Television digest with electronics reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

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4 lean toward "21in. and 250 sq. in." as against "19-in. and 205 sq. in." The trend in black-&-white is convincing precedent. We* *ve seen both, though not side-by-side, and it's our belief that price is going to mean more than anything else as between the two — because they're both big enough and good enough. With RCA promising an initial price of between ^800 & $900, Motorola offering $895 as lowest with 19-in. tube, CBS $950, it looks as if RCA may have an edge. It remains to be seen whether other 21-in. makers will be able to match RCA's price and whether the 19-in. set makers will be able to cut it and hold onto a market in the same way the 17-in. in black-&-white has held up vis-a-vis the 21-in. (For physical dimensions of the 21-in. tube, see p. 11.) * ♦ ♦ * Everyone had expected a good tube — so there was even more comment on the simplified circuit and the innovations that went into it. Reaction to the set itself was also very favorable ; it had a handsome blonde cabinet that looked like a quality 21-in. black-&-white table model on legs. RCA officials said the 28 tubes in set include not only picture tube but rectifier tubes and 2 tubes for uhf portion of tuner. Top and underside of vertical chassis were displayed, and all observers agreed it was "loose," i.e., uncluttered with components and susceptible to considerable reduction in size. Licensee engineers scrutinized the innards intently, itched to get their hands on the works, were told the drawings weren't ready yet but would be in the mails "in a few days." RCA's previous 15-in. set and once-proposed 19-in. chassis use 37 tubes, and Motorola, with 29 tubes in 19-in. set, is only other big-tube color producer reporting use of less than 30. CBS-Columbia employs 44. By way of contrast, RCA officials noted that their famed 630-TS 10-in. monochrome receiver, granddaddy of postwar sets, had 30 tubes (cost $375 initially). The new 21-in. chassis draws some 300 watts, just as did the old 630-TS. It was stated that the CBS-Hytron 19-in. tube can be interchanged. Two of the 4 sets used in the demonstration contained modified 37-tube chassis originally designed for RCA's 19-in. set. Picture quality was virtually same on both. * 1* * * Among circuit innovations particularly intriguing to manufacturers was the "color equalizer," which it was said would save at least $20 in cost to consumer. It is device to protect picture tube electron beams from being pulled out of position by magnetic field of earth and other sources affecting "purity" of color. Up to now, RCA has used shielding around tube and coil around face to minimize contamination. Better control is needed with 21-in. set because of 70-degree deflection. The equalizer is quite simple, being merely a double ring of iron with 8 adjustable magnets on its periphery. Magnets may be adjusted individually for any desirable correction. The new tube also features a new gun with better convergence. Another innovation is "automatic chroma control" to minimize disturbances due to airplane flutter. It also makes tuning less critical. Also disclosed was a color demodulator claimed to be "a marvel of simplicity and accuracy." Though RCA demonstrated new chassis, it plans first to make several thousand 21-in. sets using the chassis originally designed for 19-in. but modified for 21-in. This, it was said, is to use up components and get more experience with the 28-tube chassis before going into production v/ith it. * ♦ * * Show was microwaved via closed-circuit from N.Y. Colonial Theatre, supervised by color producer Barry Wood. It was excellent entertainment as well as brilliant color ballet dancing, singer Connie Russell, Trinidad dance sequence, and a sur prise f ilmcast from the Technicolor "African Queen" employing "3-V" vidicon camera. There was only a short take in black-&-white on the color tubes, and it seemed no better or worse than monochrome previously demonstrated; it's watchable, but certainly not up to monochrome on black-&-white sets. Newsmen and licensees are nov: quite sophisticated about color, so their enthusiasm was significant. The manufacturers were particularly struck by the heavy