I was astonished to read that in this world of HD and 3D there are still 13,000 people in the UK who applied for a black and white TV licence in 2012.
The TV Licensing agency have revealed that even though the digital switchover has been completed and all viewers must now watch television through a set top box, there are still a number of people who are watching TV solely in black and white. The reasons for people’s preference for black and white TV could be financial as black and white TV licences costs just £49 whilst a colour licence will cost you £145.50. However, Iain Logie Baird, grandson of the inventor of television John Logie Baird and associate curator at the National Media Museum in Bradford thinks that there could be another reason why black and white televisions still have a place in 13,000 UK homes.
He said: “There is a subsidy for people who still have black and white sets to keep using them, but there is a sense of nostalgia as well. The National Media Museum has hundreds of black and white television sets in its collection and I’m not surprised that people are still using them. The cabinets on many of these are ‘retro’ in their design, making them conversation pieces even when they aren’t switched on. It’s a bit like owning an antique car.
“But perhaps most importantly, the television set has acted as a family gathering place in the home for decades now, well entrenched in our culture, and for a few who appreciate this fact, the old set can still hold a deep sentimental value.”*
I cannot imagine having a black and white television; I certainly don’t keep up with the latest technological advances (my television at home still has a DVD and VHS player built into it) but I certainly would not enjoy watching programmes that were made in colour on a black and white television. There is a certain charm and nostalgia to watching old black and white films but Strictly Come Dancing and Homeland in black and white? No thank you!
Although 13,000 may sound like a lot it is just a small minority when compared to the 25 million colour televisions that are licenced in the UK.
*http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jan/10/black-and-white-tv-13000-homes?INTCMP=SRCH
More than 13,000 households across the UK are still using black-and-white television sets, according to the TV Licensing authority.
Television was not invented by a single inventor, instead many people working together and alone over the years, contributed to the evolution of television.