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U ntil then, Chromatron had been used in highly specialized and military applications only. The Sony staff began work on bringing out its latent potential.
While Sony engineers were studying the commercial potential of Chromatron in color TV, other research staff and engineers had been mobilized for another major project.
 The 8-inch TV is too big --- it's like the huge portable radios that the Occupation Forces brought in. Our TV should be like our pocketable radio --- portable enough to take along and watch anywhere.
Since going on sale in May 1960, Ibuka and his staff had been considering plans for a set smaller than the 8-inch TV8-301. This was to be model TV5-303, a 5-inch micro-TV. The trial model was dubbed  operation SV-17 to throw competitors off. Rivals would think that Sony was working on a 17-inch color TV. As might be expected, all operations from R&D and trial testing to production were kept top secret. The engineers involved were extremely sensitive about security.
As always, the key to developing this new product was designing the transistor. The staff decided to use silicon as much as possible. They also developed a new epitaxial mesa transistor expressly for the 5-inch set. The 8-inch transistorized TV had taught Sony that semiconductors with low performance characteristics overheat. They also result in large losses and require a high voltage. The engineers' task was to develop a smaller semiconductor which was even more efficient in proportion to its size.
Just as Iwama and his semiconductor staff were about to research the semiconductors, Bell Laboratories in the US. announced the development of an epitaxial transistor. The group felt that this was exactly what was needed in the new set. They test manufactured silicon epitaxial mesa transistors for deflection circuits, which required the most power and synchronizing circuits for the first time. Just as they anticipated, this semiconductor was perfect for the 5-inch TV.
Next they began production of the epitaxial crystal. This process was a complete departure from conventional crystal production, requiring much more difficult gas purification, surface treatment, and gas flow control techniques.
Susumu Yoshida and Senri Miyaoka coordinated the design of transistors which were to use the new semiconductors in the deflection circuits of the new 5-inch set. In the spring of 1961, they set up a trial transistor production line, and by autumn everything began to take shape. When production actually got started, however, yield was extremely poor. Even in February 1962, the planned start of production of the TVs, they had yet to attain good production levels.
Transistor problems aside, the miniaturization of the TV presented other unforeseen problems.
Cutting down the size of the set was not merely a matter of down-sizing the components and the outer casing. There were problems in miniaturizing the cathode-ray tubes and glass envelope, redefining the deflection angle, and working on a new antenna. The portability of the set was the ultimate issue.
Moreover, since Sony engineers planned to market the 5-inch set as a car TV, it had to be capable of intercepting shifting radio waves and withstanding the noise generated by the car while it was in motion. This posed a myriad of new problems not encountered with console-type home-use sets. The staff worked nonstop for months tackling these problems, often not returning home until eleven or twelve at night for days on end. For them, there were no weekends or holidays until all problems were resolved. And the management, well aware of the diligence of their underlings, could not leave before their staff. They even felt bad about staying home on Sundays. Everyone was that earnest about the new TV.
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