A television set is a device enabling the remote reception of moving images broadcast over radio waves. In Poland, production of TV sets began in 1956, at the Warszawskie Zakłady Telewizyjne (WZT). The first receiver was the Wisła, made under Soviet licence. It is a design inspired by the Awangard receiver. One of the many products of WZT of the 1960s is the Topaz black-and-white television set. Technically, the device is a modification of the Agat receiver of 1964. The Topaz was manufactured in versions with a 21” or 23” CRT, both of which were designs with a deflection angle of 110°, allowing the receiver to be put on a shelf or on a chest of drawers. In the case of older receivers with CRTs with smaller deflection angles, it was necessary to use deeper housings capable of fitting the longer cathode-ray tube. Unified Polish television sets, of which the Topaz is an example, set out a new direction for the development of Poland’s television industry, represented by three enterprises operating within the framework of the Unitra union: WZT, Zakłady Diora w Dzierżoniowie, and Gdańskie Zakłady Telewizyjne. The internal design of the television sets made by these manufacturers were based on technically unified components.
The unit presented here was acquired by the Museum’s collection in 1999.
Interesting fact: television sets with screen sizes of over 21 inches were considered luxury items. Apart from the larger screens, they had technical amenities not found in lower level devices, such as extensive automation systems reducing the need for manual adjustments, and additional sockets, e.g., for connecting an external speaker, earphones, tape recorder, or for remote control of the device.

Authors: Piotr Turowski, Piotr Żabicki