RCA's First Color TV Didn't Impress Consumer Reports
By James Grahame
RCA's CT-100 debuted in 1954, weeks after Westinghouse released the first color television. RCA's color set incorporated a 15-inch picture tube (the 12.5-inch viewing size was small, even for 1954), a "Golden Throat" audio system and a hefty $1000 price tag. The screen was coated with 60,000 phosphor dots, giving a maximum resolution equivalent to about 160 x 120 pixels.
Both of the early color sets were reviewed by Consumer Reports in June, 1954. They concluded that neither lived up to the sharpness of a standard B&W set, "Both sets were troubled with 'color fringes' around objects on the screen. Neither set offered even the mediocre degree of sharpness which is found in most modern television sets. ... On the basis of the evidence at hand, it appears that only an inveterate (and well-heeled) experimenter should let the advertisements seduce him into being 'among the very first' to own a color TV set."
RCA advertised that their sets were good neighbors, which makes me wonder just how much radiation these beasts were pumping out: "RCA Victor Color Televisions will not interfere with picture reception on your neighbor's TV sets. This interference, called oscillator radiation, has been virtually eliminated by RCA Victor's carefully designed, heavily shielded circuit system."
Sales were slow and RCA slashed the price to $495 within a few months. All in all, a few thousand CT-100s were sold before most of them were recalled and replaced with a much more polished 21-inch set, making it unlikely that you'll find one lurking a garage sale. If you do, for God's sake don't hack it.
