Zenith Electronics
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Zenith Electronics Corporation is an American manufacturer of televisions headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. It was the inventor of the modern remote control, and it introduced HDTV in North America. Zenith is a member of the South Korean conglomerate LG Group by way of LG Electronics, which acquired a controlling share of Zenith in 1995 and the rest in 1999.
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[edit] History
The company began in Chicago, Illinois in 1918 as a small producer of amateur radio equipment. The name "Zenith" came from its founders' call sign, 9ZN, and Zenith Radio Company was formally incorporated in 1923. Zenith introduced the first portable radio not long after this, and would eventually go on to invent such things as the wireless remote control, FM multiplex stereo, high-contrast and flat-face picture tubes, and the MTS stereo system used on analog television broadcasts in the US and Canada. Zenith was also one of the first companies to introduce a digital HDTV system implementation, parts of which were included in the ATSC standard starting with the 1993 Grand Alliance.
In the 1980s, Zenith fell on hard times as more and more of their market share went to Japanese sets with lower prices. In 1979, they got into the computer business with the purchase of Heath Company and their H-8 computer kit; Zenith renamed Heath's computer division Zenith Data Systems, and eventually sold ZDS and Heath to Groupe Bull in 1989 to raise money for its HDTV research efforts. Zenith changed its name to Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1984, to reflect its interests in computers and CATV, and since it had left the radio business two years earlier.
By 1990, Zenith was in trouble, and looking more and more attractive to a hostile takeover. To avoid this, Zenith sold 5% of itself to LG Electronics as part of a technology-sharing agreement. With their analog line aging (the last major update to the line had been the System³ chassis in 1978), and the adoption of HDTV in the US years away, Zenith's prospects were dim. Eventually, LG would raise its stake in Zenith to 55%, enough to assume a controlling interest. Zenith eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1999, and in exchange for its debts, LG offered to buy the part of Zenith it didn't already own.
[edit] Famous appliances
[edit] Shortwave radio
Among Zenith's early famous products are the 'Trans-Oceanic' and 'Royal' series of shortwave portable radios, which were in production from 1942 to 1981.
[edit] The remote control
Zenith is, perhaps, best known for the first practical wireless TV remote control, the 'Space Command', developed in 1956.
The original TV remote control was a wired version, released in 1950, that soon attracted complaints about an unsightly length of cable from the viewer's chair to the TV set. Cmdr. Eugene F. McDonald, Zenith President and Founder, ordered his engineers to develop a wireless version, but the use of radio waves was soon discounted due to poor interference rejection inherent in 1950s radio receivers. The 1955 'Flash-Matic' remote system used a highly directional photo flash tube in the hand held unit that was aimed at sensitive photoreceivers in the four front corners of the TV cabinet. However, bright sunlight falling on the TV was found to activate the controls.
Lead Engineer Eugene Polley then suggested that ultrasonic sound be used as a trigger mechanism. This was produced in the hand held unit by mechanically-struck aluminum rods of carefully constructed dimensions - a receiver in the TV responded to the different frequencies this action produced. The miniaturization of electronics meant that, eventually, the sounds were produced in the remote unit electronically but the operating principle remained in use until the 1980's, when it was superseded by the infra-red light system.
[edit] Space phone
Some models of Zenith's System 3 line of televisions made from the late 70s to the early 80s had a feature referred to by Zenith as the "Space Phone". It was basically a hands-free speakerphone built into the television set. It used the set's speaker and remote control, in addition to a built-in microphone. A Space Phone-enabled TV would connect to a phone jack (using a built-in phone cord), and placing a call was performed by pressing a button on the remote to activate the Space Phone (which would mute and take over the program audio going to the speaker). The phone number is dialed using the numeric keys on the remote, which then displays the digits being dialed on-screen (using the on-screen display features of the System 3 line). The user could then converse with another caller hands-free, much like a speakerphone.
[edit] Zoom
A feature that was included in some of Zenith's Chromacolor and later System 3 lines of sets from the late 70s was the "Zoom" feature. This feature allowed for the image being displayed on the TV screen to be zoomed into, by overscanning the raster of the CRT so that the middle of the image would be displayed.
[edit] The Porthole TV
In the very early 50's. Zenith entered the television market. These sets were all round tube sets. The main feature was that the entire round screen was exposed. They were available in 12", 16" and 19". All models had a switch that would show the picture in the 4:3 ratio, or have the entire round screen exposed. These sets are very desirable among TV collectors. Many porthole sets used metal cone CRT's, which are now very hard to find. it is not uncommon for collectors to replace a bad metal cone tube with an all glass tube. Zenith porthole sets came in tabletop models, stand-alone consoles and TV/radio/phono combos. As with any vintage electronics, have them checked by qualified personnel before applying power.
