Slashdot Mirror

http://www.earlytelevision.org/damper.html

http://oddmix.com/tube0/1g3gt_1b3gt_sylvania.html

A bit funny how the most impressive mechanical television of those early times (because now we have DLP...) was build on top of transmission standard already geared for electronic TV. Palace Deluxe must have been something in those times... (and the poster at the bottom ;> ) ...maybe even a bit unreal (say, how Burj Dubai supposedly looks to some - it isn't striking per se, because it doesn't feel real ... like a painted background element)

http://www.earlytelevision.org/german_prewar.html

ezVision Video Glasses
... Experience a 50" widescreen...Anywhere...Anytime
http://www.audio-outfitters.com/ezVisionFeatures.html

However, I wonder if these glasses would get the church in trouble all over again:

ezVision X4
... Four Times The Resolution of Standard ezVision G1 . .. and now simulates a 64" virtual screen as viewed from 8.5 feet... and they fit like a pair of glasses.
http://www.audio-outfitters.com/ezvision_X4.html

or these low tech ones

Max TV Glasses Description
Don't miss your favorite show or sporting event. Make your TV screen appear twice as big with these special TV-glasses. Has individual focusing for each eye with a focusing wheel.
http://www.youcantoocan.com/Max_TV_Glasses_P338.cfm

Now they should be safe with this older technology:

HMV Eyeglass TV
This company has built a curious apparatus called"the television eyeglass". It weighs less than 800g, and can be easily held in the hand, like a telephone receiver. The sound is perceived by the earphone which is applied against the ear and the 4 cm x 3 cm picture is visible via a 45 degree mirror.
http://www.earlytelevision.org/hmv.html

And for the people that need to see what is around them while watching, a Japan company has made these for the train commuter:

'Eyeglass' TV For Train Commuters Unveiled
Glasses Ensure Normal Visual Field While Watching Video
http://www.local6.com/technology/13360129/detail.html

made by:
http://www.teleglasses.net/about_teleglass.html
http://www.scalar.co.jp/english/products/teleglass.html

Early TV's from the 1930's were mechanical. See Mechanical TV - How it works.

Behold the mighty Eidophor - Cinema-sized video projection with not a semiconductor in sight...!

There was the Iconarama, which was an Etch-A-Sketch like device attached to a projector. This was the first large-screen computer controlled display, and was used by NORAD in the 1950s. The device scratched transparent areas onto a slide, projecting icons (usually aircraft tracks) on a screen. When the screen became too cluttered, a slide changer loaded a new blank slide. Two complete systems aimed at the same screen were used, to avoid a blank period during slide change and redraw and to provide redundancy.

The Iconarama was one of a long series of early military attempts to build large-screen displays. There were wall-sized plotters. CRT/film/photo processor/projector combinations. The Eidophor oil-film projector.

Eidophor technology first appeared in 1943, and there are still a few units in use. No other technology until DLP could reach the 4000 lumen light level of an Eidophor unit.

Heck, even Zenith got into the act!

Hell, Philco was making mirror TVs in 1939! Take a gander.