When was the first color television released? Rare imported TVs in the Soviet Union (71 photos)

On May 10, 1932, the first batch of Soviet televisions was produced at the Comintern plant in Leningrad - 20 test copies of a device called B-2.
This gave rise to the domestic production of television receivers, which had periods of ups and downs, successes and failures. And today we will tell you about the 10 most famous, legendary TVs of the Soviet era, some of which still work for their intended purpose...
TV set-top box B-2
1. The B-2 TV was released even before regular television broadcasting began in the Soviet Union. It was developed in 1931 by Anton Breitbart, a test batch was released in 1932, mass production began in 1933 and lasted until 1936.

2. The B-2 had a 16 by 12 mm screen with a scan of 30 lines and a frame rate of 12.5 frames per second. Now such dimensions and indicators seem ridiculous, but then the device was considered incredibly modern from a technological point of view.
However, the B-2 was not a television receiver, like the televisions we are used to, but only a set-top box that needed to be connected to a medium-wave radio.
KVN-49

3. In the late thirties and early forties, several models of electronic televisions were produced in the Soviet Union, partly under an American license, partly of their own design, but they never became a mass product - the Great Patriotic War interfered. And the first truly “people's” device was the KVN-49.

4. The television, which has become legendary, was developed at the Leningrad Research Institute of Television by engineers Kenigson, Varshavsky and Nikolaevsky, in whose honor it received its name. This device was one of the first in the world designed for the 625/50 decomposition standard.
The KVN-49 was produced in various modifications until 1967, but it is still known to the general public thanks to its unusual appearance (a mounted lens with water or glycerin to enlarge the image) and the popular humorous game named in its honor.
Rubin-102

5. In 1957, the era of Soviet televisions began under the legendary Rubin brand. This year, serial production of the Rubin-102 television receiver began, which lasted for 10 years. During this time, more than 1 million 328 thousand copies of it were created.

6. Rubin-102 could receive 12 TV channels (in reality there were much fewer) and switch to radio waves. It also had jacks for a tape recorder and a pickup.
Rubin-714

7. But still, we associate the name “Rubin”, first of all, with the Rubin-714 television receiver. It was not the first Soviet color TV, but it became one of the most popular in the country - over nine years in 1976-1985, 1 million 443 thousand copies were produced, of which 172 thousand were exported.

8.
Rassvet-307

9. But even these huge figures pale when compared with the number of Rassvet-307 TVs produced. Indeed, over the entire history of this model and the 307-1, which is very close to it, 8 (!) million pieces were produced.

10. This black-and-white television set began production in 1975, when color televisions had already appeared, and, nevertheless, still gained enormous all-Union popularity. This happened, first of all, due to the high reliability of the device, as well as its low price compared to non-ferrous competitors.
Record B-312

11. Another super popular black and white TV, which was mass produced and sold in an era when color receivers were already being produced. Record B-312 could be purchased in two design options: in a wood finish with a glossy surface and coated with textured paper.

12. TV Record B-312 was produced from 1975 to the mid-eighties. People remember it because it was very difficult to turn the toggle switch to change channels, especially if the handle was lost, and you often had to use pliers or pliers for this.
Horizon Ts-355

13. And the Horizon Ts-355 TV, produced at the Minsk Radio Plant since 1986, was considered the ultimate dream of a Soviet person. This television receiver was an incredibly scarce device - people were willing to overpay significant sums for the right to buy such a device for their home.

14. The fact is that, unlike other Soviet televisions, Horizon Ts-355 was equipped with a Japanese Toshiba kinescope with a beam deflection angle of 90 degrees. Therefore, the TV did not require additional image adjustment, and was also much more reliable than receivers with domestic components.
Spring-346

15. The Vesna concert from Dnepropetrovsk was considered one of the best Ukrainian factories that produced televisions. The first television receiver there was released in 1960, but the heyday of the enterprise occurred in the seventies and eighties. The most famous and widespread product of this manufacturer was the Vesna-346 TV (aka Yantar-346).

