It may be obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs stating, which is that television pictures can only be assessed by the viewer through the human visual system. It is equally obvious, that moving picture reproduction systems developed without an understanding of human vision will be sub-optimal. That’s where we are at the moment: today’s TV and cinema standards were specified before much of what we know about sight was well understood. With our now expanded and newer understanding, we should apply the science to future television systems.
With consumers viewing (and listening to) content on more devices and in more places than ever before, broadcasters are being challenged to meet demands for new and better audio experiences in the most cost-effective way. This means upping the ante on multichannel audio from the existing 5.1 surround sound systems found in homes across the world. Consequently, broadcasters are assessing the capabilities of existing infrastructures and determining how new developments in audio and video technology will affect their ability to deliver enhanced services to a broad array of end-user technologies—from high-end home theaters, to tablets and smart phones.
Broadcasting and telecoms have had a long relationship, one that in recent years has become closer and more symbiotic. But there is one area where the two clash head on: radio spectrum. This is a vital resource for not just television and radio transmission but also the production of entertainment shows and outside broadcasts today, which relies heavily on wireless microphones and cameras, in-ear monitors (IEMs) and mobile communications. Parallel to this is the ever-growing demand from mobile phone companies for frequencies to support video streaming and wireless telephony as well as telephony.
Stone, papyrus, paper.. the history of recorded information suggests that a physical medium has the best chance of long term survival. It’s a problem that Hollywood studios continues to grapple with by retaining archival film prints of movies in the knowledge that, contrary to digital, optical or cloud-based formats, it will safely last a century. The BFI’s Master Film Store in Warwickshire is a giant fridge capable of housing 450,00 film canisters – the sum of UK film heritage. Most film releases also receive a digital back-up, usually on LTO, from which the data requires periodical migration to new tapes. While LTO could feasibly last several decades, work is afoot to find a longer lasting format which doesn’t require human intervention, potential technical read/write obsolescence or run the risk of data decay.
Media Asset Management (MAM) systems are revolutionizing the way media enterprises manage and optimize their content life cycles by delivering revenue, efficiency, and creative gains, yet understanding how to financially justify new projects remains a challenge for many organizations.
I remember “painting” the cameras. Riding the CCU’s to make sure that the trees did not change from emerald green to grass green when the fader bar on the switcher was pulled. Colour grading in the post suite has made the crude tools we used to use outdated, but what about live production in the new multi-digital world? When colours change between shots it breaks the illusion. We have become lax about this because the tools are simply not available.
This article is a basic primer with excerpts taken from the larger comprehensive document written by this article’s author for iZotope, Inc. The complete eBook and PDF is available for free at: https://www.izotope.com/en/support/support-resources/guides/
While cloud computing isn’t new, only recently has it begun to play a critical role in the video workflow process as broadcasters seek new ways to reduce the costs of their video processing and quality control (QC) needs. The immediately available processing infrastructure of the cloud is naturally appealing to broadcasters as it eliminates the need to actually purchase and deploy costly equipment, which reduces their capital costs.
