Evening star., 1950-10-29

4AlC NO1ol SJ dobllo1 4LCo 10
that advanced by CHS in prefer
ence to those proposed by RCA
and Color Television, Inc. The
FEC says that regular commercial
colorcasting may begin Novem-
ber 20.
Whether the CHS system will
achieve the status of a regular
service is impossible to deter
mine. Endorsement by the FEC
is not enough to assure its sue
cess because:
Cd RCA has appealed the de-
Icision to the United States Dis
trict Court in Chicago. If an in
junction is granted. the FEC de-
cision, otherwise effective Novem-
ber 20, will be suspended. RCA
has made it clear that it will
fight the decision through every
court in the land, if necessary.
This could tie up the decision
for many months, regardless of
who is adjudged the final winner.
FEC Keeps Door Open
co No station is required to
broadcast color. It is utterly op-
tional. But there is considerable
belief that the FEC will get tough
if color bogs down because sta
tions feel they cannot afford to
telecast it. And almost all tele-
casters, except CHS and a hand
full Of close affiliates, are extreme
ly unhappy about the decision,
for very basic reasons. To "get
tough" however. the FEC must
first hold an involved hearing.
This could take months.
go The decision may be
changed by the FEC itself, if a
better system comes along. In
fact. the commission holds the
door open for such a system and
has indicated it would be glad
to substitute it for the CHS sys-
tenn if such substitution would
not disrupt things too much.
(4 Conversion of electronic
plants to the manufacture of mil
itary equipment is accelerating.
This is expected to cut heavily
into the production of black and
white sets, let alone color.
(5) Manufacturers aIc FINEST
universally opposed to the CHS
system. asserting there are faI
better ones und--' dcv1,,orr,1r. ooIllt oIltt
They may be slow to produce sets
capable of receiving it. Even il
they do decide 10 build CBS-typc
sets. as few have, conversion o.
plants takes many months. II
would be well into next veal
before more than a trickle OF
color sets appeared on the market
CO The outcry has reached
Capitol Hill. If Congress becomes
convinced that the FEC has
botched things, it can bring the
situation to a halt and call the
commission on the carpet. This
always takes time.
The CHS system has one char
acteristic which accounts for al
most the entire 'incom-
patibility." What this means is
that existing black and white sets
shc,y a scrambled pattern of lines
when CHS color is transmitted.
What is so important about
that? Simply this: A station can
transmit only one thing at a
time-either black and white or
color. Every time a station trans
mits color program, no existing
set can receive that station.
What does the CHS system
mean to present set owners. pros
pective owners, manufacturers
and station owners?
Incompatibility puts the set
owner out on limb. But he does
have a method of climbing down
for price, and with less sat-
isfactory picture. This price is
adaptation" A skilled techni-
clan can rewire the set, or he can
procure an external device, in a
box, and splice it into the circuits.
The cost of this operation varies
from set to set and depends on
who is giving the estimate. CHS
says it will run from $50 to $50
plus installation. Manufacturers
says it runs from "a few dollars"
to $125 or so.
Al - Has Drawbacks
But after the set has been
adapted. what does color picture
look like in black-and-white? In
engineering language, the picture
has about half the resolution" of
a regular image. This means
that if the object being portrayed
is small, its chances of being seen,
or seen clearly, are only half as
good as they are with straight
black -and-white.
The FEC, however, did not con-
slider such pictures too bad, nor
did it regard them too big a price
to pay for the advancement of
color.
Now. how do existing sets get
color?
A converter" is the answer.
At present. it looks as though
there will be two kinds:
| Cd A motor-disc assembly to be
placed in front of existing pic
ture tubes. The set must be
adapted, first, to get a black-and-
white picture from color trans
mission. Then the disc, made up
of six pie-wedge-sha plastic fl
ters of red, blue and green (two
each), is placed in front of the
picture tube and rotated at a
speed of LAO revolutions per min
ute. If the set has a tube larger
than 1917 inches, the picture must
be shrunk to that size.
(2) The companion set" Or
"slave unit" This comprises what
looks like an additional set. 1t
has its own tube, disc, motor,
adapter and necessary circuits.
1t is fed" by the original set.