When did color TV start? All information about the development

Color television has been there all your life, right? This practical tip tells you how long TV sets, transmission standards and color programs have been around.

A long way: Since when has color television been available?

The historical development of color television dates back to the 19th century and is not yet complete:

• In 1884 Paul Nipkow patented one of the first television sets ever with the "electric telescope".
• The color film has been known since around 1896.
• The functionality of the color picture tube was patented by Werner Flechsig in 1938, the first color picture transmission was invented in 1940 by Guillermo González Camarena.
• Color films became known in German cinemas from 1941 on with the films "Women are Better Diplomats" and the Hans Albers Films, known as "Munchausen".
• In 1953, the NTSC standard for black and white television was expanded to include color transmission, ie "chrominance" - added to the "luminance" transmission.
• On August 30, 1953, NBC's "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" was first broadcast via NTSC for testing purposes, and the opera "Carmen" was broadcast as the first color television program on October 31, 1953.
• The European PAL was only patented in 1962 and was used from 1967. It transmits YUV, i.e. the brightness Y, which black and white television interprets, and UV for the additional color information.
• 1956 saw the development of the French SECAM, which also made its debut in the early 1960s.
• The different standards were not the result of a lack of communication between the countries, but a political issue: France wanted to protect itself from imports and promote its own cultural landscape. An alternative SECAM was introduced in the Soviet Union that was only partially compatible with the French in order to minimize political influence from the West.
• In the Federal Republic, color television started on August 25, 1967 in a ceremony with Willy Brandt at the German Radio Exhibition. At that time there were only the three state television channels ARD, ZDF and the third.
• The first color televisions have now been sold, for example from Körting, Telefunken and Nordmende.
• The 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1974 Football World Cup generated a wave of sales of color TVs. At that time, about 90% of all TV programs were in color and a good half of German households owned a color TV.
• The introduction of color television served the financial interests of the electrical industry: AEG-Telefunken used its contacts with the NWDR to implement the introduction of color television, because the market for black and white devices was saturated.
• This development was subsidized by the GEZ.
• Color television is still expandable because there are more colors in nature than color television can show. Some devices and formats therefore expand the color space that can be displayed.
• Development trends in the television market are also higher image resolutions such as 4K and 8K and immersive audio via Auro-3D, Dolby Atmos, Higher-Order Ambisonics, or NHK 22.2.
• Other trends include integrated television, i.e. smart TV, IPTV, interactive television (iTV), pay-per-view and video on demand.