Brightness Modification Proposals for Televising Color Film

Color photographic film will undoubtedly provide much of the program material for color television. If film is to be displayed to its greatest advantage, the color gamuts of film and television must be effectively evaluated. Exact colorimetric reproduction of natural scenes is neither possible nor necessarily desirable with live television or with projected motion pictures. In the present state of the art, color television reproduced luminance ranges are limited. Better televised film will result if: (1) the effective scene luminance range is modified, either in the film or in the television system, to conform to that available on the kinescope, and (2) kinescope reproductions of film colors are made lighter with increasing saturations. In principle this color-dependent brightness compensation can be accomplished by several methods. One proposed method would require insertion of new equipment in the television film chain. Alternative suggested methods require only modifications of existing television film chain equipment.