April 14, 1957
PRECURSOR OF THE DVD: Rome, 13 – A young Italian inventor, Antonio Rubiani, has invented a «television disc» that allows viewers to see any program they wish on their television sets. The device has so far been copyrighted in 52 countries, even before commercial production has begun. The United States has shown the strongest interest in the invention. The problem that the device solves – quite by chance – has been the subject of extensive research in various laboratories, partiuclarly in Euopre. The device looks like an ordinary grammophone, but in the place of the turntable is an extremely sensitive photoelectric cell. A transparent disc made of plexiglass, 40 centimeters wide, is the basis for a membrane that records the television program. The recording is made at the speed of 25 photographs a second, and the speed of the disc is 3,000 revs per minute. ALL EYES ON THE EEC: Cabinet meetings over the past two weeks have focused on the economy and the need to speed up the rate of production in the industrial and agricultural sectors in view of joining the European Economic Community, which has begun with the signing of an agreement [the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957] on a common market.
