Quote:
Originally Posted by cbenham
Also, Sarnoff was so firmly determined to make color television compatible that he overlooked the unintended consequence of his desire:
People with B&W sets could watch color programs without spending $$$$ to
see it. The result of compatibility is that the uptake for color dragged on for 20 years before all the networks were broadcasting full time in color and the sales of color sets took over 10 years to reach the goal Sarnoff had set in 1954.
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If I 'm not mistaken, B&W compatibility was not necessarily a result of any grand vision that the General may have had... I think it was (at least an unstated) requirement from the Federal regulators that were going to approve the new standard. Maybe it's just hindsight, but it would seem logical that any system that allowed for cross-viewing would have an edge, given that it was inclusive of the families that had already made the then-considerable investment in purchasing B&W TV sets.
- Kevin