Hand Set for Television Uses Midget Screen (Dec, 1938)
Hand Set for Television Uses Midget Screen
Nicknamed a “television monocle,” a miniature unit recently on display at an exhibition in London, England, is a complete sight-and-sound receiving set. Shaped like a hand-type telephone, the apparatus has an earphone through which the user hears the sound accompanying a televised broadcast while watching the moving images flash across a small built-in screen, two inches wide, placed so that it is directly before the eyes. The instrument, which weighs just under two pounds, can be used even in a lighted room with good results, it is said. An exhibition visitor is shown at the right trying out the television hand set.
It’s amazing how far advanced they were back then. A 2 inch TV is now hard to get, but Sony introduced an 8 inch OLED set recently, and they used to have smaller ones in the past.
However I don’t think that this is a comfortable viewing distance for such a screen.
Phew… i thought at first it was a television for midgets.
Not sure I am relieved to see it’s a handheld eyeball-melter though…
At under two pounds, I think a tripod or a pole would be a good accessory for veiwing a 30 minute program.
Midget! Made my day.
Amazing. But notice the power and RF cables. Not exactly portable but technology has to start somewhere.
Reading this:
http://www.earlytelevis…
I’m left trying to figure out whether this is a mechanical or electronic television system (seems a little small for either), and also, just who they were expecting to buy it:
“Though the television audience grew in 1939, it was still very small, with only 2000 sets in use by April, 1940.” – from the link above, regarding RCA.
It would have to an electronic television, by 1935 development of mechanical systems had pretty much ended and a mechinical display would be much larger. I was thinking that this set couldn’t be direct view because of the depth of the viewer.
There are several documentaries on early television at the aptsarchive at YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/…
http://www.youtube.com/…
http://www.youtube.com/…
From the shape of the set, I think it only have a CRT pointing forwards, 2 mirrors and a lens for shrinking the picture and give more brightness to it. All the other electronics is where the umbilical goes.