computer science

IFA Berlin

IFA Berlin is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand IFA Berlin rather than just read about it. In short: The IFA ( EE-fah), or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin, a.k.a. 'Berlin Radio Show'), is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1924 and 1939 it was an annual event, but from 1950 it was held every other year until 2005.

Key takeaways

IFA Berlin belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect IFA Berlin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of IFA Berlin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The IFA ( EE-fah), or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin, a.k.a. 'Berlin Radio Show'), is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1924 and 1939 it was an annual event, but from 1950 it was held every other year until 2005. Since then it has become an annual event again, held in September. Today it is one of the world's leading trade shows for consumer electronics and home appliances. It offers the opportunity to exhibitors to present their latest products and developments to the general public. As a result of daily reporting in almost all the German media, the radio exhibition and the showcased technology receive a large amount of attention around the globe. In the course of its history, many world innovations were first seen at the exhibition. As of 2015 IFA is "Europe's biggest tech show". 245,000 visitors and 1,645 exhibitors attended IFA 2015.

History

German physicist and inventor Manfred von Ardenne gave the world's first public demonstration of a fully electronic television system using a cathode-ray tube for both transmission (using flying-spot image scans, not a camera) and reception, at the 1931 show. In 1933 the Volksempfänger (VE 301 W), a Nazi-sponsored radio receiver design, was introduced. Ordered by Joseph Goebbels, designed by Otto Griessing, sold by Gustav Seibt, it was presented at the tenth Berliner Funkausstellung on 18 August 1933, its price fixed at 76 Reichsmark (RM). 100,000 units were sold during the exhibition. In 1938 the DKE 38 (Deutscher Kleinempfänger 38, i.e. German miniature receiver 1938) followed, the price fixed at 35 RM. AEG, founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau, showed the first practical audio tape recorder, the Magnetophon K1, at the August 1935 show. In 1939 the exhibition was called Grosse Deutsche Funk- und Fernseh-Ausstellung (Great German Radio and Television Exhibition). The Einheits-Fernseh-Empfänger E1, a TV set designed to be affordable for everybody, was introduced. Plans for large-scale manufacture were thwarted by the outbreak of World War II. Color TV was also introduced (a prototype), based on an invention by Werner Flechsig (cf. shadow mask). Multinational Dutch electronics corporation Philips introduced the compact audio cassette medium for audio storage and the first cassette recorder (the Philips EL3300), developed by ir. Lou Ottens and his team at the Philips factory in Hasselt, at the 1963 show, on Friday 30 August. Due to global pandemic, IFA Berlin was closed in 2020 and 2021. It was open again on September 2, 2022.

Gallery

See also Technics Digital Link interface introduced at 2014 IFA

Notes

External links Media related to Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin at Wikimedia Commons IFA official website Highlights of past exhibitions from 1926 to 2005

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with IFA Berlin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what IFA Berlin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to IFA Berlin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about IFA Berlin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of IFA Berlin

In research: IFA Berlin appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses IFA Berlin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: IFA Berlin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 establishments in Germany, Computer-related trade shows, Consumer electronics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for IFA Berlin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study IFA Berlin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what IFA Berlin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain IFA Berlin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is IFA Berlin in simple terms?

Why does IFA Berlin matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study IFA Berlin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on IFA Berlin.