The best color sets in the '50's

[Telecolor 3007]

@yagasoga: sometimes, at tv sets that are having protection glass, when you take a picture from the screen the image can turn blue because of that protection glass.

[yagosaga]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

@yagasoga: sometimes, at tv sets that are having protection glass, when you take a picture from the screen the image can turn blue because of that protection glass.

Maybe. When I looked from the top on the screen, the picture is green-blue colored. But in this case here I think it's a question of color balance (B-Y vs. G-Y). When I have fixed the horizontal high current problem I will do the color adjustment job. But this are all minor effects. I'm thankful that the set is working properly.
What's with you? Do you have any possibility to get an American set? For me, my first U.S. set was a General Electric Porta-color. Shipping to Europe was not expensive and the set was cheap too ($30), and I have collected my first experiences with U.S. television sets. Try to manage it and collect your experience and you can do the next step. Do you have a NTSC signal source in Romania? A SECAM to NTSC converter?

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by yagosaga

Do you have a NTSC signal source in Romania? A SECAM to NTSC converter?

Most newer DVD players can be configured to play NTSC or PAL. Usually a "setup" menu item. Then you'll need a TV modulator to put the DVD output on a TV channel. American TV sets expect the video to have max RF energy on the sync tips and minimum on peak white, AM mode. The sound is on a 4.5 MHz FM subcarrier.

[yagosaga]

RF modulator are on ebay:

http://search.ebay.com/rf-modulator_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

Good experience I had with the Jensen modulator. U.S. modulators have Channel 3 or 4 output, European have UHF output. But it is much better to choose a VHF output, color is not drifting away with this.
I don't know the powerline voltage, perhaps a transformer for 115 VAC is necessary (minimum 500 Watts for old tube tv's, for a Porta-color 200 Watts are enough). And 75 Ohms to 300 Ohms transformers are neccesary too for old tv's. These are the "basics" for operating U.S. tv sets.

[Telecolor 3007]

@yagasoga. Gettin' my hands on an U.S.A. all-tube color tv is one of my big dreams. But I need $$. How much was the shipping to Germany?
A dumb guy throu in about 1993 an b & w metallic "Zenith" from the '50's, modified to work in the Romanian sistem.
We don't have any N.T.S.C. sistem in Ro. The majority of the D.V.D.'s work only in P.A.L./SECAM. My "vinatge" V.C.R. ("Panasonic" NV-630PX) plays/records in N.T.S.C. 3.58.
Off topic: where I can find some old cheap cells phones like these (in good condition)
www.samlaren.org/telefon
http://www.rigpix.com/mobphoneana/mobphoneana.htm
I own an 1994 "Nokia" 2010 in working condition (the battery is broken, and the only battery I found was Made in China-maybe you know where I can find one).

[oldtvman]

after the introduction of the ct100 most manufacturers bought and installed rca chassis in their few color offerings.

[oldtvman]

as a young tech in the sixties, I vividly remember (no pun intended) the color on such shows as bonanza, the virginian, saturday night at the movies as all having color quality that would make your jaw drop. In most cases i don't see that same quality of broadcast today. just quantity

[bgadow]

Many of today's shows are dark looking and do not catch the eye. Many of the 60s shows use almost cartoonish color, to show off your new color set, and it is a pleasant effect. I haven't watched much of Bonanza but it helped sell a lot of color sets, I think. RCA used it a lot in advertising and I saw an old home movie, taken by a distant relative in the early 60s, showing off their color set. The show they picked to show snippets of were Bonanza, Disney & the Tonight show. Color was a big deal! Today I get the feeling that some tv producers just don't give a hoot. There are exceptions, though off hand I have trouble coming up with one! Well, there is that weird kids show on CBS Saturday morning...

[oldtvman]

i totally agree with rvonse. i dont think that any set had anything up on the rca color sets as far as picture quality. zenith always had orangey reds as did the motorola sets. rca had the most natural color and best overall picture quality.

If I recall correctly, Star Trek won an Emmy for their lighting (if nothing else!). Talk about yer lollipop color! LOL

Anthony

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally Posted by oldtvman

i totally agree with rvonse. i dont think that any set had anything up on the rca color sets as far as picture quality. zenith always had orangey reds as did the motorola sets. rca had the most natural color and best overall picture quality.

As a kid hanging around the dept. stores' TV departments while my mom shopped I remember that the RCA sets always looked the best to me. The other sets always looked "off" colorwise. Of course maybe the sales guys had an agenda or something and did it on purpose, I dunno. Strange what we remember...

[Telecolor 3007]

The colours where more real back then because they used tubes!

[NIPPERTHEDOG]

the ct-100 is supposed to have best picture due to rare earth phoshpors not in any other set. Yagosaga has some awesome pictures and tech info!!! Older sets can give accurate color rendition, as long as you have patience to work out all bugs in set & have good equipent for all convergence/setup adjustments.

[frenchy]

So where can one see these Pictures and tech info? thanks!
Frenchy

[old_tv_nut]

Slight reverse to what you said - The CT-100 had non-rare-earth phosphors which matched the NTSC specs. The major difference form modern sets is the "true green" Willemite P1 phosphor. For this reason, the CT-100 color rendition is "standard" but rather dim. Later, with the introduction of sulfide green (more yellowish) and then rare earth reds, the pictures got much brighter - but compensation had to be made in the color matrix in the receiver, which cannot be accurate over the full range of colors due to the non-linearity of the CRT ("gamma"). (Generally, to get the correct flesh tones, saturated reds get brightened and cyans get darkened, and hue errors get pushed to less critical colors like purples and magentas.)

Present cameras may have been pushed towards being suitable for "SMPTE C" standard phosphors (which include sulfide green and rare earth red) to some extent, even though they are used for NTSC sources. In the PAL specs, they got out of this mess by specifying NTSC electrical matrixing for the R-Y and B-Y, but camera characteristics (including any electrical matrixing before gamma correction) for slightly different sulfide green and rare earth red phosphors. The result is that colors are reproduced correctly, but some saturated cyan colors are outside the reproducible range. for example, the Newport cigarette package. (But of course, that can't be advertised on TV in the US anyway.)

Now HDTV specs everywhere are following esentially the PAL procedure, but with again slightly different primary colors. The result is that color in HD is much more predictable and correct than in NTSC. The HD specs have even been adopted as "sRGB", a default color space for digital still cameras