Evening star., 1951-06-26
By Harry Macarthur


standard sets have been made
available in New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Washington, where the inaugural
program was telecast.
The show was seen here on Spe-
cial receivers at the WTOP studio
and the Carlton Hotel, set up for
members of Congress, Govern
Iment officials and newsmen, and
possibly on an estimated 125-
home-built converterS. There was
some doubt that these latter
would work as they did for color
programs teleyised at the WTOP-
ITV studio during tests. The CHS
system still operates by use of
spinning color wheel and it might
have been impossible to get home
made converters on local current
in phase with the color camera on
New York current.
4 x X +
The program CBS-TV staged
for the launching of commercial
color was bulwarked by stars
Godfrey. Faye Emerson, Garry
Moore, Sam Levenson, Ed Sulli-
van, ct al.-but it was more a
demonstration of the color cam
lera's versatility than an, enter
tainment.
/ 1t was a fairly clear victory for
color. Arthur Godfrey singing
l"on Top of Old Smokey" doesn't
sound any more like Mario LAMA
because of a backdrop in color and
that Garry Moore skit about the
Ipitchman is just as funny treal
funny in black and white as in
color, On the other hand. Faye
Emerson showing off a Picasso,
la Hopper and a Renoir and a
ballet staged by Georges Balan-
chine for the occasion, give the
color camera some latitude.
Miss Emerson,s little art show
demonstrated that it can achieve
some highly satisfactory color
nuances and the ballet, with a lot
of swirling red skirts against a
|predominately grey decor. showed
that the CHS camera is ready to
face almost any fast action and
sharp contrast.
The commercials, surprisingly
enough, also were among the more
effective portions of the CHS entry
into a hopeful new TV era. Brew
lity was on their side, of course
since 16 national advertisers haG
to get products mentioned, but
more important was the impact
of a familiar package in its
familiar colors. Advertisers are
going to love this color television.
X X X X
The launching of commercial
telecasting in CHS color does not
mean that widespread use of
color is here and that CHS has
won a complete victory and has
clear sailing ahead after the long
battle. How many of the present
IL million TV set owners will
convert to color and how many
of them will hold out in the hope
|of a compatible system is still a
large question.
According to WTOP-TV, "any
of the 265 $50 sets in the Wash
|ington area can be converted to
get colorcaStS in color for 500
or less. as soon as manufacturers
get into production. This is one
of the lowest estimates banded
about yet, however, and it is
doubtful that you can hold the
station to it and make it pay the
difference if the cost turns out to
be somewhat higher.
AS far as is known, only one
factory-made adapter has turned
up in town, but the television
dealer who imported it from New
York hopes to get more in to-
morrow. The price he is quot
ing is $l9.95 plus a $40 installa-
ton charge, which means that
you would pay 1895 for an ad-
Idition to your set which would
enable you to get black-and-
white programs like those you
already get anyhow. To get CHS
color programs in color. you also
must add the converter.
Receivers for CHS color tele-
casts, which also get standard
monochrome, now are promised
lby the fall (instead of the sum-
Imer) at approximately 1899 and
I$499. The presently-advertised
bargains in standard television
sets still look like bargains to
many in the business.
There still is the matter, ( too,
of the RCA dot-sequential color
lTV system. RCA and many in
the industry still are sold on this,
though it still is to be shown Of
ficially to the FEC.
It is unfair to compare the two
systems without watching them
side -by-side televising the same
scene and action, but the memory
| of one viewer insists that the
lRCA color demonstrated several
months back was quite the equal,
solely from a color fidelity
standpoint, of the CHS color
which became commercial yester-
lday.