Can I Buy a Monochrome Television?

The number of black and white television licensees in Britain has dwindled to fewer than 12,000, a stark contrast to the over 25 million color TV licensees. While watching black and white television today is an anomaly, it was once the sole viewing experience for three decades (1936-1967). Even earlier, mechanical television broadcasts (1929-1935) displayed images in black and orange due to the neon gas used in the first television sets. Let’s delve into the decline of black and white TV and explore its enduring relevance.

Color television broadcasting originated in the USA in 1954, but it was fraught with challenges. A field-sequential color system using a rotating color filter wheel was abruptly halted by the FCC in 1951, leading to a fierce competition between CBS and RCA for dominance in the color television market. The second-generation American color TV, launched in 1954, was an RCA set equipped with a CBS picture tube. By the late 1950s, color TV had gained a foothold in several major US cities, but these early sets were prohibitively expensive and demanded frequent adjustments and maintenance.

In Britain, color broadcasting was delayed due to financial constraints, cautious approaches, and a lack of clear technological direction. The BBC spearheaded the first color broadcasts in Europe in 1967, adopting the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) system, a German enhancement of the American color system from the mid-1950s. Color broadcasts commenced on BBC2 in 1967 and extended to ITV and BBC1 in 1969. To offset the costs, color TV licenses were introduced in 1968, priced at double the cost of the black and white license.

BBC2, initially launched in black and white in 1964, utilized a higher bandwidth signal (UHF) capable of transmitting 625 lines, paving the way for sharper black and white images and eventually PAL color. Ironically, a power outage disrupted BBC2’s opening night, resulting in “Play School” becoming the first official broadcast the following day.

For the first three decades of television, cinema held a monopoly on color moving images. This sustained cinema attendance but also fueled public desire for color television. However, this monopoly didn’t shield the film industry from television’s impact, as many cinemas closed in the 1950s, alongside negative effects on magazines, pubs, and nightclubs.

Early television images were low resolution, with BBC1 broadcasting in 405 horizontal lines. The introduction of 625-line images with BBC2 in 1964 significantly improved image sharpness, though this advancement received surprisingly little attention. Recording complete programs was primarily done on cine film until around 1960, a costly process that limited its use.

In 1964, Marshall McLuhan published his influential book, “Understanding Media.” At that time, most viewers experienced television on small sets with blurry images by today’s standards. McLuhan noted that television production demanded specific techniques for both image and sound due to these limitations. He observed that television acting required a casual spontaneity due to the viewer’s intimate involvement in completing the image, a dynamic different from film or theater.

The BBC launched Europe’s first regular color television service in July 1967 with a broadcast of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. By mid-1968, nearly all BBC2 programming was in color, followed by BBC1 six months later. The combined impact of color and the improved 625-line resolution enhanced realism and reduced the viewer’s need for interpretation. Larger color sets gradually shifted television away from the close-up medium described by McLuhan, offering more detail and lessening the burden on the viewer.

Color increased television’s value, as reflected in the higher license fees. The cognitive effort of decoding images was replaced by the more passive enjoyment of the programs themselves. This technological evolution reflects the goal of creating a more convincing illusion of reality, a desire shared by both television engineers and viewers.

A compelling reason to own a black and white television today is for viewing black and white films. Color displays can only approximate black and white by blending red, blue, and green, while older black and white sets were specifically designed for this purpose. These sets utilized a phosphorescent coating that illuminated when struck by an electron beam, producing true black and white images without the need for a shadow mask or color pixel alignment. This resulted in a 100% pixel fill rate, a level unmatched by most modern color displays. Therefore, a vintage black and white TV might be ideal for enthusiasts of classic black and white films and television.