Weekly television digest (Jan-Dec 1960)

16 NOVEMBER 28, 1960 backs were consistently cited: susceptibility to scratches, and inflammability. "Will we have to replace the entire picture tube just because we touched it with a cigaret?", asked one manufacturer. Note: Price increase on 19-in. tube bulb by Kimble (as predicted here, Vol. 16:43 pl5) goes into effect March 1, amoimts to 50^, which will hike finished tubes about $1. Although cut applies to "strong" (nonbonded) bulbs which Kimble features, presumably Coming — which also makes strong bulbs — will follow suit. Whether similar increase in Coming's speciality — the weak bulb — is also in cards is not known yet. RCA's Color Tube: First to employ new Pittsburgh laminated implosion plate will be an improved version of RCA's 21 -in. roimd shadow-mask color tube, mentioned for the first time in any publication here in these columns Oct. 24 (Vol. 16:43 pl6), and due to be introduced soon. RCA has been discreetly silent about this development, has even postponed indefinitely a scheduled trip by set manufacturers to inspect the tube and its production in Lancaster, Pa. Although no details ore available from RCA, we know that developments in the art have made advances possible, and this is what we believe improved tube will be like: It will be same basic 21-in. roimd shadow-mask tube used for years by RCA. (To our knowledge, there is no development even on horizon which offers same color advantages as shadow-mask tube). Principal difference will be that color pictmres will be as much as 85-90% brighter than on present version of tube, with greater contrast and higher apparent definition & resolution. New type of color phosphor is principally responsible for improvement. Like black-&-white phosphors, it's a sulphide, 50-60% brighter than the phosphate phosphors previously used for color tubes. And — since sulphide phosphors give tube screen a darker body-color than do phosphates — less filtering (tinting) will be required in the glass in front of tube, adding further to brightness of picture. Use of Pittsburgh laminated implosion plate will increase brightness by about 10% more by cutting down reflections. Therefore, total brightness increase can be estimated at approximately 85-to-90% in color, perhaps 20-to-25% or so in b&w. Laminated implosion plate may be etched for greater contrast. (Although RCA did select Pittsburgh laminated safety glass for color tube, it actually had no other choice, since Coming's laminated caps are made only for 19 & 23-in. tubes.) New phosphors leave color hues vmchanged. It's not known whether RCA will register its improved color tube as a new tube type or continue to use old designation 21CYP22. The intense competition in research by set makers & suppliers — such as that responsible for improved color tube — continues constantly, steadily, behind the scenes. While the battle for a better or cheaper way to shield picture tubes isn't as dramatic as earlier breakthroughs in TV-radio technology, in its own way it's just as significant. Such technical & commercial competition has consistently brought quality up, costs down. From where we sit, it appears there will be no clear-cut victory in the war of the implosion shield, and that several methods will coexist in foreseeable future. Real victor in this battle for better ways of doing things will be — once again — the consumer. TV-RADIO PRODUCTION: EIA statistics for the week ended Nov. 18 (46th week of 1960): Nov. 11-18 Preceding wk. 1959wk. '60 cumulative '59 cumulative TV 118,019 113,321 146,673 5,215,029 5,634,110 Total radio 367,048 385,996 340,249 15,303,192 13,781,449 auto radio 123,098 128,657 75,066 5,815,946 4,913,037 Du Mont TV picture tubes will be produced in Buenos Aires starting March 1961 in the new 60,000-sq.-ft. plant of Allen B. Du Mont Labs’ Argentinia licensee Gregorio & Numo Werthein. The Du Mont-designed plant is located at Otamendi 512. Du Mont has built & will ship next week complete production equipment which will give the plant an annual single-shift capacity of 50,000 tubes. In its first year Werthein will turn out about 25,000 19-, 21 and 23-in. kinescopes. Argentina currently has some 600,000 'I'Vs & 3 station.s in operation and a 4th station slated for March delmt, according to Julio Werthein of the Argentina firm. He said the government soon will invite bids for 26 additional stations. Mergers & acquisitions: Sprague Electric has acquired for operation as a wholly-owned subsidiary Vec Trol Engineering, Stamford, Conn, maker of electronic components, devices and industrial controls. • M. A. Miller Mfg., Libertswille, 111. manufacturer of i-ecording & playback needles, has acquired for an undisclosed price the synthetic sapphire phonograph needle business & production equipment of Union Carbide’s Linde Co. div. Advertising complaint against Midwest Electronics Corp., St. Louis, has been dismissed by FTC. The company had been accused of misrepresenting tube-testing devices, but is no longer in business, FTC said.