|
A little research helped me narrow down my first color viewing experience. It was in the early '60's, probably 1961-1963. We went over to my dad's best friends house and watched Disney's "The Wonderful World of Color".
Macon, GA had only one local TV station which was a CBS affiliate that did not have the capability of broadcasting in color. The closest stations that could broadcast in color were in Atlanta, 85 miles north, making Macon in the "deep fringe" range. Reception was spotty at best and required a rotating antenna mounted high in a tree or on a tower. WSB-TV, channel 2, had the best reception since it was at a lower frequency and had a powerful transmitter. Luckily they were an NBC affiliate, which had the most color programming. The Wonderful World of Color moved to NBC in 1961.
Color TV's were very expensive and when viewed as a percentage of family income even large LCD flat panel TV's are a bargain. My dad's best friend had a habit of spending too much money on electronic toys. He was an early stereo adopter and owned McIntosh and Bozak equipment.
I ended up working at the local TV station just after they started color broadcasting. They had an old DuMont transmitter that they converted to color. They also converted an old RCA tube quad VTR to color. They bought one Philips color camera and for over a year all local shows were with one camera!
I love HDTV. When I was a boy I never dreamed I'd someday own a home projection system that would allow me to watch a 120" image that rivals or in some ways surpasses the quality of image at the local movie theater. I paid $700 for my projector. A Westinghouse color TV cost $1295 in 1954, more than $10k in today's money.
|