RCA factory mystery photo

[old_tv_nut]

https://books.google.com/books?id=0X...%203.4&f=false

Figure 3.4 in the book "Bright Signals," a picture from the Hagley Museum collection captioned "Undated photo of a color television being calibrated once off the RCA assembly line." Courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library.

The image on the TV is almost surely stripped in mechanically for this shot.

Has anyone ever seen a factory setup step like this, with the image (probably meant to be gated rainbow?) compared to a large photo print?

[Electronic M]

I can't even see the picture in your link...

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I can't even see the picture in your link...

Click on the link to go to the Google book.
Then click on the upper "Page >>" link associated with the figure caption.
Then scroll upward to the page preceding the caption, which shows the image.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

The image on the TV is almost surely stripped in mechanically for this shot.

I would agree, her shadows on the screen give it away.

.

[etype2]

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

I would agree, her shadows on the screen give it away.

.

I think the safety glass is off too since the clipboard corner seems to be inside the area the safety glass protects.

[Yamamaya42]

it just dont look right

[reeferman]

Oh boy, that is bad.
Real bad.

[dtryon]

Seems ironic kinda that a picture meant to impress us with the then new Color TV's was taken in B&W.

Seems a bit funny to me.

Dennis

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by dtryon

Seems ironic kinda that a picture meant to impress us with the then new Color TV's was taken in B&W.

Seems a bit funny to me.

Dennis

Ironic, but of course it was intended for distribution to newspapers, which did not use color except for ads and the Sunday comics. Sending them a color copy could result in random poor results depending on their process for producing half-tone printing plates, so much better to send them a black and white print in the first place. Plus, the national newswires would be sending via low-quality analog black and white fax.
Many NBC color program press releases consisted of text on a letterhead with a color peacock, possibly with a black and white photo attached.

[Yamamaya42]

What seems to be the bigger issue is... that RCA seems to have invented a flat screen TV a long time ago, but never did anything with it! :p

[Tom9589]

You're right. Look at the TV next to the featured one. It definitely has a curved screen CRT installed in it. It's possible that they couldn't get the color bars bright enough for a good B&W photo.

It also looks like there is no safety glass.

Is this the beginning of fake news?

[old_tv_nut]

You guys got it all wrong! They just hooked up an extra-strong vacuum pump to suck in the screen until it was flat!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

You guys got it all wrong! They just hooked up an extra-strong vacuum pump to suck in the screen until it was flat!

: lmao:

Vacuum will do that to tubes if you get the glass hot enough to soften....I used to put dead signal tubes in the fireplace when I was a teenager.... the ones that didn't shatter sucked in in places and looked like something Salvador Dahli would do...