The best color sets in the '50's

[yagosaga]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Slight reverse to what you said - The CT-100 had non-rare-earth phosphors which matched the NTSC specs. The major difference form modern sets is the "true green" Willemite P1 phosphor.

The 21AXP22 has the same wide gamut phosphors with that very greenish green. While red and blue here in the PAL countries look the same, the green of the PAL sets looks more yellow-green than green. I didn't noticed that our green is yellow-green before I got the ctc-5. The photo here shows the difference between both greens. I can see the difference on my LCD-TFT display and hope you can see it too on your display. But the green of the 21AXP22 looks more saturated than displayed here in the photo.
Another observation I made was that the 21AXP22 shows green-blue colors which weren't displayed on a PAL color tv set. On a PAL set these colors were grey. These green-blue colors are not a result of a hue failure, they are really true. But the PAL sets couldn't really display them.

[old_tv_nut]

Thanks for the picture. I am viewing on an LCD computer display also - I have not tried to determine the exact color of this LCD green, but I would guess it is close to the modern phosphors.

[old_tv_nut]

By the way, the blue has migrated over the years from the original NTSC blue to something more toward violet - this has the effect of moving yellows toward green, since they must be complementary to the blue to make white. I t also makes possible more satureated magnentas. This is also compensated correctly in the PAL and HDTV standards.

This is the opposite direction that the CBS color wheel system used - they used a more cyan blue, because its brightness would be a greater part of the white brightness and therefore reduce flicker.

Running an NTSC-proper tube from a converted PAL signal should exaggerate the difference between orange (tan) and red (rouge) parts of the faces, because the red and green primaries are more different from each other than the PAL signal is matrixed for.

Some early projection TVs went back to P1 green because it does not saturate at high current densities the way sulphide phosphors do. The result could be disturbing if the receiver matrix circuits were not changed back to NTSC also- hard to adjust the hue without having some part of the skin look either purplish or greenish.

[reeferman]

Like RVonse, I used to work in an (independent) tv shop (in the late '60's) and saw a lot of everything. The good, the bad, the ugly. The only point I disagree on was the subject of Zenith demodulators. Their "sheet beam" circuitry, I feel, were the best (and most reliable) in the industry. To me, nothing else would give the pleasant colors of a Zenith roundie. But there again, it's just my opinion. Phil