The Emitron camera tube was developed as an all-electronic alternative to John Logie Baird's mechanical television apparatus of the 1920s, and is the real ancestor of modern television systems. Electric and Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI) began work on the Emitron in 1932, basing it on experimental work by James McGee and William Tedham. Cameras developed for the BBC by the Marconi-EMI Television Co. Ltd. were used for the start of the world's first regular high-definition television service in 1936. This tube is from an early production run.

Inv. 1985-5063