Quote:
Originally Posted by decojoe67
I think what's more important is the first production television set. There where many CRT television prototypes done in the early part of '30's. I have a picture in one of my books of Vladimir Zworykin standing next to an RCA credenza style mirror-in-the-lid CRT television set from 1929! It likely was nothing more than an interesting looking piece of furniture at that time, although the man was getting there quickly!
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While the 1931 RCA receiver was not a set the public could buy, it was internally called the "Pre-Commercial Television Receiver" and was done to evaluate the quality, operation and cost of ownership of a fully electronic picture/sound receiver. This was not some lab prototype or test mule but was a fully packaged, fully functioning television receiver we would recognize today that was placed into the homes of RCA engineers/officers. All costs of manufacturing, ease of use and technical aspects were recorded to evaluate the feasibility of full production. I know of no other full television receiver of this era that was readied for production, let alone one that made it out of the lab. While it turned out to be a wise move to wait for the release of commercial television, there is no reason these units, as is, could not have been sold to the public.
Von Ardenne's test of 1930 were of a closed circuit film scanner and monitor which was not a full transmitter/receiver and not new for the time. Others had done these test back to at least 1929. Your picture of Zworykin and his 1929 picture receiver in the Radial 47 cabinet shows the state of the art. That 1929 picture receiver was operated and described in the December 1929 issue of Radio Engineering so it was more than just a piece of furniture.