what is an early color television - a definition????

[ceebee23]

Folks,

This forum is about early color television but given that analog broadcasting is ending soon everywhere and that CRT televisions are getting rarer and rarer what do you guys consider early... pre 1970 ...only roundies? only tube based sets?

I have a large screen LCD HD set for my main use, a late 90s cheapo 21" for use in the spare room (actually seems to be a Toshiba inside) and a 1976 Sony 18" for occasional use.

Soon the 21" will be a decade old... and CRTs a thing of the past.... mmm makes you pause and consider what that really means!

[drh4683]

It seems like most TV collectors consider "early color TV" pre 1965 and I agree with this. Some people consider this too new. I think there are a number of collectors who's cut off line is anything newer than about 1960 or so. Color TV really started to take off in sales in the mid 60's so I would guess that having a color TV from the mid to late 60's wasnt really considered a novelty as much as it would have been in the 50's. This makes "early color TV" a bit more special I guess. Thats just my opinion though.

I think most participating members would like to see discussions pertaining to nothing newer than 1965 models. This would be for USA made TVs of course as I understand europe and australia started color TV transmissions at a much later time.

[MRX37]

I've come to think that any color roundie fits the definition.

[mr_fixer]

Originally Posted by MRX37

I've come to think that any color roundie fits the definition.

Ditto

[yagosaga]

Hi,

here in Europe, every rectangular color tv set from 1967 though 1972 might be considered as very "early color TV". They are much rarer than b/w tv sets from the 1950's. And here in Europe, from all the countries, such old color tv sets only exist in UK, Germany and in France. In France, they are practically unavailable. Most of the countries in Europe got color tv later than 1967.

- Eckhard

[ceebee23]

Folks, the Australian experience is much the same as Europe.... we got colour broadcasting in 1975 (yes ... 22 years after US color TV broadcasting began) so with the exception of a minute number of sets imported for testing, the earliest sets here date from 1974 or 1975.

I have yet to see a roundie here.

So for us "early colour" has to be anything from the 70s!

[drh4683]

Eckhard and others,

Perhaps you have seen this video but I though it was good peice of history. This is a clip of Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra recorded live on TV. This broadcast was live on August 26, 1967 and was Germany's second day of color TV broadcasting. This broadcast was to showcase the new color TV technology. Be sure to read the posters description of the video. This would be good to watch on the early German TV. Bert Kaempfert was very popular in USA at this time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HKdcMYRhUeA

[oldtvman]

Philco used the round crt technology until around 1970, and some of those sets were hybrid technology, I agree with Doug, I would say anything up through 1964, after that the rectangular crt's were coming in big and manufacturers only sold round tube models to get rid of old inventory.

But for most of us the fifties was the age of wonder, when color tv was the future at hand. Although most people were scared away by the high prices, the sets themselves were capable of producing excellent pictures for the most part.

[yagosaga]

Originally Posted by drh4683

Eckhard and others, Perhaps you have seen this video but I though it was good piece of history. This is a clip of Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra recorded live on TV. This broadcast was live on August 26, 1967 and was Germany's second day of color TV broadcasting. This broadcast was to showcase the new color TV technology. Be sure to read the posters description of the video. This would be good to watch on the early German TV.

drh4683: This is a wellknown video foir me! I have a video of this early color broadcast which I recorded on Aug. 26th, 1997 on the 30. anniversary of PAL color television. I have placed the beginning of this broadcast on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11XMda-7pMA

and you can also watch the start of German color television here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Ci9MjybjA

In both cases, the broadcasts were displayed on the first German color tv sets from 1967.

- Eckhard

[gadget73]

If it doesn't have tubes in it, I wouldn't consider it early. Hybrid sets are a grey area.

[Sandy G]

I still have trouble understanding why Germany, Australia, UK, et al were so late to the color parade...It wasn't like it was a top secret or anything...I don't buy the story about there not being enuff TVs either, except MAYBE in Australia...

[ceebee23]

Folks, the reason colour was delayed in OZ was that the government didn't want to spend money to update its own broadcasting network and the development of improved colour systems in the form of SECAM and PAL meant that someone had to decide on standards. We had colour test from the late 50s.

When colour did arrive the take up rate was phenomenal. Within 12 months of the introduction of colour 65% plus of homes had colour television.

This was the fastest colour take up anywhere and far greater than expected.

I suspect because the the difference between colour and black and white was so great and out television stations were broadcasting 100% in colour and of course by 1975 all the bugs had been ironed out in the sets themselves. Almost no sets released in Oz had tubes ...a few hybrids but most sets were 100% transistor or IC based.

[electroking]

This brings a question regarding the U.S. market: what was the first year
in which sales of color sets exceeded sales of B&W sets? I don't have any
idea, does anybody know?

[Oldstuff78]

I think what people think as early color TV will vary. Having been born in 1978,I tend to think anything made before 1970 as being a classic, but a lot of people will disagree with that.

A lot of homes didn't have color TV until the 70's and even the 80's. I grew up during the 80's and remember going to peoples houses that still had b&w sets.

My parents didn't have a color set until they got married in 1971. My Mom says she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw color TV.

I was recently watching a 1969 episode of Love American Style and there was a segment where a guy talks about inviting a girl up to his apartment to see color TV and that she had never seen it before. He was lying to get her up to his place and only had a B&W set from the early 50's. Even then Color TV was a novelty.

I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder of what designates a Early color set. I think most peoples ideas come from their life experiences and what was happening in technology while they were growing up.

I have a 1969 Sylvania Hybrid and I think of it as a classic, but most would not.

[ceebee23]

re Sandy's comment about why Oz and others were late to the color party ... one little known factoid about OZ colour is that under the terms of the licencing to use the PAL system (there were patents owned by Telefunken) only sets made in Australia or Europe were to be allowed for the first few years.

BUT by a fluke GE had cross patent agreements with Telefunken and GE in turn allowed the big Japanese and Korean players into the market. The effect was cheaper sets and more competition.

To be fair the OZ and Euro sets were in most instances better than their cheap Asian competitors (the exception being Sony). But the Asian companies tended to service the 14" - 20" market whilst the big European and Australian companies (yes we made sets here) tended to be 22" plus.

In fact for several years Sony's only set here was an 18" model.