Editing Kinescope (section)

== Alternatives to kinescoping ==

With the variable quality of Kinescopes, networks looked towards alternative methods to replace them with a higher degree of quality.

=== Change to 35&nbsp;mm film broadcasts ===
Programs originally shot with film cameras (as opposed to kinescopes) were also used in television's early years, although they were generally considered inferior to the big-production live programs because of their lower budgets and loss of immediacy.

In 1951, the stars and producers of the Hollywood-based television series ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', [[Desi Arnaz]] and [[Lucille Ball]], decided to film the show directly onto 35&nbsp;mm film using the [[Multicamera setup|three-camera system]], instead of broadcasting it live. Normally, a live program originating from Los Angeles would be performed live in the late afternoon for the Eastern Time Zone and seen on a kinescope three hours later in the Pacific Time Zone. But as an article in ''[[American Cinematographer]]'' explained,
{{blockquote|In the beginning there was a very definite reason for the decision of [[Desilu Productions]] to put ''I Love Lucy'' on film instead of doing it live and having kinescope recordings carry it to affiliate outlets of the network. The company was not satisfied with the quality of kinescopes. It saw that film, produced especially for television, was the only means of ensuring top quality pictures on the home receiver as well as ensuring a flawless show.<ref>Leigh Allen, "[http://www.lucyfan.com/filmingthe.html Filming the 'I Love Lucy' Show]", ''American Cinematographer'', January 1952.</ref>}}
The ''I Love Lucy'' decision introduced [[reruns]] to most of the American television audience, and set a pattern for the [[Television syndication|syndication of TV shows]] after their network runs.

=== Electronicam ===
The program director of the [[DuMont Television Network]], James L. Caddigan, devised an alternative{{snd}}the [[Electronicam]]. In this, all the studio TV cameras had built-in 35&nbsp;mm film cameras which shared the same optical path.<ref name="electronicam1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMTnTBmt7F0C&pg=PA66|title=The History of Television, 1942 to 2000|author=Albert Abramson|year=2003|page= 66|publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786412204|access-date=January 26, 2016}}</ref> An Electronicam technician threw switches to mark the film footage electronically, identifying the camera ''takes'' called by the director. The corresponding film segments from the various cameras then were combined by a film editor to duplicate the live program. The "Classic 39" syndicated episodes of ''[[The Honeymooners]]'' were filmed using Electronicam<ref name="electronicam1" /> (as well as the daily five-minute syndicated series '' [[Les Paul & Mary Ford|Les Paul & Mary Ford At Home]]'' in 1954–55), but with the introduction of a practical [[videotape]] recorder only one year away, the Electronicam system never saw widespread use. The DuMont network did not survive into the era of videotape, and in order to gain clearances for its programs, was heavily dependent on kinescopes, which it called Teletranscriptions.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMTnTBmt7F0C&pg=PA23|title=The History of Television, 1942 to 2000|author=Albert Abramson|year=2003|page=23|publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786412204|access-date=January 26, 2016}}</ref>

===Electronovision===
Attempts were made for many years to take television images, convert them to film via kinescope, then project them in theatres for paying audiences. In the mid-1960s, Producer/entrepreneur H. William "Bill" Sargent, Jr. used conventional analog Image Orthicon video camera tube units, shooting in the B&W [[819-line]] interlaced 25fps French video standard, using modified high-band quadruplex VTRs to record the signal.<ref name=Smithsonian>{{cite web|last=Eagan|first=Daniel|title=The Rock Concert That Captured an Era|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-rock-concert-that-captured-an-era-11375757/?all|work=Smithsonian Magazine|accessdate=10 February 2014|date=March 19, 2010}}</ref> The promoters of [[Electronovision]] (not to be confused with [[Electronicam]]) gave the impression that this was a new system created from scratch, using a high-tech name (and avoiding the word kinescope) to distinguish the process from conventional film photography. Nonetheless, the advances in picture quality were, at the time, a major step ahead. By capturing more than 800 lines of resolution at 25 frame/s, raw tape could be converted to film via kinescope recording with sufficient enhanced resolution to allow big-screen enlargement. The 1960s productions used Marconi image orthicon video cameras, which have a characteristic white glow around black objects (and a corresponding black glow around white objects), which was a defect of the pick-up. Later vidicon and plumbicon video camera tubes produced much cleaner, more accurate pictures.

=== Videotape ===
In 1951, singer [[Bing Crosby]]’s company [[Bing Crosby Enterprises]] made the first experimental magnetic [[video recording]]s; however, the poor picture quality and very high tape speed meant it would be impractical to use. In 1956, [[Ampex]] introduced the first commercial [[Quadruplex videotape]] recorder,<ref name="racetovideo"/> followed in 1958 by a colour model. Offering high quality and instant playback at a much lower cost, Quadruplex tape quickly replaced kinescope as the primary means of recording television broadcasts.<ref name="racetovideo"/>