Breathtaking early color---missed by most people

[Joel Cairo]

I've asked some of the folks at the BBC for some info about the color coverage/format... we'll see what the response is. I'm a little curious, myself!

-Kevin

[Joel Cairo]

And here's our answer: according to UK TV expert Andy Henderson, the 1953 o/b colour experiment was demonstrated and provided by PYE & the BBC, and limited to a few cameras at key points. It was relayed to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Now there's a closed circuit broadcast I would have liked to see!!

To fuzz the issue a little, however, in searching Google, I note that there are conflicting statements about the format used: Ed Reitan maintains that it was CBS sequential, whereas an ex-BBC employee was told by his boss that he had operated an imported RCA color camera during the coronation ceremonies.

I'm told that someone has a photo that includes one of the color camera positions along the coronation route... they've offered to scan the photo, and I'll let you now what it shows.

-Kevin

[Joel Cairo]

Incidentally-- off the topic of the Coronation, but back on the thread topic, here's something else that most of you probably missed the first time around-- it's one of the few known color photos of the original "Price is Right"... just as it would've looked on the old CTCs...

-Kevin

[oldtvman]

Originally Posted by Joel Cairo

Incidentally-- off the topic of the Coronation, but back on the thread topic, here's something else that most of you probably missed the first time around-- it's one of the few known color photos of the original "Price is Right"... just as it would've looked on the old CTCs...

-Kevin

before we got color my dad took me to a tv store one night and the price is right was on in color! almost had to drag me out of the store

[Joel Cairo]

Just a little more on the sub-topic of the 1953 Coronation:

Information from James Russell, of colourisation.com:

"Pye Ltd. demonstrated a 150 frame sequential 405 line closed circuit system at Guy's Hospital in 1950 by sequential additive colour scanning using three-colour rotating discs on both the camera and the receiver. The bandwidth requred was 9 Meg. It was later, in the same year, installed at St. Thomas's Hospital, London.

For the Coronation procession, Pye installed cameras on the roof of a building in Parliament Square and connected by 575 Mc/s radio link to great Ormand street. On the previous day, two directly-viewed receivers were used to give pictures of 16in by 12in and a projection set to give 4 ft by 3 ft. Excellent pictures were seen, the definition and the colour rendering both being good. The colour tubes were of the Lawrence type ( Chromatic Television Inc )."

Additionally, he mentions that a 3D Film documentary was also made of the Coronation.

-Kevin

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Joel Cairo

Incidentally-- off the topic of the Coronation, but back on the thread topic, here's something else that most of you probably missed the first time around-- it's one of the few known color photos of the original "Price is Right"... just as it would've looked on the old CTCs...

-Kevin

Was the set really all cyan and orange, or is that just the photo? More recent incarnations are much more vaired in color.

[Joel Cairo]

The pic is indeed accurate-- I've got the only other known surviving color images (two 35mm slides, taken by a tourist who attended an episode of the show) and the colors are the same.

The original of the pic I posted has (sadly) actually started to fade-- I had to correct a significant green shift before I posted the scan.

-Kevin