Do you know anyone who still watches TV in Black & White?

Firetrap

Saw a piece on the BBC website saying that almost 30,000 people across the UK still tune into their favourite programmes on black and white TV sets (link to the whole thing)

What amused me was the bit at the end of the page where they ask for feedback? Do you still watch television in black and white? What are the benefits? Tell us your experiences using the form below. Would people who watch TV in Black 'n White be using that internet yoke at all at all?

Movies like Schindlers List and 300 just wouldn't be the same on a B&W tv..

Dankoozy

just set the saturation to 0. tv these days is so bad it wouldnt matter if it was in b&w or colour

Inter-racial pron would be alright on one of those tvs I guess..

thomond2006

There's a colour option on TVs?!

/Grabs remote

Agricola

I know someone who doesnt have a TV - I win!

baalthor

I remember us having a b/w TV as a kid.
Colour was being introduced so some programs would have end titles that said "BBC Colour" or "ATV Colour".
I used to think "What do they mean "colour"? - I don't see any colour !" (I was 5)

When colour sets became popular older people would say "Ah, the picture was far better in black and white .."

I know at World Cups one team always plays in white shirts because so many people in poorer countries still watch on B/W sets (though maybe this changed at the last WC?)

But there are probably a small number of very old people in Ireland still watching old B/W sets - a lot of portable TVs were B/W long after regular sets became colour.

donmeister

I have a Samsung Full HD 42'' Series 6 (limited edition black and white version) and I love it.

robbie_998

donmeister wrote: »

I have a Samsung Full HD 42'' Series 6 (limited edition black and white version) and I love it.

i believe the correct term for it is "broken" !

They really should have been called "Grayscale" actually..

JONJO THE MISER

I have one of those small black and white portable tv's and it does me fine of a rainy weekday afternoon.

citizen_p

emm no......i know some guy who did though until i gave him an old one.

wlking into his house was like being in a black and white movie

Mousey-

Mousey- wrote: »

emm no......i know some guy who did though until i gave him an old one.

wlking into his house was like being in a black and white movie

You should keep in contact with him more... His house looks like good craic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKbDNY0Zwg

wudangclan

I know one friend who watches TV in black in white.
He's completely colour blind,though.

weeder

if by black and white you mean standard definition, then yes, yes i do know plenty

netwhizkid

Quite alot of CCTV is still in black and white so I guess alot of security and nightwatch men would be watching the B&W. I have an uncle who was caught having a B&W TV licence for a colour set.

RATM

Wasnt there a point in the 1980/1990s where you could opt to pay for a black and white TV license in the post office ? I think it was about 30% cheaper than a colour license so loads of people bought them despite having a colour tv

kumate_champ07

my dog

Collie D

Slightly off topic. Why do the keep showing those slow motion ads for HDTV? If you already have it you don't need it and if you don't have it you can't see the ad properly. Did they advertise colour TVs when everyone had black and white?

Ruu_Old

Boards.ie, now in Technicolor!

mukki

wonder is that 30,000 statistic something to do with getting a cheaper tv license

Collie D

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

my dog

I was always under the impression that dogs could not see two dimensional images like TV but dog I have now goes absolutly ape **** when any animal comes on TV. She also doesn't seem to like Yoda. None of my other dogs ever seemed to notice.

mikom

Firetrap wrote: »

Do you know anyone who still watches TV in Black & White?

Micheal Jackson up until a month or so ago.

wudangclan

Collie D wrote: »

I was always under the impression that dogs could not see two dimensional images like TV but dog I have now goes absolutly ape **** when any animal comes on TV. She also doesn't seem to like Yoda. None of my other dogs ever seemed to notice.

The Yoda hating dog obviously runs with the dark side.

mikemac

Deleted User wrote: »

Movies like Schindlers List and 300 just wouldn't be the same on a B&W tv..

I assume you mean Sin City and not 300?

milly4ever

i do know someone who uses a black and white tv. tv licence is cheaper for b+w tvs, but he still refuses to pay until the tv programmes improve!

Collie D

wudangclan wrote: »

The Yoda hating dog obviously runs with the dark side.

Needless to say she got a kick up the hole to put her on the right track. Next time it's black bag and river time.

nlgbbbblth

it's amazing that the effects of the ITV Colour Strike which ran for three months [November 1970 to February 1971] are still being felt - almost 40 years later.

segaBOY

mukki wrote: »

wonder is that 30,000 statistic something to do with getting a cheaper tv license

Bingo.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

It costs £142.50 for colour and £48.00 for a black and white TV Licence.

