Originally posted by hypnagogue
Come to think of it, that's probably not true-- I can usually pinpoint what decade a movie or TV clip comes from by noticing differences in film quality. Or is that just due to film degradation?
I know exactly what you mean. When I was about age twelve I remember telling my dad that I could tell if a local news report was live or video taped. He was quite surprised and tested me; I was right. Really this was quite obvious since the live broadcast images were crisper and brighter than the recorded ones...I am sure due to the limitations on quality in the late 60s/early 70s.
Without googling...I think that the following is approx. true:
Very early TV used movie film and cameras; and then several variations on film size and shutter speed that each yielded unique image characteristics e.g. graininess, range of contrast, eff # of shades of gray [I'm really guessing on this one but this is what I perceive], and probably others. I know that for a short time in the very early years of TV, something called Cinemascope was used. I think used movie cameras for TV - resizing the picture for TV by re-recording the image through a lens or something. This method produced a very distinctive grainy and low contrast image. Anyway, due to the type of film used almost all of this material was lost long ago. I have heard some big star from the early years of TV lamenting this fact.
Then we see the early days of video that are really obvious in the programming of the late sixties. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but I think that what I see is a greater range from white to black, but with fewer shades of gray in between. In other words, video black is blacker that film black; and the same with white; but not so many steps between as in film. This is most of the stuff that was airing while I grew up – the early pre-color sitcoms like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, or Gilligans Island; as opposed to re-run shows from the 50's like Father Knows The Nelsons, Leave it to Beaver and so on.
From there we see early color and the increasing quality of Video as a date stamp. Also, in addition to that mentioned by one_raven, there appear to be popular or indicative styles in the sets used or the location shots chosen [for example, using the back lot of Universal Studios as opposed traveling to Texas for a location shot], filming techniques, sound quality, etc; in addition to the effects of time on the quality of the recorded information; be it film or magnetic tape. The number of plays takes a toll also.
Anyway, these are my observations and guesses. I know some of this is definitely true but I have never researched the history in detail.
I have made a bit of a hobby trying to distinguish between these difference most of my life. I have never heard anyone else mention it!
Edit: My guess is that most of the TV programs went from BW movie film to the standard BW TV film of the 50's; then BW video followed by color film, and then color video.
