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Old 12-13-2017, 09:11 PM
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Example of TK-41 state of the art, December 1968

The Dean Martin Christmas show, 1968.

Good color, one of the funniest Bob Newhart sketches ever, and just in time for the season now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LHl0zf09pE

The bit rate is reasonably high so no huge coding errors. My only complaint would be that the coding for YouTube has converted it to progressive scan with jaggies on motion.
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Old 12-13-2017, 09:39 PM
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Example of TK-41 state of the art, December 1968

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Originally Posted by old_tv_nut View Post
The Dean Martin Christmas show, 1968.



Good color, one of the funniest Bob Newhart sketches ever, and just in time for the season now:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LHl0zf09pE



The bit rate is reasonably high so no huge coding errors. My only complaint would be that the coding for YouTube has converted it to progressive scan with jaggies on motion.


Great color from those old TK-41’s. I’m always fascinated when I see vintage color shows like this. Thanks for sharing.

Last edited by Retspin; 12-13-2017 at 09:45 PM.
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Old 12-13-2017, 09:43 PM
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I was making an educated guess from the characteristics of the images that it was TK-41s (probably with upgrades to prism optics and possibly solid state pre-amps).

Maybe someone who actually knows what was used on his show at that time can tell us.
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Old 12-14-2017, 01:33 AM
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We were able to view color TV on a regular basis after August, 1966. I remember the Perry Como color shows were decidedly inferior to Andy Williams and Dean Martin/Goldiggers shows. I read that TK 41’s were used on the Como show. This Dean Martin Christmas special first aired December 19, 1968. The Martin shows aired from 1964 to 1975. I know that TK 41’s were used on the early Martin shows and in 1968, RCA introduced the TK 44A. The TK 44A was used to tape the Jerry Lewis show in Burbank and just across the hall the Martin show was also being taped.

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Old 12-14-2017, 10:52 AM
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I have to go back and look at the Dean Martin video again, but on first look no tell-tale characteristics of Plumbicons jumped out at me, although the video looked remarkably clean and noise-free, which IS a characteristic of Plumbicon cameras compared to the TK-41.
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Old 12-14-2017, 11:07 AM
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Well, I don't see any image orthicon halos and also no Plumbicon comet tails or smearing - but the video is so clean, I am changing my guess to TK-44A's on this program.
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Old 12-14-2017, 05:22 PM
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The 68 Elvis Comeback Special was done with TK-41’s, I’ve seen pictures with them in background.
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Old 12-17-2017, 10:01 PM
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The reds on video seem too good for it to be TK44's but, then again, the corner registration seems too good for it to be TK41's?
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Old 12-18-2017, 01:10 AM
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There's always the possibility that the video was tweaked with modern technology to clean it up.
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Old 12-18-2017, 10:01 AM
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Quote:
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There's always the possibility that the video was tweaked with modern technology to clean it up.
It most likely was. But the absence of both image orthicon halos and the typical motion smears and flares of Plumbicon cameras is puzzling to me. Were the RCA Plumbicon cameras that much better than the Philips?

Did this studio ever employ TK-42 (4-tube) cameras? I am not familiar with the look of video from them.
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Old 12-18-2017, 10:07 AM
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By 1964-65, the TK-41s were making pretty darn good video, but note the horizontal scan ripples and misregistration on the far left in this last tape from the New York World's Fair RCA exhibit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9Vm_peHmKg
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Old 12-18-2017, 03:26 PM
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Legend has it that NBC never bought any TK-42's or 43's. Having operated them for about 6 years I would say they made the right choice. Wait for the plumbs to show up. I would like to know when RCA put them in the development pipeline.
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Old 12-18-2017, 06:11 PM
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Quote:
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Legend has it that NBC never bought any TK-42's or 43's. Having operated them for about 6 years I would say they made the right choice. Wait for the plumbs to show up. I would like to know when RCA put them in the development pipeline.


I read on the “Eyes of a Generation” site that NBC’s Burbank studio began using TK 44A’s in 1968.
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Old 12-20-2017, 08:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by old_tv_nut View Post
Well, I don't see any image orthicon halos and also no Plumbicon comet tails or smearing - but the video is so clean, I am changing my guess to TK-44A's on this program.
-and-
old_tv_nut:"By 1964-65, the TK-41s were making pretty darn good video, but note the horizontal scan ripples and misregistration on the far left in this last tape from the New York World's Fair RCA exhibit:"

The mystery is heightened by 1968 being a release year for TK44, but NBC, most highly favored RCA customer, could have obtained earlier product? Therefore I concur with above assessments and vote for TK44's
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Old 12-20-2017, 09:43 PM
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Another characteristic of early Plumbicons was a lack of deep red response. This made them insensitive to the hemoglobin spectrum that gives Caucasian skin "rosy" cheeks and instead tended to make faces look like they had been painted a uniform color. This is characteristic of some shows I have seen. Later, special extended-red Plumbicons were developed to alleviate this problem. Amperex gave a presentation on such improvements at a conference in October of 1968, so I surmise the improved tubes were already available.

This video does not show the "painted orange skin problem." Maybe this is an indication that the RCA equivalent [I seem to recall that RCA manufactured their own version, but I may be mistaken] of the Philips Plumbicon had better deep red response as well as less motion smear; or maybe the TK-44A's NBC had were already using the improved Philips/Amperex tubes.
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