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  #1  
Old 10-02-2012, 04:32 PM
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crtfool crtfool is offline
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1967 Prototype 1" Sony TV

I just saw this listing on eBay for a Press Photo showing a very interesting Sony Prototype TV. I assume that it never made it to production because I have never seen anything like this from Sony.

I am posting a link to the listing - no affiliation - so that you can see it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Model-B...item2323454b89

Does anyone have any further info on this TV?
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  #2  
Old 10-02-2012, 05:11 PM
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I think the smallest Sony I ever seen was a 4" version of the little "tummy TV" sets....the ONE I don't have yet. All the other Tummys were 5" unless you count the S8-301 as a Tummy TV (8")

ONLY sets I have seen "nearly" this small are the little Panasonic TR series 1.5" sets....and my astonishing little CT-101 color set (also Panasonic). Some Sony sets got smaller than 4", but I think they were ALL "paddle" CRT sets....of which I am guessing the smallest was like 2" (just a guess..since I think both of mine are 2.7").

There was one Panasonic (TR-001 ?) from maybe the early 70s that may have been 1". I have seen them on ebay...but they get REAL expensive FAST..and I have never seen one in person yet.

UPDATE:

LOL!!!!
I only JUST noticed WHO I was replying to :-P
You already know all this SEVERAL times over about my little Panasonics (I just received another VERY dead TR-1010 today as well)

I'll be watching this thread CLOSELY since both you and I really love these micro sets.
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Old 10-02-2012, 05:28 PM
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Unfortunately, all the TR-1010p sets will be dead - if they happen to work when you receive it, they will most likely die within a few years. My first 1 did work when I received it, but died over time. The replacement I just bought is in excellent physical condition, but also not working - I just wanted it for a showpiece.

The same think applies to the TR-1020p, but not as severe.

This prototype Sony looks really nice - would love to have 1, if it ever made it to production. Since I now know about it, it will be on my "Wish List".
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Old 10-02-2012, 05:38 PM
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So far my 2020 seems to be flawless....and the 1030 is as new. I had my first 1010 since new, but it started with no vertical about 2 years ago. Fixed it once, and then one day about two months ago it just had nothing but a raster. I hamfisted the thing and it became a basket case as I tried to mess with it without any schematics.

I've come to the conclusion that I can only fix one of these if something "visible" has happened to it like cold solder joints or one of the electrolytics goes South (and it SHOWS since I so far have no way of checking caps yet). The one I got this morning was CHEAP (like ten bucks), but as SOON as I saw it....was obvious someone had been into it already. One of the flexi is torn already :-(

I won't likely bother putting the effort into it or the old one to fix one or build one out of the two. They will just be parts in case I run into a THIRD one with a less serious problem. They are just REALLY hard to work with and too easy to break something else while twisting the flexi....or attempting to run the thing "filet" style on a breadboard troubleshooting it.

The design is truly astonishing, but it makes for a VERY small package that ends up four or five boards all wrapped around eachother and impossible to poke at.

I'm almost positive this little 1" Sony never made it past that prototype. I even asked a couple of my coworkers when I was working at SERA (Sony Entertainment Robot America)...if they had ever seen anything of this. Neither of them had even seen the picture before.
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Last edited by AiboPet; 10-02-2012 at 05:49 PM.
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Old 10-02-2012, 06:47 PM
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That l'il guy looks AWFULLY similar to the TR-001 Panasonic, which came out in what, 1969 ? I wonder if the news agency got their wires crossed, & it really was a Panny prototype instead..
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Old 10-02-2012, 06:55 PM
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Didn't that set eventually go into production after all? I saw a small TV like that one on a rerun of the old '70s CBS sitcom All in the Family -- the one where the Bunkers' TV goes out just before the President went on national television. So Sony must have been able to get this set to market, at least for a short time, although I have no idea how many were actually sold to the public. That screen looks much too small to show much of anything -- it can't be more than an inch or so diagonal.
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Old 10-02-2012, 07:03 PM
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Found a picture via Internet search!

