Editing SECAM (section)

=== Invention ===
Development of SECAM predates PAL, and began in 1956 by a team led by [[Henri de France]] working at ''Compagnie Française de Télévision'' (later bought by Thomson, now [[Vantiva|Technicolor]]). NTSC was considered undesirable in Europe because of its tint problem, requiring an additional [[tint control|control]], which SECAM (and PAL) solved.

Some have argued that the primary motivation for the development of SECAM in France was to protect French television equipment manufacturers.<ref>Crane, R. J. (1979). The Politics of International Standards: France and the Color TV War, Ablex Publishing Corporation.</ref> However, incompatibility had started with the earlier unusual decision to adopt positive [[video modulation]] for 819-line French broadcast signals (only the UK's [[405-line television system|405-line]] was similar; widely adopted [[525 lines|525-]] and [[625 lines|625-line]] systems used negative video).

The first proposed system was called SECAM I in 1961, followed by other studies to improve compatibility and image quality,<ref name="auto4"/> but it was too soon for a wide introduction. A version of SECAM for the French [[819 line|819-line television standard]] was devised and tested, but never introduced.<ref>{{cite web |title=France had a national HD TV system as far back as 1949 |url=https://www.redsharknews.com/business/item/471-france-had-a-national-hd-tv-system-in-1949 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213082818/https://www.redsharknews.com/business/item/471-france-had-a-national-hd-tv-system-in-1949 |archive-date=13 December 2021 |access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref>

Following a pan-European agreement to introduce color TV only on 625-line broadcasts, France had to switch to that system, which happened in 1963 with the introduction of "la deuxième chaîne ORTF" [[France 2]], the second national TV network.

Further improvements during 1963 and 1964 to the standard were called SECAM II<ref name="auto4"/> and SECAM III, with the latter being presented at the 1965 [[ITU-R|CCIR]] General Assembly in [[Vienna]], and adopted by France and the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto2">{{cite news |date=15 July 1966 |title=Londres et Bonn repoussent une suggestion franco-soviétique en faveur du procédé S.E.C.A.M.-IV |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1966/07/15/londres-et-bonn-repoussent-une-suggestion-franco-sovietique-en-faveur-du-procede-s-e-c-a-m-iv_2691879_1819218.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515005816/https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1966/07/15/londres-et-bonn-repoussent-une-suggestion-franco-sovietique-en-faveur-du-procede-s-e-c-a-m-iv_2691879_1819218.html |archive-date=15 May 2022 |access-date=15 May 2022 |newspaper=Le Monde}}</ref>

Soviet technicians were involved in a separate development of the standard, creating an incompatible variant called NIIR or SECAM IV,<ref name="auto4">{{cite web |title=Bloomsbury Collections – History of Technology – Volume Twenty, 1998 |url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/history-of-technology-volume-20-volume-twenty-1998/the-pal-secam-colour-television-controversy?from=search |website=bloomsburycollections.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604052032/https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/history-of-technology-volume-20-volume-twenty-1998/the-pal-secam-colour-television-controversy |archive-date=4 June 2018}}</ref> which was not deployed. The team was working in [[Moscow]]'s [[Telecentrum]]. The NIIR designation comes from the name of the ''[[Nautchno-Issledovatelskiy Institut Radio]]'' (''NIIR'', ''rus.'' Научно-Исследовательский Институт Радио), a Soviet research institute involved in the studies.<ref name="auto2"/> Two standards were developed: ''Non-linear NIIR'',<ref name="auto3">{{cite web |title=Sowjetisch Russisches Farbfernsehen SECAM IV Linear NIR NIIR-Farbfernsehsystem NIR 4 |url=http://www.scheida.at/scheida/Televisionen_CCCP_II_UdSSRII.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127055943/http://www.scheida.at/scheida/Televisionen_CCCP_II_UdSSRII.htm |archive-date=27 November 2021 |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=scheida.at}}</ref> in which a process analogous to [[gamma correction]] is used, and ''Linear NIIR''<ref name="auto3"/> or ''SECAM IV'' that omits this process.<ref>[http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/World-TV-Standards/Colour-Standards.html#SECAM-IV SECAM-IV] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221112432/http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/World-TV-Standards/Colour-Standards.html |date=21 February 2014}}</ref> SECAM IV was proposed by France and USSR at the 1966 Oslo CCIR conference<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto2"/> and demonstrated in London.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Gould |date=17 March 1966 |title=TV: Soviet Union Offers Color System; B.B.C. Tests Secam IV, Amplitude Modulator Moscow and Paris Balk at Favored FM Device |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/17/archives/tv-soviet-union-offers-color-system-bbc-tests-secam-iv-amplitude.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515005816/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/17/archives/tv-soviet-union-offers-color-system-bbc-tests-secam-iv-amplitude.html |archive-date=15 May 2022 |access-date=15 May 2022 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Further improvements were SECAM III A, followed by SECAM III B,<ref name="auto4"/> the system adopted for general use in 1967.