Mexico might not be the first place you think about when it comes to technological innovations, but here’s the story of a man who tried to make his country the first to have color television. Guillermo González Camarena was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1917. From a young age, he showed a talent for electrical engineering. He studied at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City.
Camarena began experimenting with mechanical television as early as the 1930s, focusing on improving the Nipkow scanning disc. By the 1940s, he tested RCA’s 1847 iconoscope camera for black-and-white television. In 1942, he patented a color system using three lenses—red, green, and blue. This innovation drew interest from American investors and universities, but he declined their offers out of patriotism. He was determined to bring the first color television system to Mexico. Unfortunately, he was beaten by John Logie Baird, who demonstrated the first electronic colored television in 1944. In 1947, Camarena finally received permission from the Mexican Secretary of Communications and Public Works to launch a new TV channel that would broadcast in color.
One of the advantages of Camarena’s system was that black-and-white TVs would only need a slight adjustment to access his color system, making it as affordable as possible for the Mexican audience. With all the equipment he designed, he could start experimenting with color television. His channel XE1GC used the initials of his last name, GC.
On January 21, 1963, Channel 5 broadcast the first color image in Mexican television history using Camarena’s trichromatic sequential field system. Mexico’s most popular public TV station, Channel 5, is named XHGC in his honor, using the initials of his last name.
Throughout his life, Camarena was deeply committed to using television for educational purposes. He created televised educational programs, including one that taught basic first aid. This eventually became what is known as the Telecseundaria education system, which means “giving middle school education through TV programs.” This was invaluable in remote areas, where there is a lack of teachers and limited access to education. For this and other work, he received the highest civilian order in Mexico, the Order of the Aztec Eagle.
His color television system was used in 1979 during NASA’s Voyager mission to convert images of Jupiter into color pictures. Unfortunately, he would never see this accomplishment because he tragically died in 1965 during an airplane crash while checking one of his television transmitters. His system did not become the standard for color television due to the popularity of the NTSC standard in the United States, although he is still remembered as a pioneer in television history.