen was 14 by 12.5 cm (5.5 by 5 inches)—a screen size that was deemed to be appropriate for video monitors and was compatible with the resolution of the transmitted signal. The Picturephone terminal consisted of a free-standing microphone and a video display unit containing a speaker, an electron-tube camera, and a cathode-ray picture tube.

Despite the extensive development that went into the AT&T Picturephone system—more than 15 years of engineering effort and $500 million in development costs—market acceptance of Picturephone service was very poor. Ultimately, AT&T concluded that the videophone was a “concept looking for a market,” and service was discontinued in the late 1970s.

Digital videophone systems

In the late 1980s several companies began to develop and sell still-frame videophones that could operate directly over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The still-frame videophone employs a video camera and a frame-capture system to capture a single video frame for transmission. Since still-frames exhibit no time dependency, they do not have to be transmitted in real time over the PSTN, permitting the use of standard, commercially available modems to transmit at 2.4 to 9.6 kilobits per second.

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In 1992 AT&T introduced the VideoPhone 2500, the world’s first colour videophone that could transmit over analog telephone lines. Unlike the earlier Picturephones, the VideoPhone 2500 employed digital compression methods to enable a significant reduction of the bandwidth required for full-motion video transmission. A V.34 modem was employed to transmit the compressed video signal over an analog telephone line for access to the PSTN, where the signal could be readily circuited through central-office switches. Depending on the quality of the telephone line, the VideoPhone 2500 transmitted at either 19.2 or 16.8 kilobits per second. The video compression algorithm employed in the VideoPhone 2500 was licensed to a number of Japanese manufacturers for employment in similar videophones. Nevertheless, lack of sales led AT&T to discontinue the VideoPhone 2500 in 1995. Other manufacturers in both the United States and Europe, including British Telecommunications and the Marconi Company, developed similar videophone terminals for operation over the PSTN.

Videoconferencing

During the late 1990s two new videophone solutions were developed: business videoconferencing and desktop videoconferencing. Business videoconferencing employs video cameras, video compression and decompression hardware and software, and interfaces to one or more ISDN lines or an Internet connection in order to provide capture, transmission, and display of synchronized voice and video to one or more locations. Typically, these systems are installed in conference rooms to permit meetings to be held without requiring travel by the participants. Several companies developed proprietary transmission protocols and voice and data compression techniques, but most make use of standards developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in order to permit interoperability of different systems.

Desktop videophones usually consist of inexpensive cameras connected to a personal computer (PC), video-sharing software, and an Internet connection (either dial-up or broadband) between two PCs. Because of bandwidth limitations, desktop systems are usually of lower quality than business videoconferencing systems. Some desktop conferencing software includes application-sharing between two or more PCs, a shared clipboard, file-transfer capability, a “whiteboard” for sharing ideas, and chat service between users.