When did you first get a color TV and what was your reaction

My parents got their first color TV when I was five years old or so in 1971, we couldn't really afford one from a store, so my dad and his friend built one from a kit. Probably one from Heathkit, I would guess. It finally died on us in 1981, which was a good run. Like many others here, the first time I saw "The Wizard Of Oz" I was just amazed when the color part of the movie started.

 

I loved that too. I first saw "The Wizard of Oz" in color in 1968 on the color TV of some people I was baby-sitting for. They had a big RCA console, and I remember being amazed at how they handled the transition with the interior of the house very dimly lit to appear to be B&W while outside the door Oz is revealed in all its glory!

 

Growing up with my mom and my older brother living at my Grandmother's house, we had a Zenith Roundie Color set in the living room. When I was 4 years old and had an infected left hip, the record shop/TV shop gave me a discontinued model Magnavox Stereo Theater and a lot of LP discs and a 8 track machine and tapes to keep me occupied when I could not get out. Loved music when little, still do today. The Stereo Theater had a color Roundie screen. Loved it. When it died after a direct lightning hit 5 years later, got a Sony Trinitron 15" set.

 

The folks got a Zenith in '67-68. 25"? Wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't impressive. I guess it was neat to see Batman, and the various rock acts on Sullivan and Smothers Bros, in something resembling color.

Didn't think much about it later when I bought a cheap B&W after I got out of the Navy in 73. Lasted til the late 80s; when it died, I splurged and paid a premium for a Proton (Germany?) 27" 480p CRT. Incredible, crystal clear pic with a mild 3D feel, perfectly (for 1988) adjustable color, blacks same as the black bezel in the dark. Just amazing. It lasted 15 years or so.

Replaced it with a 32" Panasonic CRT; it's OK, but it's no Proton. As much as I enjoy setting up big Hi-Def flatscreens for friends, I $orta don't care if the Panny is the last TV I own.

 

RCA in 1966. Loved that Peacock!

 

Mid-'70s, my parents got a gigantic (25"?) Zenith with its own cart. Continued to use this set 'til my dad passed away in '95.

 

I wonder which shows did not do as well in color as they did in B&W? Did some shows end just prior to the converstion to color because they would not convert? I know that I much prefer the B&W Bewitched episodes. I also thought Dark Shadows worked better in B&W.

 

Steve, do you think that the reason for that is that the camera operators and DPs were so used to shooting in B&W, that they had a difficult time adapting to a new format? I know that lighting for effective color cinematography is very different from monochrome. Also, I've personally found that shows that were in color from the beginning (like "Bonanza") seemed to have really good photography, whereas shows like the aforementioned "Avengers" seemed to forget about composition and lighting. In other words they were just going through the motions thinking that the switch to color was all that was required.

I loved "My Favorite Martian" and the color episodes looked every bit as good as the monochrome ones. I also think that "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." made a pretty seamless transition to color, though I thought the writing in the last season got a little absurd. It still looked good though.

 

You should! I love learning about stuff like this. I suspect strongly that had I grown up in LA like you did, I would have pursued a career as a cinematographer. I loved photography as a hobby, but it never occurred to me to think of it as a career until I had already finished college. To me, the technical aspects of film-making (including television) are as interesting (if not moreso) than the finished product.

 

The black-and-white episodes of Lost in Space were far better than the colour ones. At the time they were first screened, of course, I saw all the episodes in b&w. Many of the later episodes were very repetitive in the sense that they appeared to be Dr Zachary Smith gets into trouble etc. So it was down to the writing and acting rather than the colour/monochrome issue. I find it fascinating watching some early (in UK terms) colour shows. Some could have been shot yesterday in terms of picture quality (in SD terms). But others look quite odd, especially those made using tape....one episode of the long-running "Hadleigh", for example, has a scene shot using three cameras in which the colour from each camera looks markedly different. One character has a shirt which looks like pale lemon on one camera, almost green on another and yellow on the third.

 

Our family didn't have a color TV until 1970. However, I'll never forget my first encounter with a color TV, very early 1960's. When I was small, I was extremely sensitive to the sound of the flyback transformer used in the TVs of the early 60's. This one was so loud, you could hear the 14khz tone practically through a closed door. I was entranced by the hyped-up, mistracking color images.

Now we have a wonderful looking Panasonic LCD display. The cats love it:

 

Like all South Africans we only got TV of any kind in the Mid 70"s. Yep its true the ruling party deemed TV immoral (maybe they were right), but to the point always had a colour TV so wouldnt know what a B&W picture looked like.

 

We used to watch Superman with George Reeves in B&W and the eps filmed in colour looked completely different. I'm pretty sure even when colour TV came in they still showed B&W prints of some shows here.

In the newspaper in Thick as a Brick I think they list 'Disney's Wonderful World of Colour (B&W)'

 

Which reminds me of the continuity announcer saying "And now our afternoon film, Red River, which is in black-and-white."

 

There is one just like yours still working to this day in my living room.

 

My parents got one in the early 60s. The first show I remember in color was Bonanza. What a treat!

 

I was also sensitive to the sound of the flyback transformer as a child. So much so, that could hear it through a closed door. If we went to someone's home I could tell before we walked in whether or not their TV set was on.

 

I was too. The amount of sound a flyback put out depended on how well it is potted and the ferrite core bonded. Also, capacitors in the circuit make noise too. Later sets put out less noise plus as we go through puberty, for us males, our extreme HF hearing drops off since the ear parts get bigger. Females can hear higher pitches than males, on average, which is easily demonstrated with an audio oscillator.

 

I think my folks bought their first color TV in the mid-'60s. Big ol' thang, too.


Rock Stamberg

 

Excellent!

I'm sure mine would've lasted longer if not for the unshielded center speaker that sat close to it for years. I went out of my way to get the retailer to ensure they were shielded, but one way or another it was misrepresented.

A really fine TV. One wonders if their current LCD continues the tradition.

 

Never had one as my step-father was waiting until it was perfected. lol Cheap, cheap, cheap.

My best friend in HS had one and I thought the colors were overs saturated and not very realistic, but it was a beginning of which every every new piece of technology must come out of the egg, no matter how imperfect. Bonanza and the Wonderful World of Disney. To see where we are now and what a great picture can be bought with $300 is pretty amazing.

I still remember our old 21" Motorola black and white tv with the old rotary tuner that had to be cleaned with contact cleaner every year and those goofy yagi antennas on the roof. Still, out of Chicago could pick up 2 cbs,5 nbc, ,7 abc ,9(wgn and the cubs and sox), 11, and later 32. Garfield Goose with Frazier Thomas, Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, and 2-Ton Baker-a Pirate with a piano and Popeye cartoons. Off at midnight.

 

My Grand Parents got a 25" Zenith color TV in 1960(I believe). One of the first things I remeber was the Parade of Roses and Rose Bowl. I remember Wisconsin and an upper West Coast team(1960 Washington Vs Wisconsin). Also, Bonanza.