16. The Spring-346 TV was produced since 1983 and became the last successful model of the Dnepropetrovsk plant - subsequent ones did not gain much popularity, and in the nineties the enterprise, like many others, could not withstand competition from foreign technology and suspended production.
Electron Ts-382

17. Another legendary manufacturer of televisions in the Ukrainian SSR was the Lviv Electron plant. In the eighties, he released several models of color televisions that were popular throughout the Soviet Union, the most popular of which is considered to be the Electron Ts-382.

18. Electron Ts-382 stood out among other Soviet televisions of that era with its good image quality, high reliability, stylish design and low electricity consumption. Including, thanks to the success of this model, every fourth television in the USSR in the eighties was produced by the Electron concert.
The Electron plant still produces televisions under its own brand. True, their popularity is much less than in Soviet times.
Peer

19. Coeval - the smallest TV produced in the Soviet Union. This is a portable portable television receiver, which could be bought assembled, or in the form of a construction set to fold the device yourself according to the instructions. The last option cost 20 rubles cheaper - 100 rubles.

20. TV The same age had a screen with a diagonal of 8 centimeters and weighed only 1.4 kilograms without a battery.

The first experiment in television transmission was carried out on May 22, 1911 by Boris Lvovich Rosing, he managed to transfer the picture to the screen of the kinescope he invented. But another 17 years passed before Rosing’s student, the talented Russian engineer Vladimir Zvorykin, who was forced to go abroad, created the first mechanically scanned television in the United States. The production of televisions with cathode ray tubes began in the United States only in 1939.

The Soviet Union did not lag behind other countries in the field of creating television equipment. Already in 1932, industrial production of the B-2 television, developed by engineer A.Ya., began. Breitbart. By modern standards, it was a rather primitive optical-mechanical device with a screen measuring 3 by 4 cm. The first Soviet television was not even an independent device, but was an attachment to a radio receiver.

The production of the first electronic televisions in the USSR began in 1938 - that is, a year earlier than in the USA. The TV was called "ATP-1", the design used nine vacuum tubes. For those times, its design turned out to be very successful, the image quality was very high. The designers also developed a more advanced model, but its release was prevented by the war.

After the war, a new model of the KVN-49 television was developed and put into production in 1949; it can be considered the first mass-produced Soviet television. The screen size was 10.5 by 14 cm, the TV could receive three channels. To increase the size of the image, a special hollow plastic lens was used that was filled with water. It was placed in front of the screen and could be moved back and forth to achieve a high-quality image. In total, about two million of these televisions were produced; for many Soviet people, it was the “KVN-49” that became the first television receiver in their lives.

Since the 50s, many TV models were produced in the USSR, but they were all black and white. Soviet designers actively worked on the transition to color television, and in 1967 the first domestic color televisions, Record-101, Raduga-403 and Rubin-401, went on sale. A little later, large quantities of 700 series TVs began to be produced, which became very widespread. The first models had a screen with a diagonal of 59 cm, a little later the screen size increased to 61 cm.

It was these color TVs, along with the black and white models that continued to be produced, that made up the main stock of television equipment in the 70s.

Sources:

what year did television appear?
History of television development

Since ancient times, fairy tales of different peoples of the world have mentioned magical objects, with the help of which one could not only see what was happening somewhere in the distance, but also transfer one’s image there. But only in the 20th century a device appeared, called a “TV” (that is, “far-seeing”), which truly brought the fairy tale to life. How was it invented?

Instructions

In order to be able to transmit an image over a long distance, it is necessary to convert the optical signal into an electrical one. This conversion is based on a phenomenon called the photoelectric effect. This phenomenon was discovered (albeit without being able to explain it, since the concept of “electron” did not exist at that time) by the German Hertz at the end of the 19th century.

The first films in the history of cinema

The world's first movie, “Scenes in Roundhay Garden,” was filmed in England in 1888, directed by the Frenchman Louis Le Prince, and new recordings were used for filming on a special film made of paper. The first one lasted about 1.66 seconds.

