https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741

How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
know?

I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
Could this have happened here too?

Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
B&W archive?

On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
> B&W archive?

I posted a link to a PDF of Pawley about a week ago, you should find
plenty of dates for introduction of colour at the BBC in there.

Scott wrote:

> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording?

If the B&W film recording is off-air from a PAL transmission, the chroma-dots
can be used to reconstruct the colours

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_recovery>

On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 13:37:28 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk>
wrote:

>Scott wrote:
>
>> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording?
>
>If the B&W film recording is off-air from a PAL transmission, the chroma-dots
>can be used to reconstruct the colours
>
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_recovery>

Thanks, but in this case the BBC report refers to 'colourisation'
rather than colour recovery. Maybe the terminology is wrong, but I
wonder how you would colourise a pure black and white recording.

Scott wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_recovery>
>
> Thanks, but in this case the BBC report refers to 'colourisation'
> rather than colour recovery. Maybe the terminology is wrong, but I
> wonder how you would colourise a pure black and white recording.

look for some of the Laurel & Hardy films, as shown colourised on Italian TV

On 23/12/2021 13:47, Scott wrote:
>
> Thanks, but in this case the BBC report refers to 'colourisation'
> rather than colour recovery. Maybe the terminology is wrong, but I
> wonder how you would colourise a pure black and white recording.
>

https://colour-recovery.fandom.com/wiki

https://colour-recovery.fandom.com/wiki/Processed_programmes

Looks like Mr Russell's work again.

This from 3 years ago

"Morecambe & Wise restored using BBC BASIC!"
https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=16161

--
Adrian C

On 23/12/2021 in message <j2jet2Fp9a8U1@mid.individual.net> Adrian
Caspersz wrote:

>Looks like Mr Russell's work again.
>
>
>This from 3 years ago
>
>"Morecambe & Wise restored using BBC BASIC!"
>https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=16161

I've just dug my 4 x BBC Micros our of the lost preparatory to moving!

Does anybody in here use Russells' BBC Basic on a PC? I am tempted.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it

On 23/12/2021 14:42, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> On 23/12/2021 in message <j2jet2Fp9a8U1@mid.individual.net> Adrian
> Caspersz wrote:
>
>> Looks like Mr Russell's work again.
>>
>>
>> This from 3 years ago
>>
>> "Morecambe & Wise restored using BBC BASIC!"
>> https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=16161
>
> I've just dug my 4 x BBC Micros our of the lost preparatory to moving!
>
> Does anybody in here use Russells' BBC Basic on a PC? I am tempted.
>
Used it for years on a PC, even at work. I've just got the demo version
at the moment which I've been using to modify some photos - must buy the
full copy.

Phil M

On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
>
> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
> know?
>
> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
> Could this have happened here too?
>
> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
> B&W archive?

This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in the
Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what makes it
news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions it as only
being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So it's a bit
ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been restored, or
whether it was just B/W and that required restoration, and the colour
has been added.

--

Jeff

On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:39:53 +0000, Jeff Layman
<jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
>>
>> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
>> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
>> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
>> know?
>>
>> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
>> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
>> Could this have happened here too?
>>
>> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
>> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
>> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
>> B&W archive?
>
>This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in the
>Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what makes it
>news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions it as only
>being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So it's a bit
>ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been restored, or
>whether it was just B/W and that required restoration, and the colour
>has been added.

The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.

Rod.

On Thursday, 23 December 2021 at 13:37:33 UTC, Andy Burns wrote:
> Scott wrote:
>
> > How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording?
> If the B&W film recording is off-air from a PAL transmission, the chroma-dots
> can be used to reconstruct the colours
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_recovery>

Yes this was done for some early TOTP IIRC.

"Roderick Stewart" <rjfs@escapetime.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:h2a9sgpn5rpk0hu2t65rtrpb7p754r3p3m@4ax.com...
> The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
> technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
> it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
> described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.

