[benman94]

etype2, I believe there are no fewer than three extant Admiral C1617As around. Such a survival rate is a bit higher than some of the prototypes (of which perhaps a single example might exist for a given set) and about par with the survival rate of the GE set (four, perhaps a fifth in a reproduction cabinet).

I'm not so sure I'd give RCA *all* of the credit. GE and Hazeltine both held patents integral to the development of the NTSC system. I believe Philco may have held a patent on some integral part as well. The idea of separating the image into luma and chroma for transmission in order to preserve backward compatibility was known to Georges Valensi in France and patented in 1938, and was considered (mathematically anyway) by a German biophysicist in the mid-20s.

Sure, RCA poured millions into it, and sure they were color's biggest champions in those early years, but they needed quite a deal of help getting to December 17, 1953.

Then there's CBS-Hytron's big contribution: depositing the phosphor dots of a color CRT directly on the face of the CRT. It wasn't a strictly necessary development (the 15GP22s worked) but it was a major leap toward wider acceptance of color television in the 60s.