Video: The Good Old Days of TV Manufacturing

The recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas showcased the latest consumer audio and video, including larger and brighter flat-screen TVs touting technologies like OLED, QLED, and mini-LED.  Consumers now have a choice of flat-panel TVs in many different sizes and a wide range of prices. But that was not always the case, particularly in the early days of TVs back in the 1950s when bulky black-and-white consoles ruled.

In this YouTube video “How It’s Made: 1950’s Televisions” on Documentary Tube, RCA TVs are carefully and painstakingly assembled. While mass production techniques were utilized, there was still a lot of manual labor. Workers are shown wiring and soldering various parts such as vacuum tubes (remember those) and CRTs. Other technicians use oscilloscopes and other test equipment to perform quality control testing. And, as these TVs are often encased in cabinets, carpenters are shown constructing handcrafted cabinets to house these TVs, before painting and shipping.

Television manufacturing has come a long way over the decades, as today’s flat-panel, smart TV sets are built in modern, automated factories.

You can view the video here.