TELEVISION STEALS THE SHOW AT THIS YEAR’S RADIOLYMPIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27221, 26 October 1949, Page 5

TELEVISION STEALS THE SHOW AT THIS YEAR’S RADIOLYMPIA

Resident Correspondent LONDON, Sept. 29.

Although it is called Radiolympia, this year’s 12-acre exhibition of the British radio industry could well have been titled Teleolympia, for television has stolen the show.

In radio sets there are technical improvements, it is true, especially in tuning, circuit arrangements and suppression of interference, but the inspecting public saw little that was new.

The fact is, that like motor cars, radio has reached an almost static stage. There have been no sensational developments and no revolutions in the last couple of years. I saw nothing that was very different to what was on sale in New Zealand nine months ago.

The emphasis to-day is on cheapness and portability. Prices this year have fallen 15 per cent, to 25 per cent., resulting in more than 75 per cent, of the receivers being priced at less than £2O and half of the total at below £ls. Some of the portable sets are no bigger than a normal folding camera and are designed to be worn on a strap over the shoulder “to give you melody while queuing.’’ Many of the battery models can also be plugged into the mains when the batteries recharge as the set is playing. A claim made for one deaf aid, no bigger than the palm of the hand, was that a deaf person could hear better in a noisy aeroplane than a person with normal hearing. Another set, weighing Boz, when not in use, could be used as a radio.

Many cabinet models in beautiful woods and veneers included radiogramophone, and it was noticeable that most of these featured automatic record changing.

Evei-y major manufacturer featured television. There were three surprises —colour television, projection television, and a set costing only £3s— cheaper than the next popular model. The colour development was kept so secret in the Pye works that only a dozen technicians knew about a week befdre the, show. If not brilliant, the colour is true, but at this stage it can be looked on only as a novelty. Engineers said that while it will be practicable in live years, the difficulty of converting normal sets and the problem of allocating a wide enough frequency for tranmission rule it out of mass production for 10 years. Projection television was on show by several makers. J3y this method the image from a small cube is magnified and reflected by prisms to a large flat screen of ground glass. The resulting picture is not distorted, as with normal sets, and is a distinct improvement.

Many of the elaborate combination sets on view combined radio, television, an automatic radio-gramophone, record drawers, cocktail cabinet, and bookcase, all beautifully housed. Prices ranged from £350 to £6OO. Radar plotting, airport control, and radio sets working under water were features of the displays by the three services. On the navy stand there were facilities lor sending free messages to any ship in the world, but when I called on the second day none had been lodged for the JNew Zealand section. A popular attraction on one stand was a 16-ounce block of gold guarded by photo-electric cells. These defeated the smartest grabber who was never quick enough to beat the rays and stop the gold from disappearing under his eyes. Great crowds were drawn by a full radio and television stage where, Dehind glass partitions, the public could watch programmes being rehearsed and recorded. The exhibition demonstrates in convincing fashion to the world the high quality, finish and styling of Britain’s radio and television products. It is expected that this year exports will rise well above the £12,000,000 figure which was almost attained last year. But for the 500,000 people who will trail through this huge £1,000,000 exhibition picking up sheaves of pamphlets and aching feet, the most exciting feature is that most of these goods can be bought. Unlike the motor exhibition at nearby Baris Court, they are not all, or nearly all, for export.