Television pioneer Thomas Toliver Goldsmith Jr., whose initials are immortalized in Washington D.C. television station WTTG’s call letters, died at his home in Lacey, Washington on March 5, 2009. He was 99.
Goldsmith, after receiving his PhD from Cornell University in 1936, joined Alan B. Dumont’s television research and manufacturing operation in New Jersey as director of research. He remained with the Dumont operation until 1966, leaving for the post of professor of physics at Furman University. Goldsmith retired from that position in 1975.
Goldsmith amassed a number of television-related patents during his career, including one awarded in 1948 for what may be the world’s first video game. He assisted his employer, Alan Dumont, in several pioneering television efforts, including the establishment of experimental television station W3XWT in Washington in 1945, prior to the end of World War II. Due to the scarcity of television receivers then, it was several months before the new station received any response to repeated on-air requests for viewers to report reception. The station later received a commercial license, and Dumont honored Goldsmith by requesting the special call sign bearing his initials.
Goldsmith was a member of the first National Television Systems Committee (NTSC), established in 1940 to create a workable standard for the inauguration of television service in the United States. The 168 member body established the 525/60 scanning standard, which along with vestigial video modulation and FM sound, became the basis for all U.S. television broadcasting. That system, with slight modifications, is still in use at the majority of North American television stations today.
Goldsmith was Fellow of the IEEE, SMPTE and the Radio Club of America, and was the recipient of a number of industry awards.
