Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Color Television lit Stdtctiutit before the Federal Connniinications Co?»/i//.s.<;o;;, (Jencral Saruofj Recomtueiids that FCC Set Color Television Standards Based on RCA All-Electronic System APPEARING before the Federal , Communications Commission in Washinjrton, D. C. on May 8 Brijr. General David Sarnoff, Chair- man of the Board of the Radio Cor- poration of America, urj>:ed that the Commission, at the conclusion of the hearings then in session, set color television standards based on the RCA all-electi'onic completely compatible color system. If this be done, he said, color television re- ceivers will be in factory produc- tion by June, 1951. Adoption of color television standards based on the inferior and non-compatible method of the Co- lumbia Broadcastinjr System, he said, would earn the scorn of the world and impose an extra cost of more than §100,000,000 a year on the American public for adaptation of black-and-white receivers. General Sarnoff condemned the CBS color method as "inferior" and "unsound." "It is my purpose here today to urge you, as public officers, not to turn back the television clock, but to look ahead and take a long-range view," General Sarnoff testified. "The adoption of the CBS system, whose obsolescence is already fore- shadowed in this fast developing electronic art, would earn the scorn of the world. At the very moment I am appearing before you, the United States delegates are at a meeting of the International Con- sultative Committee in London to advocate world television standards on a basis equivalent to present American black-and-white stand- ards. For this Commission to de- grade the standards of American television by adopting the inferior CBS system only would be to show the world that we do not have any faith in the standards which our State Department is recommending to the world. "Adoption of the CBS system ex- clusively would also earn the dis- satisfaction of American families. They would be induced to buy CBS type sets by a decision of this Com- mission made at a time when it was evident that the CBS itself would shelve its mechanical system in favor of an all-electronic system." Main Issue of the Case Emphasizing that there is no doubt about the desirability of color television, General Sarnoff said that the fundamental issue in this case is: "Shall American television move forward or backward?" He pointed out that CBS has asked the FCC to adopt standards based upon "a mechanical, non- compatible system, which gives a degraded pictui-e and has additional defects," and added: "On the other hand, the Commis- sion is asked by the RCA to adopt color television standards which will permit the utilization of an all- electronic, compatible color televi- sion system which does not have those defects and which has jjicture (juality at least e(|ual to that pro- vided by existing black-and-white standards. "CBS has asked this Commission to adopt a system which would saddle an all-electronic art with a mechanical harness. You are being urged by CBS to build a highway to accommodate the horse and buggy when already the self-pro- pelled vehicle is in existence and has been demonstrated. "I know that CBS claims it can use electronic terminal equipment in its system. CBS, however, does not and cannot deny that its system has been designed for and is con- fined by the limitations of a me- chanical disc. Therefore, it does not and never can have the performance capabilities of a true electronic system." General Sarnoff said that "if the CBS color .system, with all of its known defects, is now imposed upon the public, great harm will be done to the growth of television and its public acceptance. The recession in the sale of sets which would re- sult from the adoption of non-com- patible color standards and de- graded pictures tailored for the CBS mechanical apparatus would, in my opinion, cause the bankruptcy of many of the smaller television set manufacturers of today." Pointing out that it had been es- tablished in the record that an all- electronic system "offers boundless possibilities for continued growth and improvement of the television industry," General Sarnoff contin- ued : "In my judgment, a compatible all-electronic system is the logical system for the Commission to ap- prove. Were it not for the inten- sive promotional effort that has been put into this matter by CBS, the suggestion that the American public will use for the indefinite future a non-compatible system with a mechanical disc and de- graded picture quality would be ridiculous. "I would be untrue to my long experience in this business if I did not protest, as strongly as I can against the adoption of standards based on an inferior system. For the Commission to shackle an elec- tronic art to the degraded stand- ards of a CBS mechanical wheel would, in my opinion, be a fatal mistake." RCA Color Developments Recalling that CBS had stated that the RCA .system could never be improved and should not even be field tested. General Sarnoff went on to compare this statement with the facts. "We have demonstrated," he tes- tified, "that the RCA color system has the full geometric resolution of exi.sting black-and-white standards. "We have demonstrated that the RCA color svstem now has color RADIO AGE 3]