60 years ago Guillermo González Camarena gave color to TV, that's how it was

A lifetime has passed since a Mexican became the best-known scientist of the time.

His knowledge transcended so much that channel 5 bears the initials XHGC, in honor of González Camarena, his initials were engraved forever.

Social networks today celebrate the event, six decades later. But here we tell you what happened.

On January 21, 1963, the first color transmission in the history of Mexican television was carried out, through Channel 5, founded by Guillermo González Camarena, inventor of the field sequential trichromatic system.

The Paraíso infantil series was chosen as the first program to be broadcast under this innovative procedure.

Guillermo González Camarena, a Mexican engineer known for being the inventor of color television, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1917 and studied at the National School of Engineers of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During his career, he worked at various telecommunications companies in Mexico and the United States before establishing his own company, Guillermo González Camarena SA de CV.

In 1940, Camarena developed his first color television system, known as the “Color Television System Number 1”, which was patented in 1942. This system used three colored lenses to separate the television signal into red, green and blue, which allowed the transmission of color images.

Despite its innovation, Camarena’s system was not commercially adopted due to competition from other color television systems in development at the time, including the NTSC standard, which was adopted as the official color television standard. in the United States and Mexico.

Even so, Camarena’s work was recognized by the industry and he was honored with various awards and recognitions, including Mexico’s Technological Merit Medal and Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle. His legacy continues to be remembered as one of the pioneers in television history.

González Camarena built his first television system in 1932, realizing that it would look much better with color images. So he spent the next few years working on his trichromatic system, with parts from broken apparatus.

In 1940 he obtained —both in Mexico and in the United States— the patent for this project with the number 40235, stored in the General Archive of the Nation under the title Registration of a Chromoscopic Adapter for Television Setswhich contains a detailed description of the model, accompanied by three plates with seven allusive drawings.

However, it was not called color television, as the invention was determined to be an improvement over previously patented black and white television sets. His patriotic sense led him to reject an important investment proposed by American universities, since he wanted his discovery to take place in his country of origin, making Mexico the first nation in the world to enjoy color television.

In 1947 the Ministry of Communications and Public Works authorized him to carry out experimental transmissions on the air, with the permission XE1GC (the last acronyms refer to their surnames). Of course, all the equipment had been designed and built by himself. However, when he did not see concrete results to obtain a television concession, he decided to send a letter to the then president Miguel Alemán Valdés, explaining the reasons why he should obtain the required license, to put his inventions at the service of the Mexican people.

This system was based on black and white at the time and there was no international standard, so the price of these devices was unaffordable for many. Aware that television should be enjoyed by the general public, he created his Simplified Bicolor System in 1963, which, as his name indicates, was simpler and more affordable.

Always committed to education, Camarena tried to bring literacy to various parts of the country through his system, which is why he promoted a project together with the Secretary of Public Education (SEP), in which classes were taught through television. in color, which over time was consolidated as the Telesecundaria Education System.

Television as a means of communication had already meant an important change in the way of life used by Mexican society in the 20th century. In a short time, the radio broadcasters were losing prominence and with the finding developed by the scientist from Guadalajara, he managed in some way that the color images made what was projected on the screen towards the spectators more credible and achieving mass audiences.

As restless as he is multifaceted, González Camarena will always be remembered as the person responsible for literally introducing the rainbow on television with which different generations of Mexicans grew up.