ET-10

The Televian - the world's first liquid crystal pocket color TV

August 1984

pocket color TV ET-10

Liquid crystal panel: Thin-film transistor active-matrix TN color liquid crystal
Screen size: 2 inches
Pixels: 52,800
Dimensions: (W)160 x (D)80 x (H)31 mm
Weight: 450g (dry cell batteries included)
Power source: 4 power source system (5 AA dry-cell batteries, rechargeable NiCd battery, 100V AC adaptor, car battery adaptor)
Power consumption: Approximately 1.9 watts with internal fluorescent tube; approximately 1.1 watts with external lighting
Battery life: 5 hours (with alkaline manganese cell batteries using external lighting), 2.5 hours (with alkaline manganese cell batteries using internal lighting)
Reception range: VHF1 - 12 ch / UHF 13 - 62 ch
Video monitor terminal (image and sound input terminal) attached 36 mm internal circular dynamic speaker

The ET-10 (known as the Epson Elf on the U.S. market) was the world's first commercial liquid crystal pocket color television. This groundbreaking television with the pet name Televian was easily portable thanks to a conveniently small, thin shape that allowed it to be slipped into a pocket and taken anywhere. Its greatest feature was the independently developed TFT liquid crystal color display. Development of this transmissive liquid crystal display was announced at the international SID (Society for Information Display) conference in May 1983. This display measured 2.13 inches and had 57,600 pixels (the display that was actually commercialized was 2 inches and had 52,800 pixels). In each of the pixels was a transistor for driving the liquid crystal. To enable the display to render a wide range of colors, an RGB color filter matched to the pixels was formed on the interior face of the glass, and the light passing through the filter was controlled at each individual pixel.

In August 1984, 15 months after the development of this panel was announced, the ET-10 was put on the market. The ET-10 embodied the best of Epson's* advanced technologies. It combined Epson's existing semiconductor, LCD and high-density assembly technologies with the company's new technologies, including color filters and TV circuits. The pocket TV was followed by a succession of other devices that harnessed the polysilicon TFT liquid crystal technology developed for the ET-10. Two of the most important were viewfinders for video cameras and light valves for liquid crystal projectors.

*Then known as Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd.