Television digest with electronic reports (Jan-Dec 1954)

5 schedules of colorcasts promised in talk by NBC exec. v.p. Robert W. Sarnoff, who cited both NBC and CBS figures (see p. 11). The way colors stayed pure with excellent convergence out to edges of tube, not merely in center, was particularly worth noting. There were some variations in hues and brightness, bad spots, but these were fleeting and attributed to the transmitting end rather than the receiver. Brightness was vastly better than with 15-in. — 20-50 ft. lamberts as against 10-20. Above all, it was made dramatically clear that color TV's real emergence had been awaiting the big picture. Depending on their points of view, manufacturers were either anxious to get hold of tubes and start building their own pilot sets or anxious to emphasize, as we circulated among them to get reactions, that tubes will be slow in coming forth and that the "lead time" to manufacture still required many months — anywhere from 5 to 12 months were estimates cited. One of the industry's top figures, though unstinting in his praise of RCA for "cleaning up the old set," as he put it, said he'd be very much surprised if RCA turns out as many as 2000 tubes this year. This leader thought it would be end of first quarter 1955 before RCA could deliver sets or even supply tubes to its customers in small quantities. He said it usually takes 6-7 months from engineering models to tooling up and field tests, and he doubted whether RCA has yet concluded field testing. Another manufacturer, known for his quality sets, fovuid size of the picture "exciting", brightness and color fidelity excellent. He was concerned, however, that "NBC and CBS are shooting their ammunition too soon, putting on these big shows while viewers have to look at 15-in. sets and get wrong impression of color." He also observed, "I'm willing to bet that I'll get only about 100 tubes in January, 200 in February, maybe 300 in March. That isn't much." Some other reactions, as we compared notes with manufacturers; "As fast as they'll deliver the tubes, we'll go into production and I don't think there's a person in this room who wouldn't." "It's here now, just give us the tubes." With a big stake in color, another manufacturer stated; "If the industry does not realize color is here, and carry the ball now, it never will." From a prominent engineer, not a manufacturer: "We planned to buy some 15-in. Now we'll buy these. I want one in my house, but I'm worried about the liquor bill." Another top-flight engineer: "It took guts on RCA's part to put 4 sets in a row before such a critical audience" — referring to fact that there were bound to be variations, yet none of the sets was attended or monitored. Said a small producer: "The 205 is dead." But that didn't jibe with what a few others told us ; they think the 19-in. can hold a place alongside the 21-in. , just as the 17-in. black-&-white does, but they all doubted whether the 19-in. could be produced cheaply enough to make for sufficient price differential. Someone else said — and this epitomized the expressed thoughts of quite a few of those we interviewed: "The 21-in. isn't the big thing alone; it's just a magic number in the trade. The big thing is the simplified circuitry — and price." Sen. Edwin Johnson, who has needled the industry about color for 5 years, went to Princeton Sept. 16, returned with praise almost lyrical; "It's superb, that's all." he said. "It's just as perfect as perfect can be. The best I've ever seen. They'll sell like hot cakes, because color is so superior to black-&-white that there's no comparison — a thousand percent better." ♦ ♦ * ♦ Neither RCA Chairman Sarnoff nor President Folsom made any speeches at the Princeton demonstrations. But the day before the first one. Sept. 14, Folsom summed up the company's commercial estimates in a speech before the N.Y. Board of Trade. Calling himself a "trader in electronics," the man who masterminds RCA's accelerated merchandising activities asserted: "I am sold on color TV both as a technical marvel and as a significant advance for the electronic industry. Its prospects are even greater than the pros