Inventors: CBS and RCA (Made separate color television designs)

There were actually two designs for the first color television. One, proposed by CBS, was the field sequential system. The system worked by simultaneously rotating red, green, and blue colored filters in front of the camera tube, and the picture tube. The television picture tube would then display the monochromatic images in sequence, giving the illusion of color. The system had its advantages and disadvantages. It was relatively simple, and still used the usual monochrome, or black-and-white, picture tube. However, the system had to display three images for every one displayed by a monochrome set. In addition, it was not compatible with these sets, which were widely in use at the time.
RCA’s dot sequential design, however, was compatible with the monochrome sets, and in addition it used less bandwidth than the CBS version. It displayed the different colors in sequential dots, rather than sequential images. It used a modified picture tube, and is the most common type of television in use today.
The color television made images more realistic and believable, and could have also led to reality-based shows. (see also Cable TV and Satellite TV.)

*Picture from http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/restoretv.html

Sources:
Reiman, R. J. Invention of Color Television - Part 1. 12 Oct 2003. <http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://ieee.cincinnati.fuse.net/
reiman/09%5F1995.html>

Reiman, R. J. Invention of Color Television - Part 2. 12 Oct 2003. <http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://ieee.cincinnati.fuse.net/
reiman/11%5F1995.html>

Restoring a Vintage Color Television Set. 12 Oct 2003. <http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/restoretv.html>

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