1954 Raytheon 19" with 170 sq. inches?
 

Has anybody ever seen this before? The CBS had 205 sq. inches but this is quoted as having 170 sq inches. (copied from a popular auction site because there are less than 2 days left). When using the Consumer Price Index the 1954 retail of $1,095 equals $7,766 in today's dollars. The average family's income in 1954 was $5,350.

Wow! that is a real head scratcher... The tube in the picture appears to be constructed in the same fashion as the 15GP22 (see avatar above), with the phosphor deposited on a flat plate placed behind a decorative mask behind the faceplate. In the "205" (19VP22) tube, the phosphor was deposited directly on the curved faceplate rear surface. The decorative mask inside the 19" tube pictured above must have consumed about 35 sq. inches of the total viewing area. Was this perhaps an early prototype 19" tube made before the process to deposit the phosphor dots on a curved surface was developed?:scratch2:

Picture of "205" CRT does not show an internal mask.... Picture1
jr

I was wondering if that was the experimental 19GP22 RCA was working on.

That makes a lot of sense... I have *never* seen a picture of one. I know that DuMont registered a 19TP22, but it appeared to be very similar to the 19VP22...time to do some more digging.

jr

...

Might be. What is the number?

Here courtesy Tom Genova's "TV History" site is an late '54 or early 1955 Raytheon sales brochure. The 19" color set is pictured in the lower right. The text is small and doesn't mention sq.inches. The set pictured has the internal mask pix.tube. Raytheon produced a 21" model later in 1955.

1955-Raytheon-Brochure.JPG
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1955-Raytheon-Brochure.JPG

-Steve D.

19TP22 is the designation for the 19 inch electrostaticly converged tube. Only a very few manufacturers built sets using this tube, as the 19V, and 21AX came along soon after the 15G, on which the 19T is based. I believe Sparton may have been another company to build sets with this tube. SAMS has at least two folders on theses types of sets, but I don't know the numbers.
Kevin

I had heard of several peculiar prototype color tubes from that era, and it's always a surprise if I learn that one of those was actually put in a TV. I've had that '55 Raytheon, and it has a 21AXP22. I'd bet it's a pre-production publicity image of the TV, and the actual model had either a 19VP22 or a 21AX. If you look closely at some of the early CT-100 ads, you can tell they airbrushed a picture of a Model 5 to look like a CT-100.

Charles

Checking the ETF site and scrolling down their 19" color page, pictures both a Raytheon and an identical rebadged Trutone 19" with the CBS 19VP22 tube, both with links to an ad. Click the link to the Raytheon ad and it shows the set with the 19TP22? tube. The set now in question on this thread with the more stylized cabinet. Just adds to the mystery.

ETF - 19 Inch Color Sets (1954-55)
http://www.earlytelevision.org/19_inch_color.html

ETF - Raytheon 19" Color Set
http://www.earlytelevision.org/raytheon_19_ad.html

-Steve D.

I found this picture in Peter A. Keller's "The Cathode Ray Tube" Book. It shows that the 19TP22 did not have an internal mask.

jr

That Raytheon brochure on ETF:
ETF - Raytheon 19" Color Set
http://www.earlytelevision.org/raytheon_19_ad.html
seems to show an internal mask on the photo, but right next to it the drawing says 205 square inches. My guess would be that the artwork and early publicity was based on the planned tube that never materialized.

Funny how those Raytheon ads claim to be the first with 15 and 19 inch color sets. It seems everyone back then thought they were the first.

That could explain why it took many years for color TV to take off. :scratch2: If nobody can afford a set, at 2 month's pay...

Pete Deksnis's site has a picture of the RCA 19" GP22 version which looks like the one in the photo. Unfortunately his site is currently unavailable. To me the set in the Raytheon brochure on TV History looks like it has the decorative screen, my guess is it is RCA's 19" version of the 15GP22. Hard telling how many months in advance the glamor shot had to be made to meet publishing deadlines. Wonder what ever happened to that set?:scratch2:

Phil