1950's Tidbits on the development of Early Color TV.

[John Adams]

Tidbits from the 50’s relating to Early Color TV. Excerpts from Technician magazine, formerly, the technician section of Television Retailing.

NOTE: The word wrap may post totally wrong. I will try to post a pdf.



1954 was a bumper year for the fledgling color tv business as manufacturer jump from 15 inch to 19 inch and then the 21inch tube. This magazine has been scanned and over 30 years of history are available at www.WorldRadioHistory.com . The dates below are the magazine issues date.

Here are some highlights:

12/1953…. NTSC, National Television System Committee, did a presentation of 13 different color TV sets for the benefit of the FCC. All 13 employed the “aperture-mask” type of color tube which had been under development in the RCA laboratories for more than a decade. Of note is the fact that the basic principal of the “aperture-mask” tube was invented by Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, consulting engineer in 1940. Dr. A. B. DuMont holds the patents pm the triad grouping of color phosphors. The author notes that color TV is expected to drop to $400 for a 21” set.

2/1954….. An AD for the CBS-HYTRON 15 inch tube, which is said to weigh 5.5 pounds less than the RCA tube.

3/1954….. An AD for the CBS-HYTRON in larger sizes.
And, RCA’s 19” tube to be available in the second half of 1954…..

4/1954…. (P27) Andrea demos color set to be available in the second half of 1954…..
Admiral weeds out color blind candidates applying for training school……..
Westinghouse has production models available for sale…….
Emerson announced a chassis with only 34 tubes which is down from the initial 47 tube multi-chassis design…...

5/1954…. (P16) GE curtails production of 15 inch sets…..
The new 19” RCA 3 gun CRT is a 59 degree deflection instead of the 45 degree deflection in the 15 inch tube…..

6/1954….(P20) DuMont introduced 185 sq. inch, 19” 60 degree tube which has more viewing area than the 19” RCA at 160 sq. inch. All that a manufacturer needs is the new RCA yoke. (not sure, but they might have been suggesting this for converting the 15” sets to a larger tube.)…..

(P31) Raytheon is distributing it’s version of the 15GP22…….

(P65) Complete schematic for the RCA CTC-2. (very good scan that can be zoomed without loss of focus or detail). Claimed to be the first publication to print the complete schematic….

7/1954….. DuMont 19” color TV will be in stores for the upcoming Xmas season….

8/1954…..A new 205 sq. inch, 19” CBS color tube is in mass production. Output of up to 40,000 available in the next year. Capehart, CBS, Motorola, and Westinghouse are expected to use this tube this fall…….
General Instrument shows a new yoke for 19” tubes…...
Andrea drops 15” set. Will have a 19” set ready for fall…...
GE introduces color slide origination equipment for TV stations…...
DuMont network begins color telecasts this fall on WABD, Ch 5, NY……

Motorola will have 3 19” color TV sets this fall with all having a retail price under $1,000……
The CBS-HYTRON 205, 19VP22 is offered to manufacturers at $175…..

RCA will demonstrate a 21”, 250 sq. inch tube, September 15th. It has a metal envelope and is 25% lighter than the 19” glass color tubes. It has a curved shadow mask and the phosphor dots are on the face-plate. Introductory price to manufacturers of $175.00…..

11/1954….. RCA announces 21” sets. …………...DuMont shows metal cone 21” rectangular tube. DuMont working on 21 and 22” all glass rectangular tube. Samples available before end of 1954 and quantities available in 1955. …… CBS-HYTRON shipping carloads of large screen tubes to set manufacturers. (I assume this means their 19” tube, the 205)

2/1955….. CBS-HYTRON discontinues the Colortron 205. They are sending samples of their 22” rectangular tube.

4/1955…. Estimates of color TV sales will have to be revised downward……..

6/1955…. RCA hopes that the “Seville” will break the color TV market open with it’s low price of $795.00.

10/1955… Motorola takes out a full page ad in TECHNICIAN, for its model 19TC1 with a retail price of $695. (this appears to be a 19” set.).......

Color TV programs are being broadcast on NBC, CBS and DUMONT networks……..
Raytheon has introduced a space saving vertical color chassis that fits around the 3 gun 21” tube which reduces cabinet size. 28 tube’s and a retail of $795. …….. ……...
CBS-Columbia cuts price of the 205C, a full door 19” console from $1100 to $795………….
(at this point, top of the line B&W full door consoles carry a retail up to $595 for a 27” Magnavox and Zenith shows a 27” B&W HiFi combo at $1400 )………………..

