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Early Color TV Experimentation in Cleveland-September 1951

T

Tim L

I recently began a new Internet Project-A Message Board for Vintage Cleveland TV/Radio..Yesterday I found some News Articles/ads regarding The first Color TV experiments in Cleveland September 29-30, 1951. CBS aired the Cal-Penn College Football Game from Philadelphia on WEWS Channel 5 Cleveland using the "CBS" Color system..

http://clevelandmedia.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=41

First:ads and disclaimers..Second: A Cleveland Plain Dealer Front Page review of the proceedings..
 
Amazing that they would stiff their regular viewers and forego that revenue
in order to broadcast an experimental picture to four receivers.
 
There probably wasnt that much revenue to lose, since TV was still in its infancy, especially Saturday afternoons..Reading the statement from Channel 5 between the lines, they were not real confident that the CBS Color System would last long..

The FCC should have adopted the RCA Color system sooner..Color TV would have taken off sooner, and the 3 networks would have gone all color much earlier..
 
Tim L .......not sure that RCA had fully developed "compatible color" in 1951. RCA was publicizing their intentions in 1951 but the finished product was not yet ready.
 
W2JUV_AL said:
Tim L .......not sure that RCA had fully developed "compatible color" in 1951. RCA was publicizing their intentions in 1951 but the finished product was not yet ready.
Click to expand...

Indeed, that's why the FCC adopted CBS color: they didn't have a ready system from RCA/CTS/others. (there were several similar systems on the table)

That said, the other systems' proponents felt they were pretty close. (hence the "considerable controversy" mentioned in WEWS' ad) Compatible color was not a pipe dream in 1951.

The newspaper article mentions limitations resulting from the spinning color wheel, limiting the size of the color TV display. I've read a story -- not certain of its validity -- regarding a demonstration of a large-screen CBS color set in a FCC hearing room. The story has it that the large motor necessary to spin the large color wheel drew so much current it blew the fuse driving the AC outlets in the room.
 
In looking over some articles in relation to the post, I read that NBC/RCA tried to put a quick demonstration together for the FCC, but it failed miserably, Hence CBS getting the ok..I also read that at some point, RCA tried to give (or sell) CBS the technology for their color system, but CBS refused it..
 
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