Why the color tv sets where so expensive at the beging?

[etype2]

Originally Posted by KentTeffeteller

In the USA, 1975 roughly was when Color TV sets became reasonably reliable if you bought the right one. Zenith Chromacolor II and the Sony Trinitron were good stable, reliable sets.

Push back the color TV reliability date to 1968 and 1969. In those years, Sony introduced first the KV 7010UA 7 inch Trinitron followed by the 12 inch KV 1210U. Both sets were were rock solid. We purchased both models as new in those two years and both sets worked perfectly without a single service call until my wife mistakenly gave both away by mistake. That was in 2006. We were able to find replacement recently.

I still have my original purchase 1973 Sony KV 1722 17'inch Trinitron. Still works today, never had a service done to it. 43 years of service free operation. I call that fantastic reliability.