On the other hand, a projector for 16 mm (or even 8 mm) film is something
that you might expect Eric Morecambe to have, so it is plausible that he
might have film recordings of the M&W programmes. But it is highly unlikely
that he would have a 2" Quad VTR (or even a 1" helical VTR, if that format
had been introduced in time for the missing programme), so canisters of
videotape would not be much use to him - unless he got the studio to run off
an extra copy that he would keep safely at home (despite not being able to
play it) in case the master got binned.

In article <h2a9sgpn5rpk0hu2t65rtrpb7p754r3p3m@4ax.com>,
Roderick Stewart <rjfs@escapetime.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:39:53 +0000, Jeff Layman
> <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> >On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
> >> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
> >>
> >> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
> >> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
> >> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
> >> know?
> >>
> >> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
> >> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
> >> Could this have happened here too?
> >>
> >> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
> >> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
> >> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
> >> B&W archive?
> >
> >This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in the
> >Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what makes it
> >news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions it as only
> >being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So it's a bit
> >ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been restored, or
> >whether it was just B/W and that required restoration, and the colour
> >has been added.

> The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
> technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
> it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
> described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.

Indeed so, but film recording of the show might have been made for export.
Not every customer would have had colour capapble VCRs. Film might explain
the problems with colour after 50 years.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 23/12/2021 16:52, Roderick Stewart wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:39:53 +0000, Jeff Layman
> <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
>>>
>>> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
>>> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
>>> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
>>> know?
>>>
>>> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
>>> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
>>> Could this have happened here too?
>>>
>>> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
>>> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
>>> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
>>> B&W archive?
>>
>> This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in the
>> Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what makes it
>> news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions it as only
>> being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So it's a bit
>> ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been restored, or
>> whether it was just B/W and that required restoration, and the colour
>> has been added.
>
> The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
> technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
> it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
> described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.

Yes, the BBC article is totally confused as to what was inside the can!
It refers to "the footage..." which suggests a film (I've never heard of
"tape footage". Was it ever used?). Then says "Dating from 1970, the
45-minute episode had originally been wiped by the BBC so the expensive
tape could be re-used", which states it was a tape. It continues "His
agent sent them off to be examined and the films inside them were
checked by experts", so back to films. Finally, it says "...these are
important pieces from the golden era of television so to find something
that was presumed wiped,..." which is back to tape!

The BBC programme on Christmas day is titled "The Morecambe and Wise
Show 1970: the Lost Tape". The article in the RT about Gary Morecambe's
discovery in 2020 says that he found a stack of reels (sic - there is no
mention of cans), but the BBC programme entry for 7.45 says ".. it was
discovered in an unmarked can"!

--

Jeff

"Jeff Layman" <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:sq2fi7$ok3$1@dont-email.me...
> On 23/12/2021 16:52, Roderick Stewart wrote:
>> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:39:53 +0000, Jeff Layman
>> <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
>>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
>>>>
>>>> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
>>>> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
>>>> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
>>>> know?
>>>>
>>>> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
>>>> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
>>>> Could this have happened here too?
>>>>
>>>> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
>>>> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
>>>> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
>>>> B&W archive?
>>>
>>> This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in the
>>> Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what makes it
>>> news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions it as only
>>> being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So it's a bit
>>> ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been restored, or
>>> whether it was just B/W and that required restoration, and the colour
>>> has been added.
>>
>> The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
>> technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
>> it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
>> described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.
>
> Yes, the BBC article is totally confused as to what was inside the can! It
> refers to "the footage..." which suggests a film (I've never heard of
> "tape footage". Was it ever used?). Then says "Dating from 1970, the
> 45-minute episode had originally been wiped by the BBC so the expensive
> tape could be re-used", which states it was a tape. It continues "His
> agent sent them off to be examined and the films inside them were checked
> by experts", so back to films. Finally, it says "...these are important
> pieces from the golden era of television so to find something that was
> presumed wiped,..." which is back to tape!
>
> The BBC programme on Christmas day is titled "The Morecambe and Wise Show
> 1970: the Lost Tape". The article in the RT about Gary Morecambe's
> discovery in 2020 says that he found a stack of reels (sic - there is no
> mention of cans), but the BBC programme entry for 7.45 says ".. it was
> discovered in an unmarked can"!

Not so confused. The master tape was wiped, but a film recording copy was
made before the tape was wiped, and this is what survives. Ideally
broadcasters would prefer the tape (providing it was still readable) because
it would be in colour, but failing that, they have used a (presumably) B&W
film copy and have either colourised it (with artificial colour) or else
restored the genuine colour from PAL dot-patterning.

As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes ever made
and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?

On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:50:02 +0000, NY wrote:

> As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes ever
> made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?

A company in London called CFS (Colour Film Services) did film
telerecording in colour using optically combined images from red green and
blue crts. I heard the quality was excellent.

--
TOJ.

In article <memo.20211223194242.13100A@magsys.adsl.magsys.co.uk>, Angus
Robertson - Magenta Systems Ltd <angus@magsys.co.uk> wrote:
> > As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes
> > ever made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?

> I worked at TVC in the early seventies, and I recall it was all
> monochrome film recording for export to other countries that did not even
> have 2in quad tape, never mind colour.

> 2in quad tape was so expensive at the time and the machines horrendously
> expensive, film was easier for export.

> I think Rank Video had the first decent colour film recorder a few years
> later.

Techicolor made colour films from tapes

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In article <sq2fi7$ok3$1@dont-email.me>,
Jeff Layman <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 23/12/2021 16:52, Roderick Stewart wrote:
> > On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:39:53 +0000, Jeff Layman
> > <jmlayman@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
> >>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
> >>>
> >>> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
> >>> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
> >>> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
> >>> know?
> >>>
> >>> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
> >>> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
> >>> Could this have happened here too?
> >>>
> >>> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
> >>> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
> >>> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
> >>> B&W archive?
> >>
> >> This was on the main news last night and today. It was previewed in
> >> the Christmas Radio Times available a couple of weeks ago, so what
> >> makes it news now rather than then? Strangely, though, the RT mentions
> >> it as only being "restored" - there is no mention of colourising. So
> >> it's a bit ambiguous as to whether the colour was there and has been
> >> restored, or whether it was just B/W and that required restoration,
> >> and the colour has been added.
> >
> > The BBC article refers to "films" being discovered in "canisters" but
> > technical terminology is routinely so sloppily used these days that
> > it's hard to say what it means. A videotape in a case might be
> > described as a film in a canister by someone who hasn't a clue.

> Yes, the BBC article is totally confused as to what was inside the can!
> It refers to "the footage..." which suggests a film (I've never heard of
> "tape footage". Was it ever used?). Then says "Dating from 1970, the
> 45-minute episode had originally been wiped by the BBC so the expensive
> tape could be re-used", which states it was a tape.

No. it says it wasn't a tape, because that had been wiped.

> It continues "His
> agent sent them off to be examined and the films inside them were
> checked by experts", so back to films. Finally, it says "...these are
> important pieces from the golden era of television so to find something
> that was presumed wiped,..." which is back to tape!

> The BBC programme on Christmas day is titled "The Morecambe and Wise
> Show 1970: the Lost Tape". The article in the RT about Gary Morecambe's
> discovery in 2020 says that he found a stack of reels (sic - there is no
> mention of cans), but the BBC programme entry for 7.45 says ".. it was
> discovered in an unmarked can"!

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 20:41:52 +0000 (GMT), charles
<charles@candehope.me.uk> wrote:

>In article <memo.20211223194242.13100A@magsys.adsl.magsys.co.uk>, Angus
>Robertson - Magenta Systems Ltd <angus@magsys.co.uk> wrote:
>> > As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes
>> > ever made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?
>
>> I worked at TVC in the early seventies, and I recall it was all
>> monochrome film recording for export to other countries that did not even
>> have 2in quad tape, never mind colour.
>
>> 2in quad tape was so expensive at the time and the machines horrendously
>> expensive, film was easier for export.
>
>> I think Rank Video had the first decent colour film recorder a few years
>> later.
>
>Techicolor made colour films from tapes

Would the BBC not want to do it in house if it was only for archive
purposes? I assume monochrome was cheaper as cost was clearly an
issue.

"The Other John" <nomail@home.org> wrote in message
news:sq2jlh$8h4$1@dont-email.me...
> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:50:02 +0000, NY wrote:
>
>> As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes ever
>> made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?
>
> A company in London called CFS (Colour Film Services) did film
> telerecording in colour using optically combined images from red green and
> blue crts. I heard the quality was excellent.

Did they use separate CRTs for the three colours, rather than one shadow
mask CRT, to avoid adding a shadow mash pattern to the image which could
produce moiré fringing when the film was later telecined and displayed on
other shadow mask CRTs?

"NY" <me@privacy.invalid> wrote in message
news:sq31i0$clu$1@dont-email.me...
> "The Other John" <nomail@home.org> wrote in message
> news:sq2jlh$8h4$1@dont-email.me...
>> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:50:02 +0000, NY wrote:
>>
>>> As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes ever
>>> made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?
>>
>> A company in London called CFS (Colour Film Services) did film
>> telerecording in colour using optically combined images from red green
>> and
>> blue crts. I heard the quality was excellent.
>
> Did they use separate CRTs for the three colours, rather than one shadow
> mask CRT, to avoid adding a shadow mash pattern to the image which could
> produce moiré fringing when the film was later telecined and displayed on
> other shadow mask CRTs?

Come to think of it, I'm surprised that the image of the raster of a
monochrome screen on a film recording doesn't produce moiré if there is any
vertical and horizontal jitter in the precise position of each film frame as
it is scanned by the telecine.

I was watching the BBC Four programme tonight about the 1963 Big Freeze and
that was obviously a (B&W) film recording of the original transmission
(there was all sorts of dirt and creases on the film!). And there was a
strange mottled pattern which seemed to be constant for any given shot
(visible as being static when the camera panned) but which seemed to vary
from one film insert to another; it was less noticeable for studio shots.
And there was banding on areas that changed gradually from dark to light,
where all of one region was a single tone and then there was a noticeable
jump to another brightness in neighbouring part of the picture. This was
apparent at all brightnesses, and was far more noticeable than the normal
banding that you get with digital TV which has 256 levels of grey (or of
each primary colour), because that is only noticeable on very dark tones (eg
an illuminated subject against an all-black background).

Is all of that normal for film recordings that are then telecined?

Did film recording of a programme that had filmed inserts take any
precautions to make sure that the change from one film frame to the next in
the film recording occurred in sync with the film insert as it was
originally telecined for the programme, rather than happening to be one
field adrift? I saw several occasions where there was double-imaging on
movement, which suggested that the two were not always in sync: a single
frame of original film insert comprised an even and an odd field which both
show the motion at the same instant (when the film camera shutter opened)
but then the film recording of this has combined the even field of one frame
with the odd field of the next one, so you got two images taken at different
instants.

