[Boatanchors] 1942 RCA film about tubes and TV

[Richard Knoppow]

    Thank you for mentioning George Brown. His work on 
directional antennas probably revolutionized broadcasting 
allowing more stations to be on the air.
     Color TV: I think the main competitor to RCA was CBS. CBS 
promoted a field sequential system (not sure I have that right) 
using segmented color filters at camera and receiver. This system 
had the advantage of simplicity and of not having any 
registration problems. However, it had serious motion artifacts. 
A still image could be transmitted and reproduced with great 
fidelity but any motion in the image resulted in color fringing, 
the faster the motion, the greater the fringing. CBS also tried 
to limit the bandwidth by using less scanning lines, I think they 
went back to the 405 line system of early B&W TV. It had other 
problems, I think having to do with the synchronizing method. In 
any case the NTSB system was approved by the FCC and was with us 
until TV became digital in recent years. While the NTSB system 
was criticized for years it was, in fact, better than the 
variations used in Europe since it left more room for 
improvements to be made, such as the eventual use of two and 
three line delays.
    The quality of properly done NTSC was excellent at the 
transmission point but what went into the transmitter was a lot 
better than what most people saw at home. Too bad.
   My favorite comparison of RCA research vs: CBS was a paper 
published by CBS (I tend to draw blanks on names) about the 
preference of listeners for degree of fidelity of sound. CBS 
claimed that most people preferred a limited frequency range. 
This was heresy and Dr. Harry Olson, RCA's chief acoustical 
researcher, set out to prove it. Olson's test used live music and 
an acoustical filter to adjust the frequency range heard by the 
audience. The results, as you might expect, was that people 
preferred the widest range possible. So, what happened to CBS, 
fairly simple, they were using recorded music and the distortion 
of the system was high enough that people liked to have it 
filtered out. I think these tests must have been thoroughly 
humiliating  to CBS.
    RCA also did a much more thorough job in designing the 
"Extended Play" or 45RPM record than CBS did with the Lp. The 
ratio of inner and outer groove speeds was correct where it was 
not for the 33- 1/3 record and there were other differences. The 
design of the changer with its large center post and the design 
of the pressings to eliminate surface wear on the groove area 
were excellent. While many think RCA was mistaken in adopting the 
time limit to be not much more than the 78 record, in fact, for 
popular records it was a business advantage since most records 
were sold singly and it was a problem when more than one song was 
on a record. The 45  still had the problem of the 78 of having 
two songs on it but not the problems of  a dozen or more on a 10" 
or 12" record. Remember, the royalties had to be paid on sales 
and if there are two or more songs on a record who determines 
what the consumer actually bought. BTW, this is one reason juke 
box sales were important in determining popularity.
    Enough.

On 4/23/2022 2:47 PM, JAMES HANLON wrote:
> One of the gentlemen shown early in the RCA film in coat and tie doing RF work on penicillin was Dr. George Harold Brown. 
-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL