The Belweder television receiver is designed to receive television broadcasts. The Belweder OT 1471 is the first television set to be manufactured on the basis of Polish documentation and using Polish parts. The first model had a 14-inch cathode-ray tube, and in 1958 the Belweder II OT 1782 variant was made with a 17-inch CRT.
The design of the Belweder was developed and improved between 1955-1957. A prototype version was made in July 1955 and mass production started in November of that year. The receiver was developed at the Studies and Designs Bureau of Warszawskie Zakłady Telewizyjne. The designers’ group was headed by inż. Lech Kwiatuszyński, and included engineers R. Nowicki, K. Mlicki and A. Malinowski. The Belweder provided the framework on which subsequent TV set models manufactured in Poland were based, including the Turkus, Szmaragd and Neptun. It was a modern design, allowing the selection of one of 12 channels and with a wired remote control.
In comparison with the earlier Wisła television set in which tuning was preset at the factory to one channel, the drum switch applied in the Belweder was a major breakthrough. It had 12 positions, eight for television channels, and the remaining four were intended for handling UHF sub-ranges. This allowed the Belweder to double as a radio receiver and receive the FM band between 87-100 MHz. Due to the high demand for television receivers, the production of Belweder OT 1481 began in 1958 outside of Warsaw – at Gdańskie Zakłady Radiowe Gezar in Gdańsk. Production of the Belweder ended in 1959.

Authors: Piotr Turowski, Filip Wróblewski