KitPlus | Articles

The Digital Production Partnership

by Simon Pegg Issue 86 - February 2014 The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) was founded in January 2011 by the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, with representation from Sky, Channel 5, S4/C, UKTV, and BT Sport, to help speed the transition to fully digital production and distribution in television. As part of its work, the group has established common...

Submitted by Simon Pegg

Published 01 March 2014

A testing 4K future...

by Steve NunneyIssue 83 - November 2013 We have only recently started to get HDTV transmitted to our homes with all the headaches of getting 1920 x 1080 50 or 60 fps down cables and compressed over the airways. Then there was the suggestion we could be sitting at home wearing glasses watching 3D however on 13th June 2013, ESPN announced an end to b...

Submitted by Steve Nunney

Published 01 December 2013

Leading digital cinematography seminar with Matt Siegel

by Matt SiegelIssue 83 - November 2013 Multiple-award-winning film producer and cinematographer Matt Siegel chose a Leader LV5381 four-input multi-SDI monitor for use during his recent seminar on Digital Cinematography at The Maine Media Workshops. Designed for emerging cinematographers, the course explained the advantages of using digital technolo...

Submitted by Matt Siegel

Published 01 December 2013

Remote control and monitoring

by Alan WheableIssue 83 - November 2013 Remote Control and MonitoringYou might wonder what remote control has to do with test and measurement. And you might be pleasantly surprised when you find out. For a number of years now, manufacturers of broadcast equipment have used remote controlled test installations to allow them to test systems and modul...

Submitted by Alan Wheable

Published 01 December 2013

Will Strauss looks at automatic QC for the people

by Will StraussIssue 83 - November 2013 The method in which television producers should deliver their programmes to UK broadcasters is changing. From 1 October 2014 it will be digital files, rather than HDCam SR tapes, that are the preference. It is a fundamental and fairly disruptive change that is the cause of much debate right now. The parameter...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 December 2013

Evolving the industry audio monitoring systems

With respect to monitoring, particularly for multiplatform content delivery, how can our facility straddle the divide between baseband and file-based signals?The media industry as a whole is moving toward multiplatform content delivery. This shift includes and affects not only traditional broadcasters and new media outlets, but the content creators...

Submitted by Don Bird

Published 01 June 2013

Gekko Kelvin Tile LED REVIEW

By Jon PratchettI like LED lighting. I know there are a lot of people who tell us that it can't produce the wide colour gamut of Tungsten, and I agree. But it’s getting close and the shear ease at which you can set them up and control their brightness, not to mention the lack of heat and the ability to run them for hours off a battery for me out wa...

Submitted by Jon Pratchett

Published 01 March 2013

Sony cameras and Canon EF Lenses being used to great effe...

By Mike Tapa MTFWith the immanent introduction of the F5 and F55 from Sony, perhaps we should take look back on the fantastic work done by its predecessor the PMW-F3 in the past year. Interchangeable lenses is one of its main features, coupled with an extremely shallow lens register make this one of the most versatile tools in any cameraman's a kit...

Submitted by Mike Tapa

Published 01 March 2013

The highs and lows of histograms

Histogram displays for video analysis probably followed those found in common computer graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop. This can be very useful in finding video signal problems that would be difficult or impossible to see with a conventional waveform display. The histogram is a way of showing statistical results as a bar-chart. The range...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2012

Ubiquitous Cloud at IBC

It was one of those IBCs that was more consolidation than innovation. There wasn’t any one product or technology that stood out as a game changer. There was more evidence of 4K being pushed as a more realistic alternative to 8K and more of the must-have 84-inch 4K TV screens. Well they do look fabulous but I still had to go and see NHK’s 85-inch SH...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

Pointing out the right colours

In the old days of PAL and NTSC analogue television, a vectorscope was an essential tool for examining chroma at every part for the programme production and transmission chain. This was because the colour information was carried as a phase and amplitude modulation which could be sensitive to a variety of transmission or recording non-linearities an...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Testing times of a 4K world

The term '4K' applies to some five slightly different picture formats with around 4,000 pixel horizontal resolution: all much bigger than HD. In fact roughly four times the total pixels required for 1920 x 1080 pixel high definition. 4K has been around for some years but was until recently only affordable by producers with mega budgets. Advances in...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 August 2012

Handheld T and M the broadcast emergency service

“Test and Measurement”. Shudder. Like “Health and Safety”, “Bus” and “Replacement Service” or “Keith and Orville” it’s a collocation of words that fills me with dread. Seriously, who wants to read about “Test and Measurement”? Well, as it turns out, the answer is: quite a lot of people. Because, despite its lack of glamour, it is hugely important....

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 August 2012

Evolving Test and Measurement

Time and accuracy are vital when producing content for broadcast. All broadcasters have strict schedules to work to, as well as visual and audio standards that need to be met. Effective testing and measurement (T&M) of any material that is to be transmitted is key to ensuring these parameters are adhered to, for both producer and broadcaster; get t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

Gamut errors: Who cares?

Gamut errors are the most common video signal problems. This is because colour television or cinematography depends on being able to represent every pixel on the screen in terms of red, green and blue. We want to deliver perfect RGB signals representing all the possible colours in our pictures. Virtually all display technologies use RGB primary col...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012