TV Color Pool Balls

We have HD cameras and screens. There’s no need for a pink 4, purple 5, brown 7, mint green 6, robin egg blue 7, etc.

Use what’s familiar. Rack up some Super Aramith Pros and play to your audience.


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Tap, tap, tap. This change was well intentioned but really … if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And that, in my opinion, is exactly what happened.

yeah not a fan

Tennesseejoe said:

Since the pool halls are closed, viewing some of the amazing action on PPV is a good alternative... I have a real problem. My vision is good but watching pool on my smart phone or laptop, then listening to announcers trying to figure what color the 4 ball is, is disturbing enough to quit watching. And PAYING. We have had this jammed down our throats. Watching 10 ball is miserable at best.

But we can fight back. I am going to let every producer know if they don't start using the old colors, I am not buying the PPV. I hate to do this because PPV is really getting good. Good matches. Good commentators. Good supporters. I want to support this new and growing venue for viewing pool.

I hope some of you will tell the producers to go back to the OLD COLOR BALLS.

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I'll play Devil's Advocate here:
The Aramith TV Pool Balls was DEFINITELY a necessity!
When you look at television back in the day (Standard Analog Definition, CRT), it was difficult to figure out what exactly the 2/10 or the 4/12 ball were as well as other colors you cannot differentiate (7/15 also comes into mind). So, when they "brighten" up the 4 (which turned into pink) as well as the 7/15 balls (lighter brown), I thought it was logically necessary to do this.
As far as the Cyclops balls go, I have no idea what they were thinking. I gave up trying to configure what color is what balls. I thought they were doing a stint for Easter.

This 'TV' balls was introduced when pool was on ESPN and the old cameras had problems with red colors . This hasn't been a problem for years ! But billiard manufacturers jumped on and kept up making these 'not needed' sets just for the money ! They are now a problem that needs to stop ! Its all about the money now.

Same reason sports teams change their shirts every season, introduce a second away shirt, wear a "memorial" shirt, etc, etc. Sell more shirts.

Sell more balls.

Gunn_Slinger said:

This 'TV' balls was introduced when pool was on ESPN and the old cameras had problems with red colors . This hasn't been a problem for years ! But billiard manufacturers jumped on and kept up making these 'not needed' sets just for the money ! They are now a problem that needs to stop ! Its all about the money now.

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I know!! Capitalism is really REALLY bad...

Unique markings would go a long way. Arbitrary example: striped 5 ball, measled one ball, etc... big preschool numbers would go the furthest.

Tennesseejoe said:

Since the pool halls are closed, viewing some of the amazing action on PPV is a good alternative... I have a real problem. My vision is good but watching pool on my smart phone or laptop, then listening to announcers trying to figure what color the 4 ball is, is disturbing enough to quit watching. And PAYING. We have had this jammed down our throats. Watching 10 ball is miserable at best.

But we can fight back. I am going to let every producer know if they don't start using the old colors, I am not buying the PPV. I hate to do this because PPV is really getting good. Good matches. Good commentators. Good supporters. I want to support this new and growing venue for viewing pool.

I hope some of you will tell the producers to go back to the OLD COLOR BALLS.

Click to expand...

You are right. Even with a great hi-def picture, it is often impossible to tell the pink 4 and orange 5 balls apart. As a viewer, it is frustrating when I can’t tell which is the 4 ball until the shooter finally gets down to shoot it. I acknowledge that a dark purple 4 ball is also sometimes hard to distinguish from other dark solids, but there has to be a better answer.

other than the pink hue i don't mind them. i play in a dark pool hall and the brighter the balls the better

MattPoland said:

We have HD cameras and screens. There’s no need for a pink 4, purple 5, brown 7, mint green 6, robin egg blue 7, etc.

Use what’s familiar. Rack up some Super Aramith Pros and play to your audience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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I have bad eyes and I can still tell what balls are what with the REGULAR colors. With the new colors, sometimes the people commentating the game don't even know what balls the new colors are.

Who ever thought the new color scheme up was an IDIOT. Why people still buy and use them is beyond me.

HawaiianEye said:

I have bad eyes and I can still tell what balls are what with the REGULAR colors. With the new colors, sometimes the people commentating the game don't even know what balls the new colors are.

Who ever thought the new color scheme up was an IDIOT. Why people still buy and use them is beyond me.

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I'm assuming your problem lies with the Cyclops color scheme. I think they are better for several reasons. 1) The color scheme for the 6 and 7 ball makes for better aiming points than the old dark green and brown colors. 2) The 4 ball is a lighter shade of purple. 3) They create a brighter view, especially if you are playing under HD lighting.

I'm colored blind. When watching streams, my biggest problem is determining what is the 3 ball and what is the 7 ball using the traditional colors. Even in an HD broadcast, and I'm using the highest resolution computer screen available. But I've learned to live with it, unlike some other posters who would prefer to simply stop watching streams in lieu of the color changes.

As far as the announcers not knowing the colors, that is simply as case of someone being lazy and unprepared to handle the job responsibilities. This is a common problem on streams. Case in point - so many people commentating on 14.1 have no idea what the basic rules of the game are. Many other times they have no information to convey on the position of the players being shown as to their position in the tournament.

Finally, remember there was a time when almost all manufactured cars were black. Things change over time.

yes when the commentators cant even tell what balls are what that means its time to go back to the old standard.

it really isnt much fun watching a game where you have to think about each ball to figure out what it is.

the t.d. and ppv people can change it with a stroke of the pen if they so choose. and they will if they believe their profit will suffer.

so some emails and posts on different sites will get their attention that you wont pay for a gimmick.

arcstats said:

Finally, remember there was a time when almost all manufactured cars were black. Things change over time.

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Actually, they weren’t. That was an American thing. Cars, in Europe were mostly bright colours and two toned. . My grandfather said in Germany the streets looked like a box of crayons. Bright greens, blues reds and lots of two tones. We can get thinking it was a black and white world because of b&w photos and film.

Re colours of balls. I don’t watch nine ball or ten ball. I do watch snooker. Being in my mid 60’s, I ‘thought’ my colour vision was fine. However I can have difficulty distinguishing a couple of the colour balls. My nephew doesn’t even think about it as he sees the colours distinctly.

Anyways, some of it is the choice of colours for tv...some of it our individual eyesight.

I love my cyclops balls.

If “I” had a say in the design, I would have traditional colors, and the stripes would be outlined with a 1/4” border of black.
What a sweet look that would make, especially if the number blazon was the old style centennial look.

Damn
That would be fantastic

maha said:

yes when the commentators cant even tell what balls are what that means its time to go back to the old standard.

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That's when it's time to put a set of the balls being used in front of the monitor for the commentators and remind them they are in those seats to talk about pool, not what their favorite color is.