Color photo thanks to etype2 @ http://www.visions4.net/journal/time-line/
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Sony-tv-1967-4-wordpress-525.jpg (26.4 KB, 60 views)
File Type: jpg akio_morita_1967_portable_tv_lowres.jpg (19.0 KB, 59 views)

Last edited by crtfool; 10-10-2012 at 07:24 PM. Reason: Added photo credit to etype2
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  #8  
Old 10-02-2012, 07:23 PM
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I think I remember that episode Jeff. I don't seem to HAVE it though in my All in the Family directories though. Pretty sure it was this Panasonic TR-001

The TR-001 shows up on the ePAY every once in awhile. I actually just happen to be watching this one, but just for fun really. I think I'm done with the little Panny sets for now. I have a 1020 and 1030 in perfect shape (but the 1020 is missing some little external stuff). I've had this liitle TR-001 in my watch list since I think yesterday JUST to see where it goes:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200827060295...84.m1423.l2649

These are from like 1969 or something. No clue why Panny did JUST this micro....and then waited till 1981 or so to pull this off again with the TR-1010,TR-1020 and later the CT-101 and TR-1030 in 1984.
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Last edited by AiboPet; 10-02-2012 at 07:26 PM.
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  #9  
Old 10-02-2012, 07:40 PM
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My TR-001, I got a couple of years ago, it just came w/the TV & power supply. It works. I think people are more astounded by it than they are by the Eighties series of Panny sets-Except for the color one, of course.
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Old 10-02-2012, 07:43 PM
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Found this.....sort of a little crash course on these sets. No mention of the little Sony. There IS mention of the two "mythical" sets that showed up in magazines though:

http://www.taschenfernseher.de/e-history.htm

I wasn't even aware there was a TR-1000. I thought the "second coming" of these Panny sets came with the TR-1010. My little DEAD TR-1010 that showed up this morning. I got it for like $10-$15 from ebay. It's deffinately another basket case, but did at least come with ALL it's accessories and another of the odd little Panasonic wall warts. Just buying one of those Panasonic AC adaptors is like $20-$25 if you get it by itself on ePay.
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Last edited by AiboPet; 10-02-2012 at 07:47 PM.
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Old 10-02-2012, 07:52 PM
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My first set was the TR-1000p, bought it new in early 1980s. I favored it over the Sinclair MTV1, which looked very old fashioned compared to a very modern and refined TR-1000p.
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Old 10-02-2012, 10:52 PM
snelson903 snelson903 is offline
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i might just have to bid on that ,thats a cool looking set never had one.
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Old 10-03-2012, 12:03 AM
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Interesting that the Flat CRT's in the 1966 Pop Mech Article is very similar to Sony's Lollipop tube they later used in the watchman sets.

It always amazes me how many cool ideas the American manufacturers floated to the Press that never made it to production, only to be picked up and improved on by the Japanese later and sold like Hotcakes. The Trinitron CRT being one such "minor" innovation.

It's amazing the Philco Safari ever made it into production, perhaps not so amazing that it wasn't around long while Sony's "Tummy" TV's from the 8-301 on never ceased production.

Motorola had the "Astronaut" Solid State 19" Portable in what, 1962? then Solid State television, at least in anything bigger than 5 inches and Japanese made, disappeared for almost another decade until RCA came out with the CTC 40 (and the 2000 but that was limited)

I remember whet the Slot Matrix CRT came out and what an improvement that was over the Dot Matrix Delta Gun, Sony of course had been making the Trinitron for several years by that time and it was essentially a Slotted Matrix but with no horizontal lines in the shadow mask to cut down on the brightness.
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Old 10-10-2012, 05:39 PM
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Crtfool:



"crtfool
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Found a picture via Internet search!
Attached Thumbnails"



That first photo came from my personal website. (See my signature below and go to the Trinitron page, scroll down to 1967 for information on this set) If you did a Google search, they took that photo from my website)

Only a prototype and never went into production to the best of my knowledge.

(Page 5 Trinitron page on my site can be accessed by the drop down tabs at the top of the page)
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Last edited by etype2; 10-10-2012 at 05:56 PM.
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Old 10-10-2012, 05:53 PM
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etype2 - sorry about the photo, but it did show up on a search - I can delete it from above, if you want me to.
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