ArticleslgStudy

science

Predicta

Predicta is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Predicta rather than just read about it. In short: The Philco Predicta is a black and white television chassis style, which was made in several cabinet models with 17” or 21” screens by the American company Philco from 1958 to 1960. The Predicta was marketed as the world’s first swivel-screen television.

Predicta — main illustration
Predicta — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Predicta belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Predicta to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Predicta from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Philco Predicta is a black and white television chassis style, which was made in several cabinet models with 17” or 21” screens by the American company Philco from 1958 to 1960. The Predicta was marketed as the world’s first swivel-screen television. Designed by Catherine Winkler, Severin Jonassen and Richard Whipple, it featured a picture tube (CRT) that separated from the rest of the cabinet. The safety mask on the front of the picture tube was made with a new organic plastic product by Eastman Plastics called “tenite”, which protected the glass and provided implosion protection for the user and produced a greenish tint. The Predicta also had a thinner picture tube than many other televisions at the time, which led it to be marketed as a more futuristic television set. Predicta television sets were constructed with a variety of cabinet configurations, some detachable but all separate from the tube itself and connected by wires. As its manufacturer explained in mid-1959, “The world’s first separate screen receiver, Philco’s ‘Predicta,’ marked a revolution in the design and engineering of television sets. Announced in June 1958, ‘Predicta’ was made possible by the development of a shorter 21-inch picture tube called the “SF” tube (for ‘semi-flat’), and a newly-designed contour chassis....’Slender Seventeener’ portables in the ‘Predicta’ line are the thinnest and most compact portables on the market today.” The Predicta Tandem model had a fully detached picture tube and an umbilical cable, which allowed the controls and speaker for the set to be next to the viewer, with the screen up to 25 feet away. Also unique to this version was a large handle over the top to carry the cathode ray tube portion wherever the viewer wanted it. This version also required more internal circuitry to drive the video signal through the cable. Philco also made Directa, a short-lived remote series in 1959 before the firm was bought by the Ford Motor Company in 1961. This set feature provided Philco with an answer to the Zenith Space Command wireless remote control, which had been introduced the same year. The Predicta was announced to the industry in 1958, and launched to the public the following year at the 1959 Miss America pageant, which was sponsored by Philco. Shortly after the Predicta was announced, its reliability was called into question by several trade and consumer publications. As Philco was phasing in its next chassis iteration, the Cool Chassis, the company went bankrupt, with its development of the Predicta being a possible factor. The company was acquired shortly afterward by Ford.

In popular culture The Pixar animated film Toy Story 2 featured a miniature replica of the Predicta, which was based on one owned by the film's director, John Lasseter. The Predicta is also featured in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series on Amazon Prime. A (non-existent/simulated) color version of the Predicta TV appears in the first episode of the second season of Mo. The "Radiation King" televisions seen throughout the Fallout video games are based on the Predicta.

References

Illustrations

Predicta illustration
Predicta: Philco Predicta from the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Philco Predicta from the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Predicta: Predicta model 4654 with “barber pole” stand from the collection of the Museum of the Moving Image, New York
Predicta model 4654 with “barber pole” stand from the collection of the Museum of the Moving Image, New York

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Predicta

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Predicta claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Predicta before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Predicta ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Predicta

In research
Predicta appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Predicta in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Predicta is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Consumer electronics, Products and services discontinued in 1960, Products introduced in 1958, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Predicta outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Predicta in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Predicta means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Predicta out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Predicta in simple terms?

The Philco Predicta is a black and white television chassis style, which was made in several cabinet models with 17” or 21” screens by the American company Philco from 1958 to 1960. The Predicta was marketed as the world’s first swivel-screen television.

Why does Predicta matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Predicta?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Predicta.

Tags

  • Consumer electronics
  • Products and services discontinued in 1960
  • Products introduced in 1958
  • Television technology

Keep exploring