Mystery 1980s TV model?
 

I saw a 4:3-crt TV demo'd for sale in the 80s, it was by Philips - featured deinterlaced scan - but soft picture (due to no motion-comp?) Anyone know the model/history?

Never seen one. NAP started using the Phillips name in late 80's IIRC.
Before that I dont think Phillips sold anything in the US.
The NAP / Phillips were sold as high end sets but used the
Maggy / Sylvania chassis. There were also one or two 13" sets
built by Phillips, sold as Maggys or Sylvania.

What you probably saw was a digitally processed NTSC set. Most
were built by Zenith " Digital System 3" many with Bose audio.
Toshiba, NEC & Panasonic also sold a few & maybe MGA.
The Zeniths started at $1000 for a 25" table model & went up to
about $2000 for a console. They were also in high end projo's

The sets ran great & had some cool features. Teletext, video switchers,
antenna switchers, built in CATV descrambles for Zenith CATV systems and
built in hookup guide. The Zenith used interlacing, but the others didnt. Fine
with me, I want scan lines. It proves you got a strong CRT.

enuf fer now

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

NAP did sell a Norelco dual vue projection add on for 630 series (and similar) sets and some radios in the US in the tube era but I think the only place in North America they sold complete TVs prior to what Zeno remembers is Canada.

I worked at a audio/video store that tried to sell the Phillips sets you just mentioned. Non interlaced scan (early line doubling of some kind?). 100% failure rate, the warranty station refused to work on them. Phillips offered the buyers a regular set as a trade.
Very soft, almost unfocused picture and needed a lot of signal!
Enhanced Definition, if I remember.

Exactly Zenith-26, interesting to hear Philips moved swiftly into damage-control on this.

- Is there a way to find its model number? -

I saw this TV displayed in Crazy-Lenny's superstore, Jct I-94 & Hwy-F. I hope 'TV-Lenny' Mattioli got his money back from Philips!

Don't remember much about these sets. We sold about 4 and all were back in nothing flat. Customers were not happy about receiving a standard set in their place.
Early Cox cable was dreadful on them.
I looked on the web but they were too early for anything posted.

I couldn't find anything either. Philips must have gone into full damage-control.

This is what Philips called IDTV, isn't it? "Improved Definition" or something. Think they did have some kind of line-doubler to take away the scan lines. They had magazine ads all over Video and Video Review at the time (1988-89). Video Review even tested one and if I remember, they liked it.

Isn't that, what RCA tried to do with the 2000 model, improved definition super model, 2000 built and $2000 price tag. They also claimed, a specially selected CRT for those sets!

TV Lenny, the master of bait and switch! :thumbsdn:

Is the RCA you are talking about the one with a fan on top of the high voltage cage? Letter box tube, extremely heavy!
We got one in the shop years ago and the RCA tech line people said don't fix it.
Weren,t the early Loeve HD CRT sets Thompson? I remember swapping chassis out when they were under warranty years ago and the chassis looked like Thompson.

Yes Thompson / RCA. But not true HD, it was NTSC.
The set was the first wide format CRT sold in the US IIRC. Yes there was a fan, I think it was on the PS module but its been years. The fan had a vane to detect ops. If the fan didnt run the sets went into full SD. It was NOT
a digitally processed NTSC set like the Zeniths etc. And dont confuse digital
processing with HD, different animals. Basicly the sets ran A-D conversion
on the color, video, snd etc. It got procested then at the output D-A to
drive outputs.
BTW forgive spelling. My squaw fell asleep & she is my spell-checker !

Thats all folks.
Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I think RCA had two sets with that same chassis (DTV306?): there was a 36" 4:3 one they touted as "digital", and then there was the 38" HD one. That was a MONSTER: biggest 16:9 tube ever made and built-in DirecTV (dish sold separately). Around 200 pounds, plus another hundred or so for the stand under it. Under-spec'd diodes caused a lot of heartache with these. RCA, ProScan and Loewe all had versions of this set.

The $2000 one they only built 2000 of was called, appropriately enough, the 2000, and it was from 1969. Lots of fancy digital stuff in the tuner, but same 23" tube as any other RCA set from the time.