Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 15, 2019 7:14:16 GMT
Today sees the 50th anniversary of the start of Colour TV. As we know - BBC2 had been broadcasting on and off in colour for a few years - on test. But 15/11/69 was set as the official start date.
I had planned to put some additional bits up - and scan in some stuff from the collection, though had got side tracked with family matters.
So- sadly all I have to offer for now, is this - having been trying to learn Photoshop!
A photo montage of how the the network would have looked(ish) on that day - using the logos that would have been in use. A few anoraky notes - Colour TV didn't start in Scotland and a couple of the smaller regions until 1970/1971.
Channel Television didn't get colour until the summer of 1976 - given the issues they had getting a signal from the mainland to the Channel Islands.
Some companies used an "interim" logo during the early colour days - Tyne Tees (for instance) had a black backed and yellow caption. Some people may notice, that "HTV" were still using the name "Harlech"
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Post by Dirty Epic on Nov 15, 2019 9:53:50 GMT
No worries Sparky and thanks for posting about this anniversary. For me I suppose this was when the era of modern television truly began. Seeing the leap from 405 line Black and White TV to 625 Colour would’ve been immense to experience and I suppose nothing else comes close to this step-change in television – digital, 4K, Ultra HD etc. all seem a bit of a evolution rather than the real move forward this must’ve been in ’69. For example the recent Special Branch repeats of the B&W episodes on TPTV seem so different and from another era compared to the later colour ones which made literally a few months later.
I suppose the challenge this presented those in the industry was 625/Colour did show more of the flaws and the production teams couldn’t mask/hide their bloopers as much as they could in the 50’s/60’s. With today’s remastering and higher definition presentations of this programming you do get to see some of this – make up, sets, special effects etc. but part of the charm was it was all a bit improvised and not so perfect compared to the slicker if perhaps less entertaining identikit stuff which gets made now.
As for the idents didn’t Harlech (HTV) use a B&W one which was very psychedelic and perhaps could be bordering on giving the viewer a seizure.
50 years on!
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 15, 2019 11:36:49 GMT
No worries Sparky and thanks for posting about this anniversary. For me I suppose this was when the era of modern television truly began. Seeing the leap from 405 line Black and White TV to 625 Colour would’ve been immense to experience and I suppose nothing else comes close to this step-change in television – digital, 4K, Ultra HD etc. all seem a bit of a evolution rather than the real move forward this must’ve been in ’69. For example the recent Special Branch repeats of the B&W episodes on TPTV seem so different and from another era compared to the later colour ones which made literally a few months later.
I suppose the challenge this presented those in the industry was 625/Colour did show more of the flaws and the production teams couldn’t mask/hide their bloopers as much as they could in the 50’s/60’s. With today’s remastering and higher definition presentations of this programming you do get to see some of this – make up, sets, special effects etc. but part of the charm was it was all a bit improvised and not so perfect compared to the slicker if perhaps less entertaining identikit stuff which gets made now.
As for the idents didn’t Harlech (HTV) use a B&W one which was very psychedelic and perhaps could be bordering on giving the viewer a seizure.
50 years on!
Crikey - was there a warning before this came on TV? I am unsure if they did this version in Colour (imagine that after about 6 pints).
A couple of companies hadn't decided on a proper brand - and had just ended up using a caption (Tyne Tees was one).
The first nights offerings (Thames) - came "Rumour" and "Suspect" - Directed by Mike Hodges (Get Carter); and were the first filmed dramas shown in Colour on ITV. These films were produced using methods not used in Television - but using methods adopted by Film Studios, it was this that paved the way for the setting up of a company called Euston Films in 1971 - not sure if they ever did produce anything.....
Has anyone seen Suspect or Rumour?
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Post by Dirty Epic on Nov 15, 2019 12:52:16 GMT
LOL Sparky There's a YouTube knocking around of those Harlech titles but it looks more far out than Underworld's videos made in the mid-1990's.
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Lord Emsworth
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Nov 15, 2019 14:51:45 GMT
My earliest memory of colour TV was going to a friend's house (the only person I knew with a colour telly) to watch the magical 1971 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Liverpool.
The yellow shirts of Arsenal and the red of Liverpool looking magnificent on that baking hot day.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 15, 2019 15:47:30 GMT
My earliest memory of colour TV was going to a friend's house (the only person I knew with a colour telly) to watch the magical 1971 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Liverpool.