11-1955… GE issued progress report and demonstration of a new type of color CRT. The 22” departs from conventional 3-gun types. The 3 guns are mounted in line rather than a triad. The mask is a set of parallel wires and the phosphors are deposited in vertical striped rather than the current 3 dot pattern……………………………...


3/1956…. RCA expects to sell 200,000 sets in 1956 with the bulk in the second ½ of the year. RCA spends $5 million to expand the Blooming plant. …………………….
Picture tube bottleneck. RCA is buying additional color tubes from Sylvania, Tung Sol and Thomas Industries…(Note: My first thought was ‘receiving’ tubes, but the article was titled ‘Picture tube’. And, Thomas is still in business today and still rebuilds commercial CRTs.)...
RCA reduces 1 year service contracts for color TV from $139 to $99………….
NBC expects to jump from 40 hours per month to 80 hours per month………
Magnavox opens a color TV service school in Chicago……………………….
Westinghouse: Some time in the middle of the year, they expect to undertake quantity production of color TV receivers with the new 22” rectangular tube………..

6/1956….Hoffman Electronics is offering a 36 page bulletin with complete circuits for it’s Hoffman Colercaster TV. Only $1.25……………………….
RCA has reduced the price of it’s 21” color tube from $100 to $85 for manufacturers………..
GE plans to introduce it’s color TV line at the June Furniture Market in Chicago…………….

7/1956….RCA announces a price drop to $495 for Model 21CS781. The set has 23 tubes, including the CRT, plus 2 crystals and 4 rectifiers……..

9/1957…. RCA introducing new models to supplement, not replace it’s existing line. These will have the all glass CRT. Prices will be $50 to $100 over the current prices. Brighter pictures will be available, due in part, to 22 kv second anode voltage, and increase of 2 kv. They will also have a tinted safety glass……………...

12/1957…. Only ½ of the TV stations are able to rebroadcast network color programs……………….

8/1958….. DuMont gives up on TV production and sells out its radio and TV business to Emerson……
COLOR TV TO DATE…. Over300,000 sets now in use. 309 out of 470 TV stations can broadcast network color. 95 stations can originate color………………….

12/1958…. (not color related, but of interest to some) Zenith’s slogan, “The quality goes in before the Zenith name goes on” changes to “The quality goes in before the name goes on”…………….

2/1959…. Packard Bell is introducing the “Color Master” complete color TV remote control. All 4 of the primary picture controls are continuously variable……………..

[ChrisW6ATV]

Nice summary of notes from those issues. Thank you for posting them.

[John Adams]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Nice summary of notes from those issues. Thank you for posting them.

Thanks. I spent 12 days in Red Bay, Alabama, waiting in line for service on my RV, so finding these on line killed some time. I started work for a Zenith dealer in 1963 and I remember him getting this magazine.

[nasadowsk]

11-1955… GE issued progress report and demonstration of a new type of color CRT. The 22” departs from conventional 3-gun types. The 3 guns are mounted in line rather than a triad. The mask is a set of parallel wires and the phosphors are deposited in vertical striped rather than the current 3 dot patter

So, basically, GE was darn near the Trinitron design, back in the 50's, and blew it.

Also, it's interesting to see the enthusiasm for color TV, when, by the later 50's, it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere, due to a chicken/egg situation for both programming and sales. Set prices weren't helping either, I bet...

[Penthode]

Tidbits from the 50’s..

12/1958…. (not color related, but of interest to some) Zenith’s slogan, “The quality goes in before the Zenith name goes on” changes to “The quality goes in before the name goes on”…………..

06/2021....... Zenith's later slogan, " The quality stays in after the name drops off".....

[John Adams]

Originally Posted by Penthode

06/2021....... Zenith's later slogan, " The quality stays in after the name drops off".....

It surprised me that it appears Zenith did not adopt the slogan back in the days of b&w tv, or radio.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by John Adams

It surprised me that it appears Zenith did not adopt the slogan back in the days of b&w tv, or radio.

Zenith's earlier slogans involved "The Royalty of..."

[NewVista]

That deceptive photo of Queen's Coronation on a "Chromatron (rectangular) monitor" has to be a fake as the first Chromatrons were were round.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by NewVista

That deceptive photo of Queen's Coronation on a "Chromatron (rectangular) monitor" has to be a fake as the first Chromatrons were were round.

Link?

[NewVista]

https://earlytelevision.org/british_experimental.html

[SwizzyMan]

Does anyone know if there are any surviving examples of the original chromatrons?

[etype2]

The Chromatron tube was rectangular in 1953.



1954



The photo depicted at that link is not the coronation, rather English television announcer Sylvia Peters. Original Publication: Picture Post – 7077 – Colour TV: When And How – pub. 1954

[etype2]

1951 after patents awarded.