Zenith wins Emmy for Flat-Screen CRT

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2001 ––Zenith Electronics Corporationreceived an Emmy Award last night for its development of flat-screenCRT (cathode ray tube) television technology.

Presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences(NATAS) at a black-tie gala in mid-town Manhattan, this marksZenith’s fourth Emmy. The company was previously honored fordeveloping stereo television, remote control technology and digitalhigh-definition television (HDTV).

Accepting an Emmy “for Outstanding Achievement in TelevisionTechnology,” Richard M. Lewis, Zenith’s senior vicepresident, research & technology, said: “On behalf of mycolleagues, both past and present, we are deeply honored that Zenithhas been recognized for its development of flat-screen TV picture tubetechnology.”

Zenith’s pioneering work in perfectly-flat-screen color CRTsspans three decades. The core innovation involved stretching a shadowmask and holding it under tension. This so-called “flat tensionmask” (FTM) was the industry’s first perfectly flat,high-resolution color CRT. Its high brightness, high resolution andglare-free and reflection-free performance revolutionized CRTs forconsumer television and computer monitor displays.

The first of 137 U.S. patents granted to Zenith for flat CRTs wasissued in 1981. The first private industry demonstrations of thetechnology were in 1984-85, followed by the first public showing of a14-inch computer monitor display in 1986. Commercial shipments began in1987, and larger versions (15- and 17-inch) followed. In 1993, Zenithdemonstrated a 22-inch version and proceeded with development effortson larger screen versions for consumer TV applications.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency’s High-DefinitionSystems program supported research in the early 1990s for newproduction techniques enabling larger-screen FTM CRTs.

As part of its restructuring, Zenith phased out CRT manufacturingseveral years ago, but the technology has been licensed to others, andFTM displays today are sold throughout the world.

In 2001, Zenith introduced six digital HDTV monitors, ranging from27- to 36-inch diagonal screen sizes, employing perfectly flatCRTs.