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#crt#shadowmask#analogtelevision

How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings

Technology Connections

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  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2019 to 2026.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

503K views8 years ago2 recommendations

HardwareHistory and cultureRetro computingHistory of computing

Alec Watson explains the early history of analog color television and how shadow masks work in cathode-ray tubes.

In this video we explore how we added color to everyone's favorite passive entertainment medium. Modern color broadcasting began in 1954 after years of experimentation, and this video will teach you the early history. Technology Connections is a YouTube channel dedicated to exploring the history of technological innovation. You can support this channel via a monetary contribution at patreon.com/technologyconnections Thank you to all current patrons! Benjamin Kord, Tommi Hares, Dakota Williams, Jeremy DeGuzman, Sean Spark, Lucas Hartbarger, Taylor Cuzela, twiglet, David Lastres, Granger Meador, Jeremy Kitchen, Jason Wellband, Shane Belaire, Paul Emmerich, Max Burns, Sam Hodge, Matthew Rossi, Paul Craigie, Alex Smith, Paul Williams, Dane Peterson, Brent LaRowe, Quinton Wilson, Aerospyke, Kieran Cox, Hunter Schwisow, wsh, Logan Kriete, Rafał Wiosna, Adam D. Ruppe, Audin Malmin, Eric Hansen, Noah McCann, Jason R Scheuren, Rufo Sanchez, Aaron Herbst, Bjørn Vegar Torseth, Yaniv, Matt Falcon, Stewart Harvath, Kevin Landrigan, Evan Papp, Jason Weathered, Jolyan g shaba, Stephen Youndt, Stephen Bell, Steven First, Howard Longden, Gianluca D'Orazio, Martin Granestrand, Anthony Pettit, Paul Ziegler, Stephen Furness, Joseph, Marty Connor, Wesley Van Pelt, Lorenzo Novara, Lee Lemoine, John Trevick, Elliot King, Paul Anderson, Gustaf Lindblad, Carl Yazbek, Nicholas, Matthew, Gary Generous, Daniel Mann, Harald E. Westlie, Daniel Newton, urbanhusky, Henri Hyyryläinen, James Holmes, Dave Anderson, Neil Hopwood, Duncan Middleton, Aric Vogel, Conor Killeen, Tyler Knott, Slone Fallion, KrzysFR, seagull, Robert Stadtmüller, Athanasios Kountouras, Gorka Alda, Jason Brammer, Sarah Symon, Francis Fisher, Tab Patterson, Philipp Thomasberger, Gustavo Carballeira, SkydiveWeee, Nolan Johnson, Samuel Kadolph, Robert Toth, Matthew Giraitis, Ellis M. Eisen, Tyler, Michael Shick, Thomas Jew, Eric Wood, Kasper Guldmann, Joe Bond, Eidorian, Cubase Academy, Nikolaj Sørensen, Jesper Hansen, John Kesson, cpb, Anonymous49856739245764, Jason Ganiatsas

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an exceptionally clear explanation of how analog color television and CRT shadow masks work.

canthonytuccion Hacker News • Recommends

On “Odd History of the SD Logo [video]”

So happy to see Technology Connections here, one of my absolute favorite YouTube channels and one that I have learned a lot from. This one on "how analog tv works" I thought was especially good. link to this video

AlexDragusinon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Why Inventing Color TV Was So Difficult [video]”

Alec Watson from Technology Connections did an entire series on this subject: (How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings) link to this video Then the playlist on TV stuff: link Don't blame me for the rabbit hole :P

s_gourichonon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Good Quality DOSBox Video Capture”

…ax-width:42em. So, web viewing does introduce some smoothing * the CRTs-based screens of the days were not that crisp! Especially the color ones, they had a "shadow mask", a grid of RGB spots which had no reason to be aligned with the pixel locations (this is explained e.g. on "How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings" by "Technology Connections" link to this video or jump straight to link to this video for explanations and link to this video for close-to-screen example ) > The screenshots obtained in this manner have an aspect ratio of 8:5 which makes the output look stretched horizontally. Because modern format and/or modern displaying program tend to assume square pixels, which originals were not. Same issue on Amiga (p…