The Koral OT 1722 television set, mass produced in 1963 by the Warszawskie Zakłady Telewizyjne, was a breakthrough design, which set the direction for further development of television sets in Poland. A prototype of the device was first presented at the Poznań International Fair in 1961.
The Koral television set was designed as a 19-valve, superheterodyne receiver with diversified methods of audio reception. It was designed to display black-and-white television and was equipped with circuits for 12 television channels in the OIRT (Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision) standard. It had autonomous contrast and brightness controls (reacting to the lighting in the room in which the receiver is located) and an automatic black control system.
A novelty in the design of the Koral TV set was the use of a 17-inch CRT with a large deflection angle (110°), as well as the use of printed circuits. This allowed vertical installation of the chassis, which can be tilted to give easy access to the inside of the receiver. The printed circuit board film was installed on one side of the chassis, and the electrical system components were installed on the other. Thanks to these modifications, the receiver had a compact, modern appearance. Its profile was flattened, which contributed to the design of a shallow housing. The top of the front frame was slightly bent into a characteristic “awning”, which was designed to shadow the screen. The front part of the fascia, made of painted aluminium, features tone adjustment buttons, a power switch, clarity adjustment (with the description “Film”), a channel switch and a tuning knob. The external appearance of the TV set was designed by Andrzej Latos – an artist employed at the Interiors Unit of the Industrial Design Institute. He was assisted in his design work by Olgierd Rutkowski and Stefan Solik.
Housings for the Koral television sets were supplied by Warszawska Fabryka Mebli, the CRT’s by Zakłady Usług Radiotechnicznych i Telewizyjnych, Łódź branch, and the speakers by Tonsil in Września. Thanks to the modern appearance and many technical amenities, the design of the Koral television set narrowed the gap between the quality of television sets manufactured in Poland and in Europe. Initially, the device was only sold for export.

Authors: Beata Krzaczyńska, Piotr Turowski