RCA TK-41
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The RCA TK-40 is considered to be the first practical
color television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...
camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
, initially used for special broadcasts in late
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, and with the follow-on TK-40A actually becoming the first to be produced in quantity in March
1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
. The TK-40 was produced by RCA Broadcast to showcase the new compatible color system for
NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...
—eventually named ''NTSC-M'' or simply ''M''—which the company is credited with inventing (though several other companies including
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were involved in development). Color had been attempted many times before, often in a semi-
mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
fashion, but this was the first series of practical, fully
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cameras to go into widespread production. The camera was quickly followed with the TK-41, a line that shared a very similar shape, but featured streamlined and enhanced electronic subsystems. Earlier TK-40s are distinguished by the lack of venting slots on the sides (the cameras were prone to overheating, necessitating the addition of these openings). The last variation of the TK-41 was the TK-41C, released circa 1960. The cameras are considered to have been of very good quality, better than the very different TK-42 which succeeded the TK-40/41, and probably better than anything produced by RCA for several years after the production line shut down (
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didn't fully replace their TK-41s in
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or their
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broadcast facility until the release of the TK-44A around 1968). Prior development in the late 1940s and early 1950s had included the TK-X (for "experimental"). An image (beam) splitter was used in the TK-40/41 to direct the incoming
light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
into three
image orthicon tube Video camera tubes are devices based on the cathode-ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
s for recording moving pictures in the
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
,
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
, and
blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
component colors. The early cameras required a very large amount of
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, which caused
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s to become very warm due to the use of multi-
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lamps (a problem that still exists somewhat today, but is less pronounced). The RCA TK-40 and TK-41 color cameras required more than an hour to set up and were comparatively unstable, making frequent adjustment necessary to maintain correct color balance between the red, green, and blue primary colors. These cameras also required complicated control consoles and rack-mounted power supplies for the camera's many vacuum tubes and ventilator fans cooling their large image orthicon tubes. The cameras, which weighed hundreds of pounds on their own, were only one component of the TK-40/41 system. There were also backend devices placed in the control rooms (camera control units and
colorplexer Color television as introduced in North America in 1954 is best described as being 'colored' television. The system used the existing black and white signal but with the addition of a component intended only for television receivers designed to sho ...
s) to generate both full NTSC outputs routed to the program switchers as well as signals for the cameras for both video and intercom communication among crew members (the cameras integrated an
audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...
system so that camera operators could talk to others via
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). This combined chain was required in order to produce images. The TK-41's camera head weighed and had to be carried by at least two people when setting up for remote broadcasts. The TK-40 was used for a color telecast of the
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''
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'' on October 31, 1953, apparently on a closed-circuit system (
monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...
images were apparently broadcast with the
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removed). The first commercial telecast was of the ''
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'' with
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on November 22, but the color burst may have again been removed. The
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finally approved the color system for use on December 17 of that year, allowing telecasts to begin 30 days later. Special permission was received to broadcast the
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on January 1, 1954.
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and her ''
The Big Record ''The Big Record'' is an American television music variety series that aired from September 18, 1957, to June 11, 1958, on CBS. Originally an hour-long show, it was changed to 30 minutes beginning on March 26, 1958. It was hosted by Patti Page, ...
'' show for CBS was the first television show broadcast in color for the entire 1957-1958 season. The live broadcast was staged in the now famous Ed Sullivan Theatre and production costs were greater than most movies were at the time not only because of all the stars featured on the hour-long extravaganza but the extreme high intensity lighting and electronics required for the new RCA TK-40 cameras. TK-40A camera setups were brought to several TV stations around the country as part of demonstrations throughout the year, including:
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,
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(April 8); WBAP,
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(May 15);
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,
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(July 18); WBEN
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; WCCO
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, (August 5); and
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.


Variations

*TK-40 (1953) *TK-40A (March 1954) *TK-41A (1954–?) *TK-41B *TK-41C (1960?–1967)


References


External links


RCA TK-40 and TK-41 color TV cameras in action
{{DEFAULTSORT:RCA TK-40 41 Television technology RCA brands Audiovisual introductions in 1953 1953 establishments in the United States American inventions