Myths about early color proven wrong

[oldtvman]

If you read articles from the time, just about every one related to early color talks about how unnatural the color looks, how hard it is to get the sets to operate property.

Based on what we've seen thru early color video as well as the very first color sets restored, it seems most of the blame lyes with uneducated consumers and poor dealer preparation. Sure the early color sets were more trouble prone, but when they worked properly and fed a good signal for the most part they produced a superior color picture. Most of the problems I think stemmed from poor antenna systems and total lack of understanding as to how to set the basic adjustments such as fine tuning contrast color and tint. Even in the 60's when I ran service call it wasn't uncommon to walk into someone's home and see a horrid picture on their new expensive color set, but once it was set up properly they suddenly started receiving the full pleasure that the set was intented to produce.

[ctc17]

I would blame the programming as well, I bet the quality was all over the place. Its amazing how well the old sets work with the modern high contrast programming when restored and everything is setup right.

[Username1]

Oldtvman you are right, and the same applies to a lot of things. Carburetors is what I thought of reading your post. Chokes made cars stall, sputter, smoke, hard to start, hard to keep running etc. Back in the days of my old '73 mustang I took off my old 2V and put on a 2700VV Veriable Venturi from ford as soon as they hit the junk yards. Properly set up our family had 2 of them, one on our NEW '79 Mercury LTD station wagon. Properly set up it got 27mpg highway on that '79. That same carb got my rustang to go from 15mpg modified standard 2V factory, to 21 Highwqay with the 2700VV. I remember how at the time people were telling me how they removed these carbs and replaced them with regular 2V carbs because "no one knows how to adjust them" It took me over a month to set this thing up for my engine the first time, but it ran like a dream once the work was done. The early tv set color or not, might need a little touch up of the fine tuning now and then. My old color sets once set up seem to work fine. I remember doing home calls and just readjusting the set, turning down the brightness, and contrast so it didn't look like a spotlight, and trimming the color to realistic levels. The funny thing was that it seemed that customers would adapt whatever I set it to. I thought that it sure seemed that a lot of people not only were not able to turn just one knob at a time and optomize just that one knob, but were unable to tune all of the knobs to create a pleasing picture for themselves. I think that in some cases the color was turned up way too high, just so the colors were easily seen. There was no mistaken' that that shirt was bright red! kinda thinkin' In the same way, I did not know anyone that did not go out and floor-it in the car right after a tune up to see if it performed better. I think people thought by flooring-it you could surely see a performance improvement over your regular daily driving when you often did not floor-it. Individual perceptions or misunderstandings of complex things, I think is why tv manufacturers adopted one button auto-color, which later faded away.

You know....... transistor bulbs. All that really needs to be said.

[ctc17]

Interesting, I went through the same whole thing with an 81 Fairmont installing 7200VV. I put the whole feedback circuit on the car and had it operating perfectly. I still have the took kit and books on that carb.
It only took me 20 minutes to get the base settings right on the dyno using the emissions analyzer at the shop.

Like with the tvs, having the right tools that are in good working order make all the difference in the world.

I suspect many of the house call techs were just tube changers with very limited knowledge and equipment. And time has proven over and over that giving the consumer any kind of adjustment ability is bad.

[Jeffhs]

One thing many early color TV owners did not realize was that the fine tuning control had to be set exactly, to get any color at all. I'm sure many repair shops' techs in the '50s-'60s made house calls on color sets which the owner stated had "no color" in the picture, only to find that the fine tuning was just a hair off. A slight tweak of the control was often all it took to convert a black-and-white picture (from a program known to be telecast in color) to full color. (Some people also had the sadly mistaken idea that programs telecast in monochrome could somehow be converted to full color if such programs were viewed on a color set, and they may have thought their sets were malfunctioning if normally b&w shows could not be made to appear in color.) The "no color" problem could also be caused by a curious set owner who somehow discovered the color killer adjustment on the rear apron of the set; the person could have turned this control so as to force the killer to operate full time, which of course would result in a loss of color on color telecasts. The technician often warned the customer against adjusting those rear-panel controls, often telling him or her that misadjustment of certain controls could damage the set; some techs (with the customer's permission) taped off the service adjustments to prevent repeat nuisance calls.

I don't think, however, that knob-fiddling (with the service controls on the back of the chassis) was anywhere near as much of a problem with heavy console color sets (such as the fabulous 3-way entertainment centers all major TV manufacturers carried in their product lines from the '50s to the '70s) as it was with table models or portables; in fact, I think it was almost nonexistent with these huge sets. Once these large consoles were installed in the customer's home, they almost always stayed in that location (unless the customer moved or the set was serviced) for years or decades, the service controls thereby being totally inaccessible to the customer.

[sampson159]

oh the calls for "no color"!fine tuning off or they had turned a control in the back.there was a myth that if you wipe the screen off it would take the color out.we once had a family that prayed to the tv.it was an idol.they were actually fun to work for.the sound went out and they thought it was a sign that they werent allowed to speak in the house.it was a philco rectangular.looneys for sure.we got many sets dropped off to us for adjustments only.no service,"just take it."my estimation is about a third.it was a great time to be in that business.

[David Roper]

Originally Posted by oldtvman

If you read articles from the time, just about every one related to early color talks about how unnatural the color looks, how hard it is to get the sets to operate properly.

Interesting, when I first started researching the subject, I was surprised how seldom these things were mentioned. In fact critic TV John Crosby called color TV "technically magnificent"--in January 1955!

it seems most of the blame lies with uneducated consumers and poor dealer preparation. Sure the early color sets were more trouble prone....

Well then there's no myth at all. You've just explained how and why early color earned its reputation. I was told by relatives that it was horrible with green faces, so bad an aunt didn't buy a color set until the late 70s. John Crosby could afford to have his CT-100 set up as well as the surviving museum pieces are; most didn't have that luxury.

