Media

• Movies and animated cartoons. While some color film processes (including hand coloring) were experimented with and in limited use from the earliest days of the motion picture, the switch from films almost always being in black-and-white to almost always being in color was a gradual process mostly taking place from the 1930s to the 1960s. Even when most studios had the capabilities to make color films, they were not wildly popular at first because early tinting techniques and Technicolor film left much to be desired. For the years 1940–1966 a separate Academy Award for Best Art Direction was given for black and white movies, along with one for those in color. Some modern directors still shoot in black and white as an artistic choice, though it's much less common for a major Hollywood production. See List of recent films in black-and-white.
• Photography was black-and-white or shades of sepia. Color photography was originally rare and expensive, and early on often less true to life. Color photography became much more common in middle of the 20th century, and has become even more common since. Black-and-white remains a niche market for photographers who use the medium for artistic purposes. This can take the form of black and white film or digital conversion to greyscale, with optional image manipulation to enhance the results. For amateur use, Kodak manufactures a black-and-white disposable camera. Special films are produced today which give black and white images using the ubiquitous C41 color process.
• Television was originally broadcast in black-and-white. Some color broadcasts began in the 1950s, with color becoming common in western industrialized nations during the 1960s and 1970s. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission settled on the NTSC standard in 1953, and the NBC network began broadcasting a limited color television schedule in January, 1954. Color television became more widespread in the U.S. between 1964 and 1967, when the CBS and ABC networks joined NBC in broadcasting full color schedules. Canada began airing color television in 1966 while the United Kingdom settled on an official color system in November 1969. New Zealand began color broadcasting in 1973, and Australia kept airing black-and-white broadcasts until 1975. While no longer used much professionally, many consumer camcorders have the ability to record in black-and-white.
• Most newspapers were black-and-white until the late 1970s; The New York Times and The Washington Post remained in black-and-white until the 1990s, some claiming USA Today was the major impetus for the change. Even today, many newspapers restrict color photographs to the front and other prominent pages since mass producing photographs in black-and-white is considerably cheaper than color.
• Jet magazine was either all or mostly black-and-white until the end of the 20th century, when it became all-color.
• School yearbooks have (historically) been printed either entirely or mostly in black-and-white. All-color school yearbooks are rare as of now, but the rate is increasing.

Computing

Further Information

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