The TVs of Tomorrow : How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs / Benjamin Gross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gross, Benjamin, author.

Series:

Synthesis (University of Chicago. Press)

Synthesis

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television--Receivers and reception.

Television.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In 1968 a team of scientists and engineers from RCA announced the creation of a new form of electronic display that relied upon an obscure set of materials known as liquid crystals. At a time when televisions utilized bulky cathode ray tubes to produce an image, these researchers demonstrated how liquid crystals could electronically control the passage of light. One day, they predicted, liquid crystal displays would find a home in clocks, calculators-and maybe even a television that could hang on the wall. Half a century later, RCA's dreams have become a reality, and liquid crystals are the basis of a multibillion-dollar global industry. Yet the company responsible for producing the first LCDs was unable to capitalize upon its invention. In The TVs of Tomorrow, Benjamin Gross explains this contradiction by examining the history of flat-panel display research at RCA from the perspective of the chemists, physicists, electrical engineers, and technicians at the company's central laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. Drawing upon laboratory notebooks, internal reports, and interviews with key participants, Gross reconstructs the development of the LCD and situates it alongside other efforts to create a thin, lightweight replacement for the television picture tube. He shows how RCA researchers mobilized their technical expertise to secure support for their projects. He also highlights the challenges associated with the commercialization of liquid crystals at RCA and Optel-the RCA spin-off that ultimately manufactured the first LCD wristwatch. The TVs of Tomorrow is a detailed portrait of American innovation during the Cold War, which confirms that success in the electronics industry hinges upon input from both the laboratory and the boardroom.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: A WORLD OF SCREENS

1. THE QUEST FOR MAGNALUX, 1951- 1956

2. A FUMBLING PRELUDE, 1956- 1966

3. SCATTERED ORIGINS, 1961- 1968

4. DISRUPTIVE DISPLAYS, 1968- 1971

5. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD, 1969- 1976

CONCLUSION: AN INVISIBLE MONUMENT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 22. Okt 2019)

ISBN:

9780226540740

022654074X

OCLC:

1028552352