July 1954 Pop Sci

[old_tv_nut]

Scans of article on "ABC's of Color Television" now posted at blind link

http://www.bretl.com/ps754/ps754.htm

I haven't seen this one elsewhere. The pictures show some CBS color operations (including one of Mike Wallace) + NBC + Westinghouse color receiver factory.


Caution - the scans of pages with photos are very large (see size at bottom of thumbnail).

[Pete Deksnis]

Wonder if that guy on the horse is Gene Autry who was in town October 8, 1953 for a live CBS NTSC color broadcast. Here's the photo added to a page on my site speculating about the possibility. Comments please.

http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/potpou...d_Sullivan.htm

[Steve McVoy]

Here is the gadget that CBS used to produce NTSC from its field sequential cameras:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/chromacoder.html

[Pete Deksnis]

Thanks, Steve. I recall seeing the Chromacoder page in the past. It pretty much brings things full circle: the 8x10's and captions are from the Press Kit distributed to the invited guests who watched the CBS broadcast that day at the Waldorf-Astoria. The date on the press kit is the key: 10-8-53, the same day as the CBS broadcast.

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

Wonder if that guy on the horse is Gene Autry who was in town October 8, 1953 for a live CBS NTSC color broadcast. Here's the photo added to a page on my site speculating about the possibility. Comments please.

http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/potpou...d_Sullivan.htm

Hey Pete,

Certainly could be Gene Autry & Champion. More interesting, to me, is the straight from the RCA catalog mobile truck with a strange (not the normal CBS eye) logo next to RCA's copywrited scripted word "Television" as used on all RCA video equipment. Nice touch with the offical CBS EYE on the microwave dish. CBS did not like to depend on RCA for any video equipment, including the converted TK-30 Chromacoder cameras.

-Steve D.

[Sandy G]

Have any of us ever talked to someone who was there "back in the day" when color TV first hit the streets in 1953-54 ? A dealer, technician, someone who took the plunge & bought one of these jewels ? Would be interesting to get their perspective on things...-Sandy G.

[Steve McVoy]

I notice that CBS built their own cameras for their 1941 demo:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/cbs_1941_report.html

How far back did CBS use RCA cameras for their color demos? I wonder why CBS didn't use GE or DuMont cameras, both of which would have worked just as well as the RCA stuff.

[Steve D.]

Steve,

I guess the answer to CBS using their own in house equipment for prewar color demos would be CBS's head of research Peter Goldmark. Goldmark and his CBS engineering staff designed and built the color equipment at a time when television broadcasting was just in it's infancy. William Paley, head of CBS, thought he could jump start tv with an early introduction of color. CBS did purchase and use RCA iconoscope b&w cameras for their pre-war tv broadcasts. CBS also used RCA b&w tv gear during the postwar years. CBS, I believe, continued to employ their prewar color equipment for a short time after the war. The sequence of CBS color in this period is well documented on Ed Reitan's site: Early Color Television Studio Facilities
http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/studios.html
Including the FCC approved 1951 field sequential broadcasts. After this failed attempt at color broadcasting, CBS continued in 1953 with a modified RCA TK-30 field sequential to NTSC hybrid, called Chromecoder, to produce an NTSC compatible color picture. When this proved impractical, CBS reluctantly purchased in 1954, an all electronic RCA TK-40 color camera. Shortly thereafter the Chromacoder system was discontinued and additional RCA color cameras were purchased. A bitter pill for Willam Paley to swallow. I don't believe DuMont ever offered a true broadcast color camera (search: "Vitascan") and GE's color equipment may have trailed RCA both in availabiity and quality. Comments and corrections certainly welcome.

-Steve D.

[Steve McVoy]

Thanks, Steve, for that very thorough summary.

My question about why CBS didn't use DuMont or GE cameras related to conversion of black and white cameras to field sequential. Both DuMont and GE made black and white cameras after the war which could have been modified with color wheels just like the TK-30. I don't know anything about the quality of these cameras compared to the RCA - maybe that was the reason. Or, maybe there were physical problems with modifying them that made the TK-30 a better choice.

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Have any of us ever talked to someone who was there "back in the day" when color TV first hit the streets in 1953-54 ? A dealer, technician, someone who took the plunge & bought one of these jewels ? Would be interesting to get their perspective on things...-Sandy G.

In 2004, I was lucky enough to have spoken to a second person who watched the January 1, 1954 Rose Bowl parade. He is A. C. Doernbach, a Philco dealer from New Jersey, and one of the group of invited Philco employees and dealers who gathered at a Philco plant in Philadelphia to witness color-TV history on a single Philco-designed 15-inch color prototype. Unfortunately, he didn’t recall too much more, other than the families were also invited and food was served at the occasion. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a link to my earlier account, including a picture of the Philco color prototype from that time restored by Chuck Azzalina:
http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/tapestry/tapestry.htm

[Steve D.]

Pete & Sandy,

I was 10 years old in 1954. I remember quite well standing in front of a Hollywood area TV dealer's display window and watching, with my dad, a large console tv with a small screen displaying a color picture. Wow! I even recall the program. It was "Life with Father." A CBS live color telecast originating from CBS TV City just a few blocks away. I later learned that this program was the first West to East live color broadcast by CBS.

-Steve D.