Quote:
Originally Posted by Electronic M
There were working Apple Chromatron CRTs demonstrated in the 50s, but they never could figure out how to to manufacture them with acceptible yield. Even Sony who actually mass produced that design prior to arriving at the Trinitron, had yield that was close to 50% detective.
It's not implausible that at the same time the 15GP22 was being developed there was a 21" CRT in the works, but it had a worse yield and didn't get produced. RCA spent $6M in 50's money to develop the 15G and other companies like CBS made it woefully obsolete in a few months of production...I'm not sure if you would call that world leading development or getting a workable solution through brute economic force.
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The working Apple Chromatron used beam index technology, not Chromatron tech. Code named Apple by Philco, it never got off the ground because RCA once again litigated in court to block the index beam set. The chief engineer in charge of the Apple, later started his own company in the early 70’s (Uniray) to bring to market the Apple. Alas, couldn’t raise enough capital, and the thing died. In 1981, Sony created a working 30 inch beam index tube, then Hitachi with a 1.5 inch.
No doubt there was a 21 inch prototype, being worked on along side the 15, and 19 inch tubes RCA worked on, just never released. You could call then engineering mules, until the 21AXP22.