Information about Kinescope

Kinescope (IPA: /ˈkɪnɨskoʊp/) originally referred to the cathode ray tube used in television monitors. Today it usually means a kinescope recording (kine [ˈkɪni] for short). The process is known as telerecording in the UK. This is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor. The word can be a verb meaning the process, or a noun referring to the equipment used for the procedure: a 16 mm or 35 mm movie camera mounted in front of a video monitor, and synchronized to the monitor’s scanning rate.

History

In September 1947, Kodak introduced the Eastman Television Recording Camera, in cooperation with DuMont Laboratories, Inc. and NBC, for recording images from a television screen under the trademark "Kinephoto". Even though their quality left much to be desired, kinescopes were initially the only way to nationally broadcast the live performances of early television from New York or other originating cities to stations not connected to the network. Television programs of all types, from prestigious dramas to regular news shows, were handled in this manner.

As television progressed, and the coaxial cable carrying programs to the west coast was completed, CBS and NBC instituted a "hot kinescope" process in which shows were filmed (kinescoped) as they aired, rushed to film processing, and then reaired three hours later. CBS filmed the programs on the west coast through microwave links from the east coast, while NBC filmed on the east coast and then rebroadcast the film to the west. The use of this crude and expensive method of time-shifting meant that the television industry’s film consumption eventually surpassed that of all of the Hollywood studios combined.[1]

Filmed programs 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. This, however, was about to change.

In 1951, the stars and producers of I Love Lucy, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, decided to shoot their show directly onto 35 mm film using the three-camera system, instead of broadcasting it live. As an article in American Cinematographer explained,

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.

The I Love Lucy decision introduced reruns to most of the American television audience, and set a pattern for the syndication of TV shows after their network runs (and later, for first-run airings via syndication) that continues to this day.

The program director of the short-lived DuMont Television Network, James Caddigan, devised an interesting but somewhat impractical alternative—the Electronicam. In this system, all the studio TV cameras had built-in 35 mm film cameras which shared the same optical path. 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 39 syndicated episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed using Electronicam, 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.

As new technologies for storing video became available, kinescopes slowly began to fade in importance: In 1951, singer Bing Crosby’s company Bing Crosby Enterprises made the first experimental magnetic video recordings; 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, followed in 1958 by a color model.

The networks continued to make kinescopes of their daytime dramas available as late as 1969 for their smaller network affiliates that did not yet have videotape capability but wished to time shift the network programming. Some of these programs aired up to two weeks after their original dates, particularly in Alaska and Hawaii. Many episodes of programs from the 1960s survive only through kinescoped copies. The last 16 mm kinescopes of television programs ended in the late 1970s, as video tape recorders became more affordable.

Image quality

A kinescope image looks less fluid than an original live or videotaped program, because normal film has only 24 frames per second, as opposed to the 60 or 50 half-frames or fields used by video. Some kinescopes filmed the television pictures at the same frame rate of 25 or 30 full frames per second, resulting in more faithful picture quality than those that recorded at 24 frames per second.

In recent years, the BBC has introduced a video process called VidFIRE, which can restore kinescope recordings to their original frame rate by interpolating video fields between the film frames.

Status of kinescopes today

Kinescopes were intended to be used for immediate rebroadcast, or for an occasional repeat of a prerecorded program, thus only a small fraction of kinescope recordings remain today. Many television shows are represented by only a handful of episodes, such as with the early television work of comedian Ernie Kovacs, and the original version of Jeopardy! hosted by Art Fleming.

Certain performers or production companies would require that a kinescope be made of every television program. Such is the case with performers Jackie Gleason and Milton Berle, for whom nearly complete program archives exist. As Jackie Gleason’s program was broadcast live in New York, the show was kinescoped for later rebroadcast for the West Coast. After these programs were shown, the kinescopes would be returned to Gleason, who kept them in his vault, and only released them to the public shortly before his death in 1987.

Milton Berle sued NBC late in his life, believing the kinescopes of a major portion of his programs were lost. However, the programs were later found in a warehouse in Los Angeles.

Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the producers of such TV game shows as What’s My Line?, had their entire output recorded on both videotape and kinescopes. These programs are rebroadcast on the American cable TV’s Game Show Network.

External links

• The kinescope page of the TV museum archives
• RCA Kinephoto equipment (early 1950s)
• The 'Total Rewind' museum of Vintage VCRs
• Blog describing many missing UK Television programmes
• Kinescope ca. 1964 of a program promoting the use of video for television commercial production