Could NTSC VIR = PAL

[Robert Grant]

That (as well as saturation control) was the idea.

It was not at all the same system as PAL, in which the red-minus-white (R-Y) switched with each horizontal scanning line. In NTSC with VIR, every line of the actual picture was transmitted exactly as had been done for the coverage of the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade. The difference was one line in the vertical retrace interval, a consistent reference signal the a TV set would use to automatically set the hue and saturation perfectly - to the Vertical Interval Reference - VIR.

I really don't know why it didn't catch on. I can only wonder if its promotor wanted too much money for the patent royalty? was the inventor an outsider? (see interval windshield wipers), did TV manufacturers believe their products produced fine color anyway?, was NTSC color reliable enough by the time VIR came around that setting the dials just once was enough to assure good color? Did the entertainment industry want any improvement in picture quality to be tied to selective availability and copy blocking?