Color television

Color television or colour television (<a href="/facts/British_English/ymJR5Rnd">British English</a>) is a <a href="/facts/Television/X4YG5nT1">television</a> transmission technology that also includes <a href="/facts/Color/a1QSEJhj">color</a> information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the <a href="/facts/Monochrome/CMCsjH2N">monochrome</a> or <a href="/facts/Black-and-white/CXPjISFh">black-and-white</a> television technology, which displays the image in shades of gray (<a href="/facts/Grayscale/Tjb9kR8v">grayscale</a>). <a href="/facts/Television_broadcasting/xq32nKxz">Television broadcasting</a> stations and networks in most parts of the world upgraded from black-and-white to color transmission between the 1960s and the 1980s. The invention of color television standards was an important part of the <a href="/facts/History_of_television/LcAyDGd7">history</a> and <a href="/facts/Technology_of_television/yW8NmPXh">technology of television</a>.
Transmission of color images using mechanical scanners had been conceived as early as the 1880s. A demonstration of mechanically scanned color television was given by <a href="/facts/John_Logie_Baird/bkngND9Q">John Logie Baird</a> in 1928, but its limitations were apparent even then. Development of electronic scanning and display made a practical system possible. Monochrome transmission standards were developed prior to <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, but civilian electronics development was frozen during much of the war. In August 1944, Baird gave the world's first demonstration of a practical fully electronic color television display. In the United States, competing color standards were developed, finally resulting in the <a href="/facts/NTSC/HYWIvxCR">NTSC</a> color standard that was compatible with the prior monochrome system. Although the NTSC color standard was proclaimed in 1953, and limited programming soon became available, it was not until the early 1970s that color television in North America outsold black-and-white units. Color broadcasting in Europe did not standardize on the <a href="/facts/PAL/mRJsqVPG">PAL</a> or <a href="/facts/SECAM/vexpud7W">SECAM</a> formats until the 1960s.
Broadcasters began to upgrade from analog color television technology to higher resolution <a href="/facts/Digital_television/KQCyILQa">digital television</a> c. 2006; the exact year varies by country. While the changeover is complete in many countries, analog television remains in use in some countries.

Color television open-in-new

Color television