Wikipedia states 1967 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_color_television_i n_countries) but system not approved until 1970s Labor Govt:scratch2:

Someone over at http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=6 will know. That forum is the Aussie version of VideoKarma, though less traffic.

Thanks for link

The information on that Wikipeadia link is misleading.

It does correctly state the official start date of colour as March 1 1975.

While colour transmissions occurred before this date they were not intended for large scale public viewing.

How would New Zealanders feel now hearing "Australia beat them to Color" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_color_television_i n_countries)?

This is a Propaganda Porky worthy of Kim Jong-un.

Amazing there was about a 15 year lag from the color heyday of the early 60s in the US to 1975 in another country. Wow.

Couple interesting dates so far, if they can be believed...

Cuba: color in 1959, resumed in 1975!

North Korea has color TV for years before South Korea!?

Really makes you want to see some of the old sets in far-off nations that used NTSC color early on, when the US made color TV sets instead of simply drooling in front of them.

I really got a kick out of that color tv introduction list. How some countries did not have color TV until the 80s..is amazing to me.

While [1967] colour transmissions occurred before this date they were not intended for large scale public viewing.

Not the commencement of service.
Someone needs to FIX (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_co lor_television_in_countries&action=edit) that Wiki entry.

Not the commencement of service.
Someone needs to FIX (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_co lor_television_in_countries&action=edit) that Wiki entry.

Anyone can, but be sure to quote a good reference to back up your edits, say a book about Aussie television, magazine article from the day, or newspaper. A reference good enough to use in a term paper in college. Maybe the Aussie FCC web page says something.

Couple interesting dates so far, if they can be believed...

Cuba: color in 1959, .

When you click the DATE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_color_television_i n_countries), you can see ascending chronological order:
Cuba 1958, NTSC for instance.

Then there is the "1st PAL country: Australia June 1967:bs:
Wow, 2 Months ahead of Germany, inventor of PAL :saywhat:

Australia didnt get color until 1975

There were a few test transmissions done by ATV0 in the late 60's, but this was NTSC broadcast using a camera borrowed from the states - it would not have been viewable or compatible with any of the equipment


There were also color demos at the royal melbourne show around the same time, but these were closed circuit and not aired.

We were to go with PAL in 69/70 around the time the british did, but it was delayed and delayed by the government, until the official start date in early 1975.

Most videotape machines were color capable and some broadcasts prior to the official date were possibly color, but they got into trouble many times so were forced to kill the color signal at the transmitter.

There were however very few models of cameras prior to 1974 in australia, most cameras were still monochrome image orthicon models up until 75, most stations ordered in color cameras around 1974, and the release of the models used here usually co-incides with that date.

Wikipeadia link is misleading.

.

I suppose it could be easily edited, but I'm having way too much fun
with this Outrageous Antipodean Rodomontade ;)

There's a number of statements online that cite Cuba having NTSC on CH12. Since they were supplied by RCA it wouldn't be inconceivable.

Austvarchive mentions in his posting of 11 May 2013 that there were demonstrations of Colour Television at the Royal Melbourne Show in the early 1960's I saw my first colour TV there in about 1967. I would have been about eight at the time.

From memory, a single colour TV was set-up in the window of a building with people queuing up outside to view it. The crowd was immense. I was sitting on my dad's shoulders to see over the mass of people. After quite a long time, we got close enough to see the TV from a distance.

I still remember the single image that was being displayed on it at the time. There was a white building on a gentle up-hill slope, with a brilliant blue sky above, and the greenest of green lawn in front. This image is burnt into my memory so strongly because I couldn't believe that we had waited so long just to see a picture of a building.

Years later, I believe that this was a picture of Parliament house in Canberra. Perhaps there are others who were there who can give further information.

I guess this is what is called living history, because, I was there.

Wayne

As it's been mentioned 1st March 1975 was the official opening date for colour television in Australia and adding to that ALL programs were made in colour from that day forth. All TV stations in Australia had colour cameras outfitted in their studios leading up to the official opening date. From then on only programs shown in B&W were reruns of older programs made prior to colour.

Of course colour television experimentation in Australia date back to the very early 60s.

From what I learned, the earliest use of colour over here I know of is in 1960 St Vincent Hospital Melbourne got themselves Marconi BD848 colour camera (like the RCA TK-41) from Smith, Kline & French company for closed circuit colour monitoring of surgery on patients. A photo of the camera in action can be seen here http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/nmets.do?DOCCHOICE=2913148.xml&dvs=1368960224301~909&locale=en_US&search_terms=&adjacency=&divType=&usePid1=true&usePid2=true .

Then around 1963/64 EMI 204 vidicon colour cameras were used to demonstrate colour television at Sydney Showgrounds.

There has also been some colour television experimentation going on at amateur television stations during the mid/late 60s as well, most notably at an amateur TV station in South Australia. One of my contacts who was part of that station actually built a field sequential colour television system a bit like CBS's having a colour wheel in front of an image orthicon camera and one in front of a B&W monitor, also he built a 3 tube colour vidicon camera and a colour telecine of similar nature. He kindly sent me a film compile of various footage of the station from that era and I've uploaded it to YouTube for all to see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbAhNpHOXg4 in the film footage you'll see the colour telecine in action displaying Goofy "Motor Mania" cartoon.

In 1967 a RCA TK-42 was brought to ATV-0 in Australia to televise the Pakenham horse races which the picture was broadcasted in B&W but viewed in NTSC colour on the control room monitors. Details of this even can be seen in RCA Broadcast News issue 138 starting at page 32 http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-138.pdf .

In 1968 HSV-7 did a PAL colour demonstration at the Royal Melbourne Show using I guess Philips LDK3 plumbicon colour cameras, the demonstration fortunately survives on colour videotape and excerpts of it can be seen on YouTube in the following links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjiAprY1JuU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaZivUNdtbc .

And other colour demonstrations were made during the late 60s and colour videotapings were made of some shows in the early 70s as well.

Colour broadcasts actually began on an experimental sporadic basis starting around 19th October 1974 up to the official switch over date of 1st March 1975.

...this was NTSC broadcast using a camera borrowed from the states ..

But Wikipedia says this "First broadcast" of Australian color was "PAL" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_introduction_of_color_television_i n_countries)

And Broadcast News article (http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-138.pdf) says camera was integrated into broadcast chain to sub for failed ATV-0 camera (a CCIR TK-60?)

And they were able to "compare its color + B&W image" on racetrack control room monitors.

But the B&W monitors were not dual standard back then? (but may have locked up
in 525/60 monochrome tuning the wide range H & V Hold knobs?
(with lots of dotcrawl shifting Gamma:D)(no notch filter)

Then on-sight RCA man says "this is as good as any color back home" implying NTSC
(Apples-to-apples comparison - not apples-to-oranges NTSC/PAL)

However, article implies Dual Standard scan TK-42 (http://tvcameramuseum.org/rca/tk42/tk42brochure.pdf) image integrated into 625/50 broadcast using its luminance only signal?
But color viewed only as far as studio by 20-mi μwave link. So really closed circuit
as very doubtful ABCB authorized color broadcast?
But chroma & burst may have been sneaked to air, risking heavy fine & banishment to Port Arthur, Tasmania

Colour was introduced into New Zealand in 1973 and went to air in 1974 for the commonwealth games.

New Zealand Colour .. went to air in 1974 .

Australia was handed a sound technological thrashing back then
Just like with the more recent Rugby World Cup :thmbsp: