RCA TK-40/41


The RCA TK-40 is considered to be the first color television camera, initially used for special broadcasts in late 1953, and with the follow-on TK-40A actually becoming the first to be produced in quantity in March 1954. The TK-40 was produced by RCA Broadcast to showcase the new compatible color system for NTSC—eventually named NTSC-M or simply M—which the company is credited with inventing (though several other companies including Philco were involved in development). Color had been attempted many times before, often in a semi-mechanical fashion, but this was the first series of practical, fully-electronic cameras to go into widespread production.