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

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