The first film to become famous was “The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station” by the Lumière brothers. The documentary short film was filmed in 1895. According to those that have survived, the effect of watching the world's first film was truly stunning. Viewers jumped out of their seats, not expecting to see on the screen an image of a moving train and people on the platforms. It is noteworthy that it moves in perspective, and when photographing people, a general, close-up and medium plan were already used.

Soon after Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, other directors rushed to make similar films in train stations around the world.

The first trends indicating the imminent emergence of feature films appear in another film by the Lumiere brothers, “The Watered Waterman.” The short duration of the first films was due to the technical imperfection of the equipment for creating films, but by the beginning of the 1900s, the length of the films gradually increased to 20 minutes.

The first film with sound was “Singer”

1. TV set-top box B-2

The B-2 TV was released even before regular television broadcasting began in the Soviet Union. It was developed in 1931 by Anton Breitbart, a test batch was released in 1932, mass production began in 1933 and lasted until 1936.

2. The B-2 had a 16 by 12 mm screen with a scan of 30 lines and a frame rate of 12.5 frames per second. Now such dimensions and indicators seem ridiculous, but then the device was considered incredibly modern from a technological point of view.

However, the B-2 was not a television receiver, like the televisions we are used to, but only a set-top box that needed to be connected to a medium-wave radio.

3. KVN-49

In the late thirties and early forties, several models of electronic televisions were produced in the Soviet Union, partly under an American license, partly of their own design, but they never became a mass product - the Great Patriotic War interfered. And the first truly “people's” device was the KVN-49.

there was still a joke going around: “I bought it, I turned it on, it doesn’t work”)))

4. The television, which has become legendary, was developed at the Leningrad Research Institute of Television by engineers Kenigson, Varshavsky and Nikolaevsky, in whose honor it received its name. This device was one of the first in the world designed for the 625/50 decomposition standard.

The KVN-49 was produced in various modifications until 1967, but it is still known to the general public thanks to its unusual appearance (a mounted lens with water or glycerin to enlarge the image) and the popular humorous game named in its honor.

5. Rubin-102

In 1957, the era of Soviet televisions began under the legendary Rubin brand. This year, serial production of the Rubin-102 television receiver began, which lasted for 10 years. During this time, more than 1 million 328 thousand copies of it were created.

6. Rubin-102 could receive 12 TV channels (in reality there were much fewer) and switch to radio waves. It also had jacks for a tape recorder and a pickup.

7. Rubin-714

But still, we associate the name “Rubin”, first of all, with the Rubin-714 television receiver. It was not the first Soviet color TV, but it became one of the most popular in the country - over nine years in 1976-1985, 1 million 443 thousand copies were produced, of which 172 thousand were exported.

8. Rubin-714

9. Rassvet-307

But even these huge figures pale when compared with the number of Rassvet-307 TVs produced. Indeed, over the entire history of this model and the 307-1, which is very close to it, 8 (!) million pieces were produced.

10. This black-and-white television set began production in 1975, when color televisions had already appeared, and, nevertheless, still gained enormous all-Union popularity. This happened, first of all, due to the high reliability of the device, as well as its low price compared to non-ferrous competitors.

11. Record B-312

Another super popular black and white TV, which was mass produced and sold in an era when color receivers were already being produced. Record B-312 could be purchased in two design options: in a wood finish with a glossy surface and coated with textured paper.

This miracle box successfully showed the picture in my dacha until 2005!

12. TV Record B-312 was produced from 1975 to the mid-eighties. People remember it because it was very difficult to turn the toggle switch to change channels, especially if the handle was lost, and you often had to use pliers or pliers for this.

13. Horizon Ts-355

And the Horizon Ts-355 TV, produced at the Minsk Radio Plant since 1986, was considered the ultimate dream of a Soviet person. This television receiver was an incredibly scarce device - people were willing to overpay significant sums for the right to buy such a device for their home.

