A BBC Experimental Colour Transmission 1957 - Part Four

A black & white telerecording of a BBC Television experimental colour transmission on 31 January 1957 which was broadcast and shown to a large audience of Members of both Houses of Parliament on six receivers installed in a room in the House of Lords.

This telerecording is MUTE for the first two minutes.

The BBC had been carrying out research and development on colour television since the resumption of the television service in 1946.

On 7 October 1954, the first 'compatible' type of colour television picture was radiated from the medium-power transmitter at Alexandra Palace. The pictures included slides and 16-mm motion pictures.

During the winter of 1955-6 a regular series of transmissions were conducted at Alexandra Palace, with the primary purpose of testing the compatibility of the pictures on a comparatively large sample of domestic receivers. Again, only slides and pictures from 16-mm motion film were used. In the meantime Studio A at Alexandra Palace had been equipped with a single three-tube colour camera of Marconi design, and the first occasions on which colour pictures including scenes from the studio were broadcast occurred on 3, 4, and 5 April 1956.

By the autumn of 1956, Studio A at Alexandra Palace had been equipped with a second experimental colour camera and, a little later, a 35-mm Cintel film scanner was installed to supplement the slide and 16-mm film scanner. With this equipment and with the enthusiastic help of programme staff, an ambitious and comprehensive series of programmes were broadcast and were observed in people's homes on specially developed experimental colour receivers and also on a large number of black-and-white domestic sets.

During the winter of 1957-8 a further series of experimental programmes were broadcast from the studio at Alexandra Palace and was seen by a rather bigger audience on colour receivers than in the previous year. At the conclusion of these tests in 1958 the studio at Alexandra Palace was dismantled and the cameras installed temporarily in a van which carried out two outside broadcasts. The slide and film-scanning equipment was moved to the Lime Grove Studios where a regular series of transmissions outside normal programme time were given, beginning in the autumn of 1958.

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2MsQQ2UzVw
Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FN9MjWXyM0
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V84-5rg3i8o

This film footage is from the Archive Collection held by the Alexandra Palace Television Society.

http://www.apts.org.uk

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[tubeie07]

I find this kind of historical recordings facinating and of great interest to myself. Thank you again so much ASTSA for posting such interesting material !

[aptsarchive]

Glad you enjoy our postings - there are more in the pipeline ready for uploading!

[aptsarchive]

Glad you enjoy our postings. We strive hard to find things that don't usually appear on so called "TV History sites"! We take a pride in what we do and the links that we have fomed with the broadcasters, societies and individuals, that take a pride in their tv history work. Without these people and organisations none of this would be possible! Your comments mean a lot to the people that take a pride in what they do! Many thanks. Simon

[gf1001]

I love these apts postings their brilliant thanks simon.