[QuadList] Gene Kelley Show color recording system--which wasused?

[Dennis Degan]

		On Dec 29, 2008, at 11:05 AM, C. Park Seward wrote:

 > Would the reason for heterodyne playback be because the time base 
stability was not tight enough and Colortec hadn't been invented yet?

		I offer:

	I don't think that was the reason.  Heterodyne color was used for the 
same reason it was later used in U-Matic, VHS, and Beta:  The machines 
simply didn't have the bandwidth for direct color.  You'll recall that 
when low-band color came along, it had a much narrower bandwidth than 
monochrome, which made the LB color tapes that much more noisy.  It 
could be argued that the Het color recordings actually could be made 
clearer than later direct color low band recordings because of the LB 
color tapes' narrower bandwidth.  To some, it must have looked like a 
step backwards.  Of course, when high-band came along, it was used for 
both color and B/W, so they both looked very good (certainly better 
than either LB color OR Het color!).

			Dennis Degan, Editor-Consultant-Knowledge Bank
	  				NBC Today Show, New York