14. The fact is that, unlike other Soviet televisions, Horizon Ts-355 was equipped with a Japanese Toshiba kinescope with a beam deflection angle of 90 degrees. Therefore, the TV did not require additional image adjustment, and was also much more reliable than receivers with domestic components.

15. Spring-346

The Spring Concert from Dnepropetrovsk was considered one of the best Ukrainian factories that produced televisions. The first television receiver there was released in 1960, but the heyday of the enterprise occurred in the seventies and eighties. The most famous and widespread product of this manufacturer was the Vesna-346 TV (aka Yantar-346).

16. The Spring-346 TV was produced since 1983 and became the last successful model of the Dnepropetrovsk plant - subsequent ones did not gain much popularity, and in the nineties the enterprise, like many others, could not withstand competition from foreign technology and suspended production.

17. Electron Ts-382

Another legendary TV manufacturer in the Ukrainian SSR was the Lvov Electron plant. In the eighties, he released several models of color televisions that were popular throughout the Soviet Union, the most popular of which is considered to be the Electron Ts-382.

18. Electron Ts-382 stood out among other Soviet televisions of that era with its good image quality, high reliability, stylish design and low electricity consumption. Including, thanks to the success of this model, every fourth television in the USSR in the eighties was produced by the Electron concert.

The Electron plant still produces televisions under its own brand. True, their popularity is much less than in Soviet times.

Soviet television began its activities in 1931, and it was then that television broadcasts took place for the first time. But it was black and white television.

Let's find out in what year the first color TV was put on the shelves in the USSR, and find out what brand it was. And this is Rubin-401. The first color television of the Soviet Union. It was released in 1967 and worked on French SECAM technology.

Although experimental development began much earlier, and test televisions were demonstrated in 1951.

The colors were faded, and it was possible to watch the broadcast in a darkened room. But over time, the screen size has increased noticeably, and the clarity and contrast have also improved.

It all started with the production of simple units. Soviet designers of the Comitern plant presented a test black and white version B 2. The receiver was equipped with a special plastic lens.

And the name of the color television, designed in the States, was CBSRX - 40. It was mechanical. It was a compact product, and the size of any side did not exceed 14 cm. In America, this technique did not immediately become popular. Much depended on how much the TV cost, since the first developers wanted to sell their invention at a very high price.

The Soviet Union tried not to yield to the States in anything. And therefore, the emergence of new technology in the two countries occurred almost simultaneously. E Stages of production of color TVs:

In 1950, a picture tube with electron guns was invented, which were located at a certain angle relative to each other. The device was equipped with an electronic sweep variation. Three beams appeared from the cannon and accumulated in the mask. Then they penetrated the screen, where they glowed in different colors.
In 1954, Westinghouse in America offered the H840SK15 for sale. Out of 500 devices, only 30 were sold, since the price was quite high - $1,295.
Serial production in the States was launched in 1954. The RCA CT-100 model was equipped with a 12-inch screen. 5 thousand copies were sold at a price of 1 thousand dollars. Then screens appeared, 15, 19 and 20 inches.
In 1965, the Temp and Rainbow models were created.

In the 70s, all kinds of programs designed in color began to appear in America. This made it possible to significantly reduce the cost. And in 1967 in the USSR it was also possible to watch the program in Secam standard color.
After Rubin 401, Rubin 714 was produced. This technology was based on lamps. The 714 featured a larger screen. The diagonal value reached 60 cm. This device was not convenient due to its heavy weight.

