Tesla 4401A Color

The first Czechoslovak mass-produced color TV. The design is inspired by Western-European products, several tubes are used instead of the unavailable power semiconductors. The picture tube is of Soviet origin and has 59 cm diagonal. It is of the so-called Delta type. These picture tubes required a complicated setup process for color purity which was sensitive to external magnetic fields, including the geomagnetic field. Sometimes, the TV required setup even after its position in the room was altered. The TV is equipped with SECAM color decoder. In the 1960s, the Western-European countries have been preparing the start of color TV broadcast. Germany introduced the high-quality PAL system, but France rejected the German system and designed its own SECAM system, which was a bit problematic. Czechoslovakia decided to use the PAL system, but the Soviet Union adopted the French system out of political reasons and required its satellite states to use it as well. As a result, the first Czechoslovak TV receivers had only SECAM decoder. Since the 1980s, they were equipped with both decoders and the broadcast was switched to PAL after the fall of socialism. The Czechoslovak TV receivers still ran in color afterwards, but the commonly imported Soviet products required a modification, otherwise they would play only in black-and-white.