On 24/12/2021 12:01 am, NY wrote:
> "NY" <me@privacy.invalid> wrote in message
> news:sq31i0$clu$1@dont-email.me...
>> "The Other John" <nomail@home.org> wrote in message
>> news:sq2jlh$8h4$1@dont-email.me...
>>> On Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:50:02 +0000, NY wrote:
>>>
>>>> As a matter of interest, were colour film recordings of programmes ever
>>>> made and later transmitted, or was film recording always B&W?
>>>
>>> A company in London called CFS (Colour Film Services) did film
>>> telerecording in colour using optically combined images from red
>>> green and
>>> blue crts. I heard the quality was excellent.
>>
>> Did they use separate CRTs for the three colours, rather than one
>> shadow mask CRT, to avoid adding a shadow mash pattern to the image
>> which could produce moiré fringing when the film was later telecined
>> and displayed on other shadow mask CRTs?
>
> Come to think of it, I'm surprised that the image of the raster of a
> monochrome screen on a film recording doesn't produce moiré if there is
> any vertical and horizontal jitter in the precise position of each film
> frame as it is scanned by the telecine.
>
>
> I was watching the BBC Four programme tonight about the 1963 Big Freeze
> and that was obviously a (B&W) film recording of the original
> transmission (there was all sorts of dirt and creases on the film!). And
> there was a strange mottled pattern which seemed to be constant for any
> given shot (visible as being static when the camera panned) but which
> seemed to vary from one film insert to another; it was less noticeable
> for studio shots. And there was banding on areas that changed gradually
> from dark to light, where all of one region was a single tone and then
> there was a noticeable jump to another brightness in neighbouring part
> of the picture. This was apparent at all brightnesses, and was far more
> noticeable than the normal banding that you get with digital TV which
> has 256 levels of grey (or of each primary colour), because that is only
> noticeable on very dark tones (eg an illuminated subject against an
> all-black background).
>
> Is all of that normal for film recordings that are then telecined?
>
>
> Did film recording of a programme that had filmed inserts take any
> precautions to make sure that the change from one film frame to the next
> in the film recording occurred in sync with the film insert as it was
> originally telecined for the programme, rather than happening to be one
> field adrift?

I seem to remember mention of "station sync", which meant that all video
being transmitted was locked to a station-wide time-signal, presumably
to avoid the problem of which you speak.

> I saw several occasions where there was double-imaging on
> movement, which suggested that the two were not always in sync: a single
> frame of original film insert comprised an even and an odd field which
> both show the motion at the same instant (when the film camera shutter
> opened) but then the film recording of this has combined the even field
> of one frame with the odd field of the next one, so you got two images
> taken at different instants.

On 23/12/2021 17:55, charles wrote:
> Not every customer would have had colour capapble VCRs. Film might explain
> the problems with colour after 50 years.

I can't remember ever seeing a non-colour video recorder in a private house.

Bill

Who knows. However there were companies around over 15 years ago colourising
black and white films. Some more successfully than others. I guess if you
allot a colour to something, then you can use similar techniques to the
'tweening' used by cartoon creators to calculate the movement and the
saturation from the scene.
I did see a very old colorized Laurel and Hardy film which looked
reasonable when I could see. However if you studied it closely some
shimmering around parts of faces etc, could be seen, and me at least cars
and other coloured things all looked a bit too bright and pristine. They
must have got rid of the graininess and fluctuations and it might be those
processes that make the colourising more inaccurate. Having said that there
are some awful examples of video from film conversions about where many
faces look like there is no detail due to some kind of white level clamping
and washing out of detail.
Brian

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"Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9bt8sgh5m9h7u3mcaofo85jnfg559lc72a@4ax.com...
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59599741
>
> How do they 'colourise' a black and white recording? Is this a manual
> process or is it automated. I assume you would need to tell the
> computer what each colour is supposed to be. How would the operator
> know?
>
> I think I read once (with Dad's Army) that the black and white
> recording contained hidden colour information for the export version.
> Could this have happened here too?
>
> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
> B&W archive?

Talking of those shows. A lot of the sketches in those involved them both
being in bed together in their pyjamas. Does this mean all the shows with
those scenes in will be cut or maybe shown after the watershed. It was all
so innocent back then.
Bring back the Black and White Minstrel show I say!
I was taken along to one of their so called live shows once. It was all
rather boring and all the singing was either mimed or sung over a canned
backing track.
Brian

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"MB" <MB@nospam.net> wrote in message news:sq1u2h$5r1$2@dont-email.me...
> On 23/12/2021 13:19, Scott wrote:
>> Also, I see the recording dates from 1970. I thought the main
>> channels moved to colour in 1969, so why was it not recorded in
>> colour, or maybe it was in colour with the tape found in the attic a
>> B&W archive?
>
> I posted a link to a PDF of Pawley about a week ago, you should find
> plenty of dates for introduction of colour at the BBC in there.
>