they could safely operate, and also reduced the power dissipation of the filament. Miniature tubes became predominant in consumer applications such as radio receivers and hi-fi amplifiers. However, the larger older styles continued to be used especially as higher-power rectifiers, in higher-power audio output stages and as transmitting tubes. Sub-miniature tubes Sub-miniature tubes with a size roughly that of half a cigarette were used in consumer applications as hearing-aid amplifiers. These tubes did not have pins plugging into a socket but were soldered in place. The "acorn tube" (named due to its shape) was also very small, as was the metal-cased RCA nuvistor from 1959, about the size of a thimble. The nuvistor was developed to compete with the early transistors and operated at higher frequencies than those early transistors could. The small size supported especially high-frequency operation; nuvistors were used in aircraft radio transceivers, UHF television tuners, and some HiFi FM radio tuners (Sansui 500A) until replaced by high-frequency capable transistors. Improvements in construction and performance The earliest vacuum tubes strongly resembled incandescent light bulbs and were made by lamp manufacturers, who had the equipment needed to manufacture glass envelopes and the vacuum pumps required to evacuate the enclosures. de Forest used Heinrich Geissler's mercury displacement pump, which left behind a partial vacuum. The development of the diffusion pump in 1915 and improvement by Irving Langmuir led to the development of high-vacuum tubes. After World War I, specialized manufacturers using more economical construction methods were set up to fill the growing demand for broadcast receivers. Bare tungsten filaments operated at a temperature of around 2200 °C. The development of oxide-coated filaments in the mid-1920s reduced filament operating temperature to a dull red heat (around 700 °C), which in turn reduced thermal distortion of the tube structure and allowed closer spacing of tube elements. This in turn improved tube gain, since the gain of a triode is inversely proportional to the spacing between grid and cathode. Bare tungsten filaments remain in use in small transmitting tubes but are brittle and tend to fracture if handled roughly—e.g. in the postal services. These tubes are best suited to stationary equipment where impact and vibration is not present. Indirectly heated cathodes The desire to power electronic equipment using AC mains power faced a difficulty with respect to the powering of the tubes' filaments, as these were also the cathode of each tube. Powering