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Digital Archiving in Media Workflows

Why is there a growing need for digital archiving in the broadcast and post-production industry?Across all segments of the media and entertainment industry, the past decade has seen a fundamental transformation, where virtually the entire industry moved from tape or film to digital media. This change required investing in digital equipment and proc...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Hows that

A few days ago I umpired a cricket match. It was a very pleasant afternoon, marred only slightly by the almost continual drizzle, but it was August in southern England. The game was held at a lovely village cricket club, and so my fellow umpire and I did not have the benefit of replays or other technology. To be honest, I think they would have been...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Tape is dead. Long live Tape

An area that has been a vital part of television – defining much of ‘how’ and ‘what’ things are done – is recording. At first film was the medium, then in 1956, Ampex invented the video tape recorder with the prime aim of providing delayed programmes across the USA. Soon video tape editing, and other applications rapidly expanded and the 2-inch qua...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Content Control in a Complex Broadcast Environment

Broadcasters and other media companies today acquire, generate and store an unprecedented volume of content to take advantage of new distribution outlets. Enabled by the transition to digital media and file-based workflows, this model presents new opportunities with respect to revenue generation as well as new challenges in terms of establishing ef...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Ensuring the longevity of an archive

The role of the archive has changed dramatically over the last few years. Every broadcaster in the world, regardless of their size, has the tools at their disposal to unlock their assets, digitise and repurpose their content for renewed monetisation and, in some cases, for the benefit of historic value. Tapping into new revenue streams is essential...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Data storage or Media storage

Now I am no techie geek, which in this business could be viewed as a disadvantage, but I do know that in all areas of life the design of the storage container is determined to a large extent by the nature of the thing you want to store. For example, chips (or fries) work in a grease proof paper bag just fine but I like my drinks in a cup, can or bo...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Restoring The World At War

Originally broadcast in 1973 by ITV, the sweeping documentary “The World at War” focuses on the events immediately before, during, and after World War II. The British-produced television series is presented in 26 hour-long episodes and provides one of the most penetrating views into the war ever put to film. Narrated by Sir Lawrence Olivier, “The W...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

Modern Tools for Test and Measurement in Post Production

Today’s post-production facilities and practically the entire global multimedia industry, face a common issue: how to effectively eliminate the notorious problem of inconsistent loudness being pushed to the absolute limits. Whether it’s a television commercial break or a big-screen movie, there is simply no question, the signal flow should still be...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

USB 3 King of Connectivity

They call it SuperSpeed, and for a very good reason. USB 3.0 boasts a data throughput of 4.8 Gb/s. We’ve long known this ubiquitous I/O technology as the Universal Serial Bus, and the improvements gained by USB 3.0 over USB 2.0, along with its backward compatibility, have already shown the USB king of connectivity is going to undoubtedly retain its...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

Making the content factory a reality

The expression “content factory” has been around for a while and in a number of contexts. Is this a realistic concept? Can we – producers, facilities, broadcasters – embrace the idea of process in the manufacturing sense, or is making content for television and the new digital platforms too different to making biscuits or cars?We are naturally resi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

3D Diaries Part 3 Mastering 3D

The 3D Masters conference was full of optimism, and caution, for the future of stereoscopic 3D. The one-day event was a near sell-out with about 250 attendees filling most of those sumptuous theatre seats at BAFTA. Despite the comfort, warmth, darkened room and good lunch, your correspondent managed to keep wide-awake to absorb the ceaseless torren...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2010

OLED question and answer

Q: What is OLED?A: OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. OLEDs are relatively simple in structure, made up of an electrically active organic material sandwiched between an anode (a electron-releasing electrode) and a cathode (an electron-receiving electrode). When an electric current runs through the system, the anode sends electrons to the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2010

Turning walls into Canvases

Christie MicroTiles™ is the new digital canvas. It’s an entirely new, modular display technology that uses elements of DLP®, LED and rear-projection to create unique, visually compelling systems. This is technology that allows architects and retail designers to throw out the supposed rule book on how large format, motion display systems have to wor...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2010

Eye to Eye: Video monitoring and displays

Given a decent stereo audio source and a pair of headphones, it is quite easy to imagine that you are actually attending a live performance. Not so with video; human eyes are much more demanding. Fortunately picture display technology is developing very quickly and along many different routes. OLEDsLED-backlit LCDs were about the best screens avail...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2010

Getting rid of the horn

I have to start this column with a statement that may, to some readers, be profoundly shocking. I am not much of a football fan. Indeed, writing this in the immediate aftermath of that dismal Sunday when England’s “finest” succumbed pathetically to the might of the German machine, I have to say I did not watch a moment of the match. There was some...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2010