The following models were popular in the USSR:

Model B 2 1931. Production on a large scale continued from 1933 to 1936. The screen parameters were 16*12 mm. Initially, it was not an ordinary device, but a set-top box that was connected to a special radio operating in the medium wave range.
At the end of the 30s, American technologies were also used in the USSR. Several models were tried to be created under US license. But they were not put into production because the war interfered.
The legendary KVN-49 enjoyed special love among the people; it was in his honor that the most famous program was named. It was developed at the Leningrad Research Institute. It gained popularity thanks to its non-standard mounted lens that magnifies pictures.
In 1957, they began to make equipment under the general name Ruby. The Rubin 102 device could demonstrate up to 12 TV channels. It provided connectors for tape devices. Rubin 714 became a popular model.
Dawn 307 is known for even greater popularity. In total, 8 million models were sold. Black and white equipment has been produced since 1975.
Other well-known options include Record 312.
The Horizon TV has been produced at the radio equipment plant since the 80s, in the city of Minsk. Such a unit was a scarce commodity.
The Electron plant offered excellent technology to consumers. In the 80s, Electron Ts 382 was produced on its territory, which was distinguished by excellent picture clarity, good technical performance and modern design.

How was television invented?

Attempts to produce a television receiver began in the 19th century by mechanic Paul Nipkow. The ability to transmit pictures over long distances arose in 1880.

At that time, the models were of the electromechanical type. Nipkov designed a special disk that made it possible to scan pictures.
Then in 1895, Karl Braun from Germany created a kinescope, which is known as the Braun tube.

The scientist underestimated his brainchild, but in 1906, another scientist Max Dieckmann acquired a patent for this tube and used it to broadcast pictures. A year later, he created a television receiver with a 30*30 mm screen and a scanning speed of 10 frames per minute.

In the 1920s, John Loggie Brad of Britain used a Nipkow disk to create a mechanical device that could operate without sound, but provide a full picture without distortion.

He was able to broadcast footage using a different color filter.
The first experience of television broadcasting was made by Boris Lvovich Rosing. This was done in 1911. This development was an electronic type television receiver.

He managed to create a picture on the kinescope screen. 17 years later, the inventor’s student Vladimir Zvorykin in the USA came up with a unit with a mechanical version of the sweep.

In 1923, he was issued a patent for the design. It was television based on electronic technology. The production of equipment equipped with a cathode ray tube was launched in America at the end of the 30s.
Television developed at an intensive pace in the Union. In 1932, samples were made for sample -B 2.

It was a mechanism with the simplest structure and a small screen measuring 3*4 cm. The production of television devices in the USSR began a year earlier than in the USA - in 1938.

The ATP 1 model was designed, the body of which contained 9 electronic tubes. The release of a more advanced design was prevented by the war.
As for color TVs. In 1940, scientists from America introduced the Triniscope system, in which pictures from three picture tubes were combined with phosphor glow colors. In the USSR, such developments began in 1951.

What was the name of the first TV in the USSR?

If we do not touch on test developments, the first mass-produced color TV was the Rubin 401. But even before it, the Rainbow device was created at the Kozitsky plant, and the Temp 22 was created at the radio plant in Moscow.

About 4 thousand of them were constructed, but they were not made available for sale.

The first broadcast in color for public viewing was made on November 7, 1967, thanks to agreements formalized between France and the Soviet Union. The French technology was called Segam.
Consumers especially loved the Rubin 714 brand with a large diagonal.

By the end of the 80s, more than 50 million televisions were sold in the USSR. At this time, inventors were working on new models of equipment.
Here's how the television apparatus was designed at that time:

Inside the case on the left side there was a main block with settings, a radio channel, and a transformer.
On the right were scanners with lamps.

The device was designed for the meter range. A special attachment was created for decimeter channels. Then SKD blocks were produced.

A new stage in the creation of color televisions was the transition to transistors, which were assembled from microcircuits.

Interesting video on the topic.

Even though a TV is not a luxury item, you need to remember when and by whom it was invented. We owe the emergence of a modern device to scientists all over the world. Thanks to them, this device has become a familiar thing in every home.

The creation of television was preceded by the following important discoveries:

Physicist Huygens discovered the theory of light waves.
The scientist Maxwell proved the existence of electromagnetic waves.
Experiments with television systems began when the scientist Smith discovered the possibility of changing electrical resistance.
Alexander Stoletov demonstrated the effect of light on electricity. He developed an "electric eye" - a similarity to today's photocells.

