CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[lynx]

Not long ago, I learned some little-known fun facts about RCA's "Selectavision" name that CED collectors may find interesting.



Besides CED, VHS VCRs, and video cameras, RCA also used the Selectavision trade name for some of their top-of-the-line TVs back in the early and mid 1980s. Here is a link to an picture that I found of a print advertisement for an RCA Selectavision TV:



https://robertbuchanan.info/superaggregation/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Selectavision-Video-Monitor.jpg



I think they are the same TVs as RCA's high-end Colortrak 2000 and Lyceum TVs, which use the RCA CTC-121 series chassis, and are all very large and heavy. Something I have always found odd about these sets is that they are called "Video Monitors", which isn't entirely accurate because they have tuners and RF inputs, not just A/V inputs and outputs.



RCA used two variations of the Selectavision name for some products related to TVs back in the 1970s & 1980s, using the "Selecta-" prefix for some of their TV aerial products.



One name they used was Selectachannel, which is the name of a rotator for tall outdoor antennae mounted on roofs of houses or buildings to pick up distant VHF and UHF television stations, and the rotator is used to aim the antenna towards the direction of the TV station's transmitter. I discovered this name in an E Bay auction for a used one.



The other name RCA used with the "Selecta-" prefix back in the 1970s & 1980s is Selectacolor, which they used on their rabbit ears indoor VHF/UHF TV antennas. It looks like they sold for prices between $15.00 and $27.00, according to some old newspaper advertisements. I couldn't find a picture of a Selectacolor antenna online besides the black and white pictures in newspaper archives from back then, and a legal reference to it in a trademark database.



While looking thru the trademark database, I searched for other RCA trademarks, and I found a lot of old trademark references for CED, VHS, and their antenna products. Along with a timeline and trademark filing histories, they all have either "Dead/Cancelled" or "Dead/Expired" status, so I wonder if they are all abandoned trademarks which went in to the public domain. The Attorney of Record is Charles L. Greiter for a few of them, and Scott J. Stevens on one of them. They must have both worked for RCA, and I wonder if either one of them are still alive.



According to these trademark records, the Selectavision trademark was last used back in 1992 by Thomson Consumer Electronics, and originally dates back to 1970, when CED was under research and development.



Here are the trademark links:



https://uspto.report/TM/74327297



https://uspto.report/TM/73402388



https://uspto.report/TM/73372428



https://uspto.report/TM/73279039



https://uspto.report/TM/73277233



https://uspto.report/TM/73250467



https://uspto.report/TM/73149372



https://uspto.report/TM/72460801



https://uspto.report/TM/72361243



https://uspto.report/TM/72361244



https://uspto.report/TM/72360435



https://uspto.report/TM/72360436



https://uspto.report/TM/72358919



https://uspto.report/TM/72358918
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Let RCA turn your television into Selectavision!

[SelectaVision420]

they also were using this on their record player units too, or maybe it was the dimensia name plate, but i know i had an old late 70's record player somewhere with one of RCA's recycled monikers on it...

this was a good read, thanks!
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(2)Sears 274 & 934(80150,10&11350), sft100, sgt250, sjt 090-400, vp550, VDR3000, VP2000 & 4000
complete '84 Dimensia Owner