Toss out

There are a few things that I couldn't make sense of in the following paragraph;

I was a TV addict. Life without a set would have been inconceivable. I left home during the great black and white toss out which followed the colour revolution. It seemed natural to pick up one of these old black and whites instead of investing in the expensive colour items.

1) What does the writer mean by "I left home"? Is it a phrase or idiom?

2) What does "the great black and white toss out" mean? I know toss out means "through or cast away". But what's the whole sentence mean?

3) Does by "the colour revolution" the writer mean "the invention of colour TV sets"?

Thanks for reading and possibly answering to my post.