Comments on the state of network television and other things media related.
Categories: TV Engineering
The New York Times today printed an article on mobile DTV.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE.
Related:
Mobile DTV – Too Little, Too Late?
Categories: TV Engineering
HDMI Licensing, the agent that represents the HDMI founding members (Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Technicolor, and Toshiba) is making available the part of the HDMI® 4.1 specification that deals with 3D display formats.
This will provide production companies, networks and transmission companies with the information they need to determine if their 3D programming will display on HDMI® equipped sets.
Categories: Broadcast 2.0
TV Engineering
In comments filed with the FCC’s Broadband Task Force on January 27th, the NAB and the Association For Maximum Service Television (MSTV) said that a proposal from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the wireless trade industry association (CTIA) to free-up additional spectrum was unacceptable.
The proposal calls for over-the-air broadcasters to transition from today’s high power single transmitter DTV infrastructure to one based on multiple DTS single-frequency network transmitters. The NAB and MSTV filing said the plan would create loss of service to viewers resulting from increased coverage gaps and interference.
Categories: Broadcast 2.0
TV Engineering
All Mobile Video has announced that it will build a 3-D HD remote truck utilizing Sony gear. The only other 3-D truck is NEP’s Supershooter 3D, which will be used to broadcast the Feb. 25th Harlem Globetrotters game on ESPN.
The All Mobile Video unit will incorporate 3D camera rigs from 3ality Digital, while NEP’s truck uses 3D HD camera rigs from PACE.
Categories: TV Engineering
The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (C.A.L.M.) Act (H.R. 1084) was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Dec. 16th. The Act requires the FCC to adopt specific broadcast loudness standards within a year of enacting it.
No vote appears to be scheduled in the Commerce Committee on the Senate version of the bill. (S.2847)
The ATSC has already approved a Recommended Practice on loudness, but just like with health care legislation, just because one house of congress passes something, doesn’t mean it’s a done deal.
Categories: TV Engineering
According to a study by Frank N. Magid Associates, about 28% of US households have HDTVs and receive some sort of HD program service. (With thanks to Broadcast Engineering.)
Categories: TV Engineering
And a shout-out to Steve Mendelsohn, the frequency coordinator for the New York City Marathon and game day coordinator for the New Jersey Jets.
Steve is a veteran of two networks. When the com signal leaves, you need to call Steve. (And he’s got the tales to prove it.)
(Photo from the TV Technology feature "NFL Finds the Right Frequency".)
Categories: TV Engineering
Categories: TV Engineering
I guess us TV engineers don’t visit YouTube often enough. Funny video
about repairing a microwave fading problem:
(Courtesy of www.Tech-Notes.TV)
Categories: TV Engineering
"Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables us to recognize our errors
each time we make them again."
(From some engineering magazine that I read while I was trying to become
an Electrical Engineer.)
Categories: TV Engineering
More of a reminder to me to read this post about Final Cut Pro Asset Management than anything else. Looks interesting.
Categories: TV Engineering
Categories: TV Engineering
Years after I saw the first Master Control program stream splicer at NAB
years ago in the A.F. Associates booth comes this pearl of wisdom from
John Luff in the January ‘09 issue of Broadcast
Engineering: "One might argue that a splicer is not a master control
system, but to be perfectly honest, it isn’t far from one."
Just think of how much better the picture quality would be if we used
2-pass MPEG-2 encoding on our primetime shows. (Or even better, how many
more digital program streams we could stat-mux if our main program had a
lower bitrate.)
Categories: TV Engineering
With the countdown at T-minus 13, Congress has reset the clock to June
12th. The nations electric companies are the only sure winners – some
UHF stations face five figure monthly bills for keeping their analog
transmitters on. Paula Kerger, CEO of the Public Broadcasting System, said
that the total figure for all the PBS stations was $22 million for the
four months.
Categories: TV Engineering
I was looking at small consumer "DV" type cameras at HD World to buy for
my "shooters" (VJ’s). Even JVC is looking
like it might license Sony’s flavor of XDCAM EX MPEG-2 to use on SxS
cards.
In an adjacent area in JVC’s booth they had "camera under glass"
(probably Plexiglass). This camera, not much bigger than their original JY-HD10
model looks like it could get three 1/3" chips in a very compact package.
On the small consumer side, the Canon HF 100, HF10, HF11
series is interesting for a 1/3 inch one chip sensor camera. We own one
at work and it makes nice pictures for its size.
Over at Panasonic, I was hoping to see the AG-HMC150
SD Card camera in the ‘flesh’ Alas, they only had it’s P2 cousin , the AG-HPX170
on the show floor. Big difference in the cost of media.
And at the Sony booth, the HVRZ5U
and the PMW-EX3
each have their strong points.
Categories: TV Engineering
For those of you who did not see the original Broadcast Engineering
article subtitled "Less can be more in the world of DTV broadcasting",
here’s the link.
