Color television


RCA PRESIDENT FRANKLIN FOLSOM (LEFT) AND RCA CHAIRMAN DAVID SARNOFF WITH AN RCA CTC-5 COLOR TELEVISION, CIRCA 1956

At the 1939 World’s Fair, RCA laboratories–now a part of SRI International–introduced the all-electronic television system. The invention of the television created an industry that forever changed the world.

By 1953, RCA devised the first complete electronic color TV system. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted RCA’s system as its National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard that same year. The NTSC standard is still in use today.

“The Story of Television,” video, circa 1956

bw_color-tv-tubes demo for execs
Four prominent RCA researchers show the color TV tube selected after an internal contest, 1950.

Read our 75th anniversary blog feature

75 Years of Innovation: Color television

Read more from SRI

  • surgeons around a surgical robot

    The SRI research behind today’s surgical robotics

    Intuitive’s da Vinci 5 system represents a major leap in robotic-assisted medicine. It all started at SRI, which continues to advance teleoperation technologies.

  • a collage of digital graphs

    A banner year for quantum

    SRI-managed QED-C’s annual report on quantum trends captures an industry accelerating rapidly from technical promise toward major global impact.

  • ICE Cube containing SRI’s aerogel experiment, photographed prior to launch. Source: Aerospace Applications North America

    An SRI carbon capture experiment launches into space

    By synthesizing carbon-absorbing aerogels in microgravity, SRI research will give us a rare glimpse into how these materials could be radically improved.