Along with these studies, scientists around the world studied the effect of light on the chemical composition of elements and discovered the photoelectric effect. People learned that they can see an image using electromagnetic waves, and also that this picture is transmitted. By that time, radio had already been invented.

When talking about who invented the first television, it is impossible to name just one name, because many people participated in the development and evolution of television. The history of receivers transmitting sound and image begins with the creation of a Nipkow disk, which scans a picture line by line. It was invented by German technician Paul Nipkow.

Karl Brown developed the very first kinescope and called it the “Brown Tube.” However, this invention was not immediately patented and used to transmit images. Several years passed before viewers saw a television receiver whose screen height and width were 3 cm, and the frame rate was ten per second.

British engineer John Lougie Baird invented a mechanical receiver that operates without sound. Although the picture was quite clear. Later, the scientist created the Baird company, which for a long time produced televisions on the market in the absence of competition.

Who is considered the creator of television?

The first television was created thanks to Boris Rosing. Using a cathode ray tube, he received a televised image of dots and figures. This was a big step forward, which allowed the first electronic television receiver to appear. The beam was scanned in the tube using magnetic fields, and the brightness was regulated by a capacitor.

The physicist’s work was continued by his student Vladimir Zvorykin, who in 1932 patented the invented television using electronic technology. It is generally accepted that he created the first television.

The famous engineer was born in the Vladimir province. He studied in Russia, but later emigrated to the USA. Zvorykin opened the first electronic television station in the capital, concluding an agreement with RCA. He owns more than a hundred patents for various inventions, and the scientist has a huge number of awards. He died at the end of the 20th century, after his death the documentary film “Zvorykin-Muromets” was shot.

Today in Moscow and Murom you can see memorials in honor of the “father of television.” One of the streets in the city of Gusev and an award for achievements in the television field are named after him.

The appearance of television in the USSR

The earliest experience of television broadcasting in the Soviet Union took place in April 1931. Initially, viewings were carried out collectively in certain places; television receivers began to appear in each family later. The first TV set created on Nipkov's disk was produced by the Leningrad plant "Comintern". The device looked like a set-top box with a 4 by 3 cm screen and was connected to a radio receiver. Inventors in the Soviet Union began to assemble mechanical models of devices on their own, and the first televisions appeared in homes. Instructions for assembling such televisions in the USSR were published in the magazine Radiofront.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first broadcasts of the program with sound appeared. For a long time there was only one channel - the First. During the Second World War, the channel's operation was interrupted. After the end of the war, electronic television appeared, and soon the Second Channel began broadcasting.

Creating a color TV

Not everyone knows when the first color televisions appeared, which have been in every family for a long time. Attempts to create a device with a color screen were made back in the days of mechanical broadcast devices. Hovhannes Adamyan first presented his research in this area; he patented a two-color device for transmitting signals at the beginning of the 20th century.

If we talk about when the color receiver was invented, we should note the work of John Lowey Baird. In 1928, he assembled a receiver that alternately transmitted images using a three-color light filter. He is rightfully considered the creator of color television.

The world's first television with a full color screen was invented by Americans in the mid-20th century. These devices were manufactured by RCA. Even then they could be freely purchased on credit. In the Soviet Union, color television was introduced a little later, despite the fact that development of the device began under Zvorykin. It was Rubin, which later became a mass TV.

There is no clear answer to the question “who created the television receiver”. However, based on prevailing views and available facts, Vladimir Zvorykin is considered to be the founder of television. If we talk about the year in which the television was invented, then it is generally accepted that it was 1923, when Zvorykin applied for a television patent.

Today TV is part of our life and the norm, new models of devices are being created that are absolutely different from the first televisions. Their screens measure tens of centimeters. The quality of broadcasting has increased greatly and has become digital. Over the past 20 years, television has come a long way and will certainly continue to evolve. And for all this we need to say thanks to the one who invented television.