Mike 1972

For many years I had a B&W TV and a video around 1997 I bought a colour set (more for the sake of teletext though which I used a lot before I got that internet thing)

Nowadays I dont use teletext and the only TV programme I watch is Family Guy

Richiecats

My granddad watched black and white tv until he died, also he rented the same tv for 25 years, must have paid for it several time over. :mad:

nlgbbbblth

in 1970 only 5% of the population had colour sets so the ITV Colour Strike made no odds to most.

the effects are only being felt today. Anyone guess why?

oppenheimer1

segaBOY wrote: »

Bingo.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

And I think blind people in the UK get a further 50% discount. Why would you pay for a colour licence when you can't even see the thing. I imagine the majority are licence dodgers and blind people tbh

Mike 1972

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

And I think blind people in the UK get a further 50% discount. Why would you pay for a colour licence when you can't even see the thing.

A few years ago I saw a radio with a tuner which also picked up the UHF TV band surely a blind person could just buy one of these and not bother with a TV set (and hence a licence) at all

Come to think of it even if they had a TV set and didnt bother with a licence would they authorities really take them to court ? Hardly worth the bad publicity I would have thought.

My granddad watched black and white tv until he died, also he rented the same tv for 25 years, must have paid for it several time over

I wonder if he stopped paying the rent would they even have bothered to come looking for the thing back ? Is it even possible to rent a TV still in this day and age ?

orourkeda

I believe the wonderful invention of TV has yet to reach county laois.

Mike 1972

Mike 1972 wrote: »

A few years ago I saw a radio with a tuner which also picked up the UHF TV band surely a blind person could just buy one of these and not bother with a TV set (and hence a licence) at all

Blind people have friends who like to see the television I guess..

newmills

Reminds me of a snooker commentator talking about a match - he needs to pot this last blue to make the game safe - and for those of you watching in black and white, the blue is beside the green!!

kowloon

Collie D wrote: »

I was always under the impression that dogs could not see two dimensional images like TV but dog I have now goes absolutly ape **** when any animal comes on TV. She also doesn't seem to like Yoda. None of my other dogs ever seemed to notice.

Might have something to do with refresh rate, at 25 fps it might look like a slide show to them, they might just see the scan lines on older sets.

Blisterman

Here's another question.
If you watch movies from the 70's or things like Only Fools and Horses from the early 80's, they keep referring to a "colour TV". When did we reach the point where you just said "TV" and it was assumed you meant colour?

sceptre

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

the effects are only being felt today. Anyone guess why?

I'm assuming it's something to do with archived news perhaps? It's hardly that it annoys people watching re-runs of Corrie or Upstairs Downstairs.

Ciaran500

Collie D wrote: »

I was always under the impression that dogs could not see two dimensional images like TV but dog I have now goes absolutly ape **** when any animal comes on TV. She also doesn't seem to like Yoda. None of my other dogs ever seemed to notice.

Dogs can see in colour and they can see 2D images, although they see colours differently to us.

nlgbbbblth

sceptre wrote: »

I'm assuming it's something to do with archived news perhaps? It's hardly that it annoys people watching re-runs of Corrie or Upstairs Downstairs.

DVD releases.
In the last couple of years I've purchased the following DVDs which have all been affected - having a mixture of colour and black and white episodes on the one set

Budgie
Hadleigh
Crossroads
Coronation Street 70s box
Upstairs Downstairs
Timeslip
On The Buses

and there's a lot more.

milly4ever

milly4ever wrote: »

i do know someone who uses a black and white tv. tv licence is cheaper for b+w tvs, but he still refuses to pay until the tv programmes improve!

In Ireland there's no black and white licence anymore, it was scrapped a few years ago.

Blisterman wrote: »

Here's another question.
If you watch movies from the 70's or things like Only Fools and Horses from the early 80's, they keep referring to a "colour TV". When did we reach the point where you just said "TV" and it was assumed you meant colour?

Most of the ITV companies stopped referring to colour productions after the 1982 franchise period began.

milly4ever

Karsini wrote: »

In Ireland there's no black and white licence anymore, it was scrapped a few years ago.


he lives in the north

milly4ever

milly4ever wrote: »

he lives in the north

Point taken. :pac:

sneakerfreak

dogs

Mike 1972

Karsini wrote: »

In Ireland there's no black and white licence anymore, it was scrapped a few years ago.

So if you have a B&W TV in Ireland do you have to pay the colour rate or are you totally exempt ?

Mike 1972

Mike 1972 wrote: »

So if you have a B&W TV in Ireland do you have to pay the colour rate or are you totally exempt ?

I'd assume you pay the full rate. From RTÉ:

How much does a TV licence cost?
The TV Licence costs €160 The Black and White licence has been abolished.

Run_to_da_hills

My folks didn't get a colour TV until 1978,I ha to go tomy mates house up util then to watch the Pink Panther.

THen when I worked or the Lighhthuse service the Keepers had colour TV while the ratings only had black & white.