The Struggle for Unity: Colour Television, the Formative Years

This book traces the evolution of colour television from 1928, when rudimentary colour television was demonstrated for the first time, to c. 1966, when the NTSC system and its variants, the PAL and SECAM systems became widely available for the entertainment, education, and enlightenment of society. This book is based predominantly on written primary source material. It discusses the essential factors of colour television history from a general, technical, and political viewpoint. Topics covered include: compatibility and non-compatibility; mechanical and all-electronic systems; field sequential, line sequential, and dot sequential scanning; bandwidth constraints and band-sharing techniques; the CBS-RCA conflict; the relative merits of the different systems; the attempt to achieve unity of purpose in Europe; standards; and, the development of colour cameras and display tubes. Numerous references have been given at the end of each chapter, and many illustrations are contained within.