Vintage TV Found

[jwharris]

I was going through the attic in my new apartment that is shared with another tenant. She said everything up there was there when she moved in and mostly everything was left by other tenants. I found an old General Electric Insta-View TV up there and was wondering if anyone could give me some info on it. Model name, year and how much work it would be to get it working or if it would be worth anything in its current condition.

Thanks,
Jason

[JB5pro]

Wow!!!
That must be extremely rare and in my opinion a most valuable set to keep and restore. I think it is from GE's first rectangular line up prolly '66 but somebody here will give the exact info soon. I always heard those GE's were awful like the early Motorola's but I think it is awesome to see those less desired sets operating as they would have when new. Plus, I find it very interesting that a huge corporation like GE would sell something that was not as good as it could have and should have been based on thier obvious capabilities to produce something on par with the best at the time which were RCA and Zenith.

[David Roper]

It looks like a black & white set to me, 1964-ish.

[bgadow]

I am fairly certain (but not 100%) that this is black & white. A color would have more controls up front and, on a GE, it would have their "3 shields" color emblem. I would agree that it probably dates from about 65-67. "Insta-view" means that it has a feature where the tubes are kept on at lower voltage even when the set is turned off, allowing the TV to spring to life very quickly when turned on. When energy prices went up in the early 70s, this practice was discontinued. I don't think it became common until later in the 60s. Instant-on tended to be hard on picture tubes, causing them to wear out prematurely.

If this is a b/w set, it has little value, although it would have been one of GE's better b/w sets at that time. It would have more value if color. Either way, it could be brought back to life. Who knows, it might even work as-is. Best to take some precautions before trying it...but I'll leave that advice to someone else. The set should be saved as not many of these are left.

[Sandy G]

Looks like a B/W to me, too...The screen's the wrong "color", & it just LOOKS B/W...

[jwharris]

I was hoping it wouldn't be a B/W but I am still extremely excited to learn more about it. I can't believe its in such great shape. Thanks for all the info as well.

-Jason

[JB5pro]

I can't believe I was asuch a moron to think that is color! I bet I am the only one who can't believe that. How stupid of me! I must really be losing it for real

[miniman82]

If you like that set, I've got a 1951 color RCA to sell you. lol
Don't take it too bad, it's an easy mistake to make.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by JB5pro

Wow!!!
Plus, I find it very interesting that a huge corporation like GE would sell something that was not as good as it could have and should have been

While RCA and Zenith had 3-tier organizations (research, advanced development, and product development), GE had a fourth tier - cost engineering. Their sets did not go to production until cost reductions were made in whatever chassis design was first created. They did things like put all the back panel adjustment pots on a combined phenolic substrate without the usual metal-enclosed pots that everyone else used at the time. Sometimes these innovations didn't compromise quality, but...

GE along with Motorola developed the 1-tube color section, called the "SODPIL" - "self oscillating detecting phase injection lock." The Motorola chassis with this innovation had some of the worst color ever (weak greens that tended to turn either brownish or bluish), and required a third color adjustment to balance the R-Y and B-Y DC outputs. Motorola touted this as a feature allowing the customer to select sepia or bluish tones for both black and white and color programs.

[bgadow]

Originally Posted by JB5pro

I can't believe I was asuch a moron to think that is color! I bet I am the only one who can't believe that. How stupid of me! I must really be losing it for real

Don't be so hard on yourself-there are a number of sets from that era which can be very, very hard to tell from just photos. I well recall a late 60s Philco-Ford which sat on ebay for half a year advertised as B/W. Nobody would touch it, even though it was almost free. I finally wrote the guy and got a model number-looked it up and it was a color set! Then somebody else grabbed it...

In person I can spot a color set with little trouble, but when first starting out I had to look closer. There were times that I actually stared at the phosphor to figure it out!

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

...a third color adjustment to balance the R-Y and B-Y DC outputs. Motorola touted this as a feature allowing the customer to select sepia or bluish tones for both black and white and color programs.

Sounds like the "Chromix" control some of the Sears Silvertone models had.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Sounds like the "Chromix" control some of the Sears Silvertone models had.

My 1967 Magnavox has a switch that can be set for sepia tones - forget what they call it. But it wasn't necessary in that chassis, unlike the Motorola.

[Bill R]

I think Magnavox called their switch "chromatone". Usually just left it off. It changed the color balance to a more sepia tone on B&W and was supposed to make better flesh tones on color.