Discover the history of color television and when it first appeared. Explore the evolution of color TV technology and its impact on the way we watch television today.
The first public colour broadcast took place in 1951 in New York, carried out by technicians from the American network CBS.
Before then, many tests were carried out. In 1929, the beginning of colour television was started based on the three primary colours, although this technology was very complicated for the time. The tests were carried out in the USA with three black and white picture tubes and a rotating disk with red, green and blue colour sectors. Experiments continued until that first broadcast. It arrived in Europe from 1962, and in Spain a little later.
In 1969, TVE began broadcasting in PAL format, which technically allowed it to transmit programmes in colour. However, due to the lack of the necessary infrastructure, colour broadcasting would be delayed for a few years. Although TVE’s first major colour production took place in 1969 during the Eurovision Song Contest, the broadcast in Spain and the copy in RTVE’s archive were made in black and white due to the lack of modern equipment.
Between 1969 and 1972, some colour productions were made using film cameras, but only sporadically. It was in 1972 that the first colour cameras and video recorders were incorporated, marking the beginning of a mixed programming that included programmes in both colour and black and white .
On September 16, 1972, TVE premiered its first self-produced program recorded in color, Divertido siglo , a humorous-musical program directed by Fernando García de la Vega . Although it was not very well received, it marked a milestone in the transition to completely color programming. The definitive elimination of black and white broadcasts did not occur until 1977, coinciding with the restoration of democracy in Spain.
The channel for colour transmissions, when used by colour receivers, would appear to be affected by mutual interference between the luminance and chrominance components, since these occupy a portion of the channel in common Such interference is avoided by the fact that the chrominance subcarrier component is i igidly timed to the scanning motions.
The luminance signal, as it occupies the channel, is actually concentrated in a multitude of small spectrum Segments, by virtue of the periodicities associated with the scanning process Between these segments are empty channel spaces of approximately equal size.
The U.S. colour svstem has been adopted by Canada, Mexico, Japan and several other countries In Europe two alternative systems have been developed and introduced The PAI (phase alternation line) system has been adopted in the United Kingdom and most of the,countries on the Continent France, however, has adopted the SK( AM (system electronique couleur avec memoire) system.
The PAI and SECAM systems embody the same principles as the U S system including matters affecting compatibility and the use of a separate signal to carry the colour information at low detail superimposed on the high-detail luminance signal.
The PAL and SECAM systems are inherently less affected by phase errors In the PAL and SECAM systems, the nominal value of t ie chrominance signal is 4.43+ megahertz, a frequency that is derived from and hence accurately synchronized with the frame-scanning and line- scanning rates This chrominance signal is accommodated within the six-megahertz range of the fully- transmitted side band By virtue of its synchronism with the line and frame scanning rates, its frequency components are interleaved with those of the luminance signal, so that the chrominance information does not affect reception of colour broadcasts by black-and-white receivers.