Why did 405 look so good?

[Terry]

From what I can remember 405 lines TV always looked good; bright, sharp & with good contrast.

Did they? Maybe when the tube was new, but the 405 TV's I remember were hopeless in daylight and if the contrast and brightness was turned up they normally went out of focus and were always picking up interference when a car went by..

I'm wondering how far back your memory goes, Mike!

No TV can survive in direct sunlight (it is impossible to produce black light!) but, so long as the screen is relatively shaded from direct light, as aluminised tubes, with their much brighter pictures, became the norm, I doubt that daylight bothered most people.

I don't ever remember being troubled much by ignition interference at home or at work (which was on a busy road in town) but, must admit that the signal path was along, rather than across, the road (in both cases).

A healthy demand for retro fitted car radios plus many people using portable transistor radios in their cars meant that the number of even old cars on the road without suppression fitted nosedived.