[Steve McVoy]

I worked at a RCA dealership in the mid to late 50s. Though the technicians spent a lot of time trying to keep the sets on our showroom floor set up, it was an impossible job. Each network required a different hue setting. There was also variation from show to show on the same channel. Also, the color settings drifted during the day. At the end of the day each set had a different color picture.

If competent technicians couldn't keep the sets looking right, it is unreasonable to expect that customers could. The stories about "how unnatural the color looks, how hard it is to get the sets to operate properly" are absolutely accurate.

[old_tv_nut]

Having a restored CTC-5 at home has made it clear that the early sets were not at all stable with signal variations. No chroma automatic gain control to take out variations with antenna tilts, ghosts, and fine tuning adjustment - that is a very big factor. Also, the chroma and contrast controls not being ganged - every time you adjusted contrast, you had to readjust color level. Then, considering the distribution equipment was all tubes and subject to drifting, there was no hope that you could change channels and not need a color adjustment.

I also agree with the assessment that the average person could not adjust a color set. A lot of people just do not have an analytic mind that can separate out the effect of one control at a time, even though the owner's manuals gave clear instructions of what each control did, for example, giving three pictures, one with too much color, one with too little, and one that was normal. People can see when a picture isn't right, but analyzing what they are seeing is impossible for some. I'll bet everyone here has had a call from someone whose set is acting up and realized the impossibility in most cases of getting even simple questions answered about just how it's acting up.

[heathkit tv]

Another factor to the poor picture may be due to all the RFI back then. Think about how many ham operators and unshielded electric motors were in operation then.

As for the drift of settings, in the 70's I recall many ads and commercials for sets that "locked on" the signal to maintain proper color etc as you changed the channel.

Why did you guys have to bring up Variable Venturis? I still wake up in a cold sweat screaming because of those things LOL They weren't repairable in the real world as no one was willing to pay for the labor to set them up correctly. Dial indicator required for sitting a carb? Yegads. Never was a fan of old Hank's products but I did become an idiot savant with GM's feedback carbs and still have all the factory tools. Those were nearly as labor intensive but the odds of a successful and lasting repair were much much better than the VV's. I could also get rid of the morning stumble of most 70's American iron and even eliminated the left hand stall out on Thermoquads. Impressive yes? LOL

[marty59]

I would always (try to) simplify the procedure and explain color variances as well as show the customer the differences from switching between the channels and making sure the fine tuning was stable when switching back. You service guys know the routine....

Heck, some folks couldn't even adjust for a good black and white picture let alone color!

[radiotvnut]

A friend, who's father passed away in 1980, said his Dad refused to own a color TV for the exact reasons mentioned above. His Mother, who lived until the late '80's, was the same way.

When I first started picking up used TV's to fix and sell, back around 1990, I had no problem selling decnet working B&W sets to older people who did not want a color TV.

Last April, me and some other VK'ers cleaned out a TV shop in SC. Among the sets we brought back were a couple of Sylvania solid state 22" B&W consoles from '78. The shop owner explained that as recent as the '80's, they still had customers who either had fears of X-ray exposure or claimed that a color TV didn't look right and was too much trouble to keep adjusted. Customers such as these were the reasons this dealer kept large screen B&W consoles in stock for as long as he could get them. I think the last large screen B&W was made by Zenith in '81.

I'm sure many of these people had bad memories of the early days of color TV and either didn't realize that later color TV's had improved or they simply didn't want to take the time to examine a later model color TV.

[oldtvman]

Originally Posted by Steve McVoy

I worked at a RCA dealership in the mid to late 50s. Though the technicians spent a lot of time trying to keep the sets on our showroom floor set up, it was an impossible job. Each network required a different hue setting. There was also variation from show to show on the same channel. Also, the color settings drifted during the day. At the end of the day each set had a different color picture.

If competent technicians couldn't keep the sets looking right, it is unreasonable to expect that customers could. The stories about "how unnatural the color looks, how hard it is to get the sets to operate properly" are absolutely accurate.

take the movie Moulin Rouge. Played on any color set the flesh tones may seem unnatural, but that problem lies with the film not the broadcasts. My only point was looking at some of these early video tape restorations it seems like for the most part the Nbc processing looked very good. Look at Fred Astaire and the Eisenhower tape. Yes the stability of the early color sets was questionable, but for the technically savy I'm sure that was part of the challenge was getting the sets looking good.

[marty59]

Back during my tech school days in the late seventies the daily watcher was my CTC-16E (which I still have plus I had started servicing sets during my high school years) and guys coming over to the apartment just couldn't believe the picture on it...but then again I always knew how to make it look good!

I know it's been mentioned on other threads about the "color test" of watching the Simpsons...but back in the day I always thought Warner Bros. did a really good job with their cartoons ala Bugs Bunny etc. Even back then it was cool to watch classics on my dated "classic" tv!

[Robert Grant]

I do remember that, when I first started watching color TV (December 1969, on a new RCA CTC-38), the color was usually quite reliable, but it was not unusual to see a color program with a lack of color or a hue phase error, usually only as a program started, or came back from a station break. It was, however, usually fixed in less than a minute, or, the famous "technical difficulties - do not adjust receiver" disclaimer would pop up when fixing it took longer than a minute.

As the 70s went on, this became less and less frequent, until the point that it completely stopped without me noticing it was gone.

Recent personal experiences are a Beta VCR (now completely broken :-( ) and a low power analog TV station, both of which had a steady phase error of about -30°, requiring that I adjust hue to get the oranges and indigoes back to the natural reds and blues - and back to the old settings when I wanted to watch anything else!.