The yellow shirts of Arsenal and the red of Liverpool looking magnificent on that baking hot day.
Yes, I think one of the first things I saw in Colour was Sports Related. I think it was the Snooker.
My Grandfather got his first Colour set in the late 70s, from Rumbelows. He had to have a new aerial installed on the roof. The Colour TV ended up in the Living Room, the old B/W VHF set was relegated to the Dining Room, and the old aerial rigged on a length of scaffold pole bolted to the Outside toilet with a cable run in.
By turning the aerial on the scaffold pole and retuning the TV we could get Yorkshire Television in B&W, and in had ATV in colour in the front room. He did get a very snowy weak picture from Granada.
Back then ITV didn't show programmes at the same time - or showed different films/programmes.
My Grandad found this handy for watching Football matches not shown on ATV, and also if something wasn't worth watching on the other side.
Old school Multichannel viewing!
We had our own first colour set about 3 months before the aerial was struck by lightning and it blew up in the front room during an afternoon repeat of Playschool. Wouldn't it have been funny if it was during "Follyfoot"??! (Go Go the Lightning Tree...ahem.. sorry)
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 15, 2019 15:55:15 GMT
LOL Sparky There's a YouTube knocking around of those Harlech titles but it looks more far out than Underworld's videos made in the mid-1990's. They'd be interesting in 3D - on a large screen.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Nov 15, 2019 22:34:11 GMT
Happy days. I remember mostly having colour tv as a kid but it had to be rented from D.E.R as we know a colour set to buy was mega money. They seemed to break down more so than now but were repaired rather than replaced. If we had the engineer round to fix it and it needed to be taken in for repair we reverted to an old B&W set we owned . I can remember moaning on these occasions and getting told off about not knowing how lucky I am to have colour tv etc I always think that the early colour shows made in the ealry 70s look very rich and warm in hue. Don't know if this was down to lighting etc on set ? Or whether this was down to the early in house equipment used to make and output the shows. A relative of mine who I've mentioned before worked at LWT in the 70s and 80s said at ITV by the late 70s the equipment was bought in from the likes of Sony replacing the in house developed stuff. Can you shed any light on this Sparky?
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 16, 2019 7:54:37 GMT
Happy days. I remember mostly having colour tv as a kid but it had to be rented from D.E.R as we know a colour set to buy was mega money. They seemed to break down more so than now but were repaired rather than replaced. If we had the engineer round to fix it and it needed to be taken in for repair we reverted to an old B&W set we owned . I can remember moaning on these occasions and getting told off about not knowing how lucky I am to have colour tv etc I always think that the early colour shows made in the ealry 70s look very rich and warm in hue. Don't know if this was down to lighting etc on set ? Or whether this was down to the ealry in house equipment use to make and output the shows. A reletive of mine who I've mentioned before worked at LWT in the 70s and 80s said at ITV by the late 70s the equipment was bought in from the likes of Sony replacing the in house developed stuff. Can you shed any light on this Sparky? Lighting for Colour TV was a totally different ball game to that for B&W TV (it is for film too) - very much for the reasons you mention. Both ITV and the BBC had training days for staff in the years before Colour came in.
There were differences in Make Up, Lighting and (obviously) Cameras - also the definition was much better in 625lines - so more detail could be seen (ie Wrinkles/Double Chins/Skim Blemishes etc)
The cameras back then used three Tubes (Red, Green and Blue) which had to be lined up as the tubes would wear over time. For a typical TV programme, using (say) 4 cameras - they would need to calibrate each camera to match - so there wasn't a noticeable change when cutting between cameras.
But colour TV did look much warmer and richer, that I think was down to the combination of Cameras, Lighting (all tungsten - so very warm) and Makeup - and what they perceived of looking "Natural".
As for LWT, I would expect, by the 1980s the in house gear would be a little dated - and by then, manufacturers had perfected updated equipment - so it's very likely that LWT would have upgraded and invested. I would think they also upgraded kit a handful of times before 2000 too.
Central TV certainly did upgrade through Sony, Bosch and Grass Valley over the years.
However - at the other end of the scale - in 1997 - they still had in house kit built by ATV in 1970 in full use too.
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Post by Cartman on Nov 16, 2019 10:55:20 GMT
Yes like Del said, I remember colour variation over the years and the 70s ones were very rich and warm looking. A few years later, probably 80s/early 90s the colour seemed to be very pale and a bit washed out looking.
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