- Trilon
A trilon is a
triangular prism -shaped object, turning on an axle (either mechanically or manually) to show different letters or images. Trilons have been used ongame show s and billboards.The squares on the original "Concentration" game board, first aired in 1958, may have been the first use of trilons on a game show. The game combined the card game with a
rebus puzzle, which was gradually revealed as matches were made. As the show was an immediate replacement for the disgraced "Twenty-One", the network insisted on keeping the puzzle pieces under high security, attaching them only to the trilons as needed. [cite web
url=http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/concentration/index.html
title=Concentration ... through the decades
author=David P. Johnson
accessdate=2008-03-22]Trilons also showed the categories on the original "Pyramid" series, the first-season
Street Smarts episodes. The letter squares on the old "Wheel of Fortune" letter board used trilons until 1997. The wheel itself also used trilons until 2007.Fact|date=July 2008 The entire game board on the original "Family Feud " was one large trilon through 1994, as was the board used in the Hidden Pictures rounds on the syndicated version of the Nickelodeon game show "Finders Keepers". The second rounds (Jailtime Challenges) of every "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" episode featured 15 places of the location that the second round took place, represented by trilons. Trilons are still being used on several "The Price is Right " pricing games, such asBarker's Bargain Bar andOne Away .Trilons were temperamental and labor-intensive, so were largely replaced by on-set television monitors, as on "
Jeopardy! ". [cite web
url=http://wat.midco.net/jvipond/gameshow/conc-board.html
title=Concentration: How the board worked
author=James Vipond
accessdate=2008-03-22]Trilons have been used in roadside billboards. Many long, thin trilons are placed side-by-side in the frame, and periodically rotate simultaneously to cycle the billboard through three separate signs.
References
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