Thread: 240, 405 & 625
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 7:24 pm   #11
ppppenguin
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Default Re: 240, 405 & 625

If we extend this thread to include 819 there must be a similarly interesting history to be researched about the French system. As I mentioned in another thread this never really attained its potential. The contrast between this and 405, which rapidly attained its full potential, might well be instructive.

There were also 1000 line HD experiments in the 1950s. Pye(?) made equipment for making films using TV cameras. Again this looks like a system too far ahead of its time.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that 625 (and 525) served the world very well for a long time. It has taken a long time from the first demonstrations of 1080 line systems (1125 total lines) to general deployment as a public service. Apart from various techincal problems, it could be argued that 625 and 525 were entirely good enough, certainly good enough for there not to be a public clamour for HD. Of course the 405 system could have provided the basis of a modern high definition system. I wrote about this in April 1987
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