A black and white image was produced by an early form of acousto-optic modulation of a bright light using a piezoelectric crystal to excite vibrations in a column of water or another transparent liquid.
It is a common misconception that the water column would contain a complete video line, but this was not necessary with the Scophony system.
Several of the theatre systems were installed and operated successfully but none of the receivers were sold as production was halted due to the impending war.
"Of all the electro-mechanical television techniques invented and developed by the mid-1930s, the technology known as Scophony had no rival in terms of technical performance.
"[3] In November 1948, Scophony merged with John Logie Baird Ltd to become Scophony-Baird; offering for sale a line of four Baird-branded television sets the following year.