SMPTE Historical Note: The Forces at Work behind the NTSC Standards

Donald G. Fink

The work of the first NTSC (National Television System Committee) was built on the basis of earlier standardization attempts. The first NTSC laid the foundations that made monochrome television a practical reality in the United States. The standards it endorsed in 1941 are still in use today. At the dawn of color television it seemed at first that it was not going to be compatible with monochrome television and would need special receivers. A tug of war of compatible versus incompatible color television systems ensued. The compatible system won. The second NTSC set up the compatible standards that have been adopted by the U.S. and by the rest of the world in many major respects.

Print ISSN
Published
1981-06
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J01444