Check out the related links on CNET
and on CarltonBale.com
Categories: TV Engineering
One of our contract engineers was in my office neatening-up my computer
cables when he sees the headline: "Iraqi
Troops Quit Sadr City Fight". He says:
"I always think about electronics when I hear about Solder City. Isn’t
that in the Silicon Valley?"
See, that’s what I miss about television engineering…
Categories: TV Engineering
(OK, this was funnier two weeks ago… )
From: aedigitaltv@mac.com
Reply-to: FinalCutPro-L@yahoogroups.com
To:
FinalCutPro-L@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 4/1/2008 8:12:22 A.M. Central
Standard Time
Subj: [FCP-L] changes for NAB
From UPI/Reuters
LAS VEGAS, NV USA April 1, 2008
<snip>
For the 2008 convention, NAB is expected to unveil two new proposals of
transmission standards for continental US television: ANALTAL, and
DIGALOG. Combining innovative features of wideband analog signals
withthe lossless potential of digital schemes, these new standards will
be incompatible with existing viewing technology but ready to usher in a
new decade of progress, particularly with respect to monitoring, in
2010. ANALTAL presents the SDI signal in biological,
rectal-linear/biologarithmic space, while DIGALOG displays will make use
of highly viewer-specific iterative-mechano-precise responses, based on
feedback, as provided by probes. Universal, Sony, Thomson/Grass Valley,
and Microsoft have endorsed DIGALOG, while Disney Studios and
Time/Warner have formed a consortium backing ANALTAL. Microsoft has
adapted DIGALOG in a proprietary manner, thus possibly forming a third
option for 2010. "These new standards have everything we need to face a
content-oriented future, and will prove a boon to manufacturers and
vendors alike, when the technology is ready," stated NAB Director
Phyllis Diller. "The market will decide, and we’re confident the more
powerful consortium will be the best."
<snip>
Andy Edwards
Categories: State of the News
TV Engineering
It’s my own fault, I guess. I made a decision to move from engineering
to production management. Now a victim of corporate belt tightening, I
know that if I want to go to NAB in the future – it will be on my own
dime & on my own time.
So I’ll be sitting here in New York reading everyone else’s NAB blog.
Check back daily for links to the most interesting items for my fellow
news junkies.
Here’s one for starters:
http://blog.digitalcontentproducer.com/nab/
Categories: TV Engineering
“He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool. Shun him
He that knows not, and knows that he knows not is a pupil. Teach him.
He that knows, and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him.
He that knows, and knows that he knows is a teacher. Follow him."
(Arabic proverb)
Thanks to Andy Mees (on the StudioDaily
Blog)
Categories: TV Engineering
Deborah D. McAdams writes in in the March issue of Television
Broadcast:
"Lip sync is notoriously bad in digital broadcast television, making a
lot of content resemble the original English-dubbed Godzilla films…."
Interesting is the information appearing in the print but not the
on-line version of the article: "…Others [individuals knowledgeable
about the issue] point out that splitting audio and video from the
get-go…was a bad idea in the first place."
No, really? Embed that audio ! That’s my motto. I’ve seen too many
‘engineers’ running around like chickens without a head (sorry, poor
choice of imagery) because they were sending analog audio through the
plant with their HD-SDI video and wondering why it was out of sync.
Categories: TV Engineering
Sorry for giving away the punchline at the begining of the story, but
you have to read the Editorial in the March 2008 edition of Broadcast
Engineering®. Makes me shudder at the thought of people with IT
backgrounds and no TV production experience running TV engineering
departments.
Categories: TV Engineering
"What gives them the right to force me to buy a new TV?"
demanded my sister-in-law’s cousin at Easter dinner. The trigger for
this outburst was a discussion of how Verizon FIOS was pulling the plug
on providing analog feeds of metro New York City TV stations and giving
out free ‘mini’ converter boxes for use on customer TV’s that currently
have no box.
Cousin Lizzy (a pseudonym) had obviously seen those "end of analog" PSAs
that strangely leave out the words "over the air" when
saying that all TV must be digital by February ‘09.
"Money", I quickly shot back. "The Federal Government is looking to make billions
of dollars selling soon to be unused TV channels to cell phone and
internet companies. But wait, you have cable, don’t you?" I asked. "Time
Warner", she said. "Then you’re fine" I said. "All you have to do is
wait for the letter from Time Warner saying that you have to get cable
boxes for the sets that don’t already have them. The only people that
have to worry are the people that are getting their TV with rabbit ears
or antennas on the roof. They are the only ones who are going to loose
their picture. They need to get one of the government’s $40 coupons for
a digital converter box."
Cousin Lizzy was disarmed but still indignant, so I added "Because they
can. They’re from the government and they are here to help you." And
child of the ’30’s Cousin Lizzy understood.
Categories: TV Engineering
Gee, if this blog
entry (from Union Square Ventures) wasn’t about hiring a CTO for a
web service, you’d think it was about hiring a TV Chief Engineer !
Categories: IPTV
TV Engineering
Sharp and Samsung do deals
for limited internet content on their TVs.
Streambox will introduce
a software-based product for mobile use and as well as other products.
(Thanks to Lost
Remote and NewTeeVee.)
