Mark Thorson wrote:

> Gregory Morrow wrote:
> >
> > Mark Thorson wrote:
> >
> > > Nancy Young wrote:
> > > >
> > > > They are idiots. Beating us over the head about the date,
> > > > then changing it at the last second. How about just going
> > > > ahead with it, and let people apply for a rebate after the
> > > > fact? Figure it out!
> > >
> > > Could be worse. When color was introduced, they first went
> > > with the CBS color system which allowed existing black-and-
> > > white sets to be upgraded to color. Then later the same
> > > year (1950), they reversed that decision and went with
> > > the incompatible RCA color system, which is the system used
> > > to the present day.
> >
> > IIRC wasn't it the other way around? After the CBS color system was
> > announced "General" David Sarnoff, the head of RCA/NBC, went to Congress
and
> > the media crying about the cost of everyone having to buy a new set in
order
> > to receive color broadcasts if the CBS standard was adopted.. Sarnoff
>
> No, CBS color would retrofit the old sets with
> a color wheel. RCA color would require sets
> with color picture tubes to receive color.


Yeah, that's it, the "color wheel" thing...


> > touted his RCA "compatible color" system (which was somewhat inferior to
the
> > CBS system, despite ithe CBS color having some mechanical parts IIRC and
> > thus not fully "electronic"), the powers - that - be reversed their
ruling,
> > and the RCA system was it...color TV was then introduced in late 1954 (a
set
>
> RCA color was vastly superior. CBS used
> "frame sequential" color, in which each
> successive frame was a different color.
> This produced a distracting artifact,
> in which moving objects would leave behind
> a multicolor trail of red, greed, and blue
> afterimages.


One of the reasons why color TV really didn't take off for a decade or so.
When you bought an early color TV, the joke was that you had to buy a
service technician along with it to service the monster...

The Europeans learned from our clumsy mistakes and developed the superior
PAL and SECAM color tv systems when they went color in the late 60's...


--
Best
Greg