KitPlus | Articles

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

Sportsnet stays ahead of the game with Quantel

by Roger ThorntonIssue 81 - September 2013 Over the last 15 years, Sportsnet has risen to become one of Canadas leading sports media operations. The Sportsnet and Sportsnet One TV channels are complemented by Sportsnet Radio, Sportsnet Magazine and its premium international sports channel, Sportsnet World. In May 2013, parent company Rogers Media a...

Submitted by Roger Thornton

Published 01 October 2013

Will Strauss looks at the growth of MediaCityUK and dock...

by Will StraussIssue 81 - September 2013 Whats up Dock?In less than three years Dock 10 has grown from a mere studio operator with add-ons to a fully-fledged digital media service provider. Will Strauss tracks the changes. MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester is exactly as the name suggests: a towering metropolis pumping out TV, radio and dig...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2013

Preparing for the future in television and film

by Kieron SethIssue 80 - August 2013 We prepare students for a career in television and film, says Sean Thornton of Anglia Ruskin University. As such, the technology we use has to be real-world and broadcast standard The Media Services team provides equipment to under- and postgraduate students and operates facilities that include TV and photograph...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 September 2013

A guide to DTV transport stream monitoring

by Ralph BachofenIssue 79 - July 2013 Delivering a high quality of service (QoS) is critical in the broadcast world, as it greatly impacts viewer satisfaction and a broadcasters revenue streams. However, the television environment is becoming increasingly more complex, as stations transition to digital and add next-generation OTT or hybrid TV servi...

Submitted by Ralph Bachofen

Published 01 August 2013

Singularity - QA and compliance monitoring in one box

by Martin DysterIssue 79 - July 2013 The task of maintaining loudness-compliant, high-quality delivery for broadcast audio is no longer a question of simply using ones ears. Audio channels produced for todays fast-paced productions come in embedded SDI workflow with streaming signals containing a mix of mono, stereo, surround, Dolby encoded and des...

Submitted by Martin Dyster

Published 01 August 2013

Solving more than just compliance challenges

by Leandro MaquinezIssue 79 - July 2013 When Leandro Maquinez joined Record Europa Lisbon, a subsidiary of Rede Record de Televis£o Europa, the Portuguese-language broadcaster was struggling to meet the demands of compliance monitoring and verification with its existing systems. The server system used by the Lisbon facility to record aired content...

Submitted by Leandro Marquinez

Published 01 August 2013

Just the facts with Dick Hobbs

My best ever expenses claim – back in the days when I was employed and had someone to claim expenses from – included the line item “Charter of train”. This was 25 or more years ago, back when IBC alternated with a television exhibition in Montreux in Switzerland. My employer at the time was launching something pretty revolutionary (although they su...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Preparing for the future in television and film

“We prepare students for a career in television and film,” says Sean Thornton of Anglia Ruskin University. “As such, the technology we use has to be real-world and broadcast standard.”The Media Services team provides equipment to under- and post-graduate students and operates facilities that include TV and photographic studios, video editing rooms...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2013

Managing Loudness for Broadcast TV

Often viewed as the “ugly sister” when compared to its more glamorous rival video, audio is finally receiving some much deserved attention in broadcast circles. The trigger for this realisation is an increasing shift in awareness that viewers are interested in not just the pictures they are seeing, but equally the sound they are hearing. In particu...

Submitted by Anothony Wilkins

Published 01 June 2013

Will Strauss captures some decent sound gear

Capturing decent location sound requires skill, experience and, as Will Strauss discovered when compiling a list of recent audio acquisition innovations, piles of expensive kit. Although some cameramen might disagree, audio is still the most important thing to get right when on location. The odd dodgy shot can, generally speaking, be sorted in post...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2013

Bob Pank looks at Editing and the Cloud

By Bob PankHistorically video editing has been one of those operations shaped by technology. For decades it depended on VTRs to play and record. You had to go to an edit room, usually darkened and with loads of buttons and winking lights, to get your edit done by a video editor. It was not cheap. Then, with video stored on computer discs, editing w...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2013

Metering in the age of loudness: Keeping things on the le...

By Martin DysterThe new age of production and post production for HD broadcast has gotten more complicated with the advent of legislation and guidelines concerning the relative loudness between different programs, channels and, especially, commercials. With ATSC A85 in place in the U.S., EBU R128 covering the members of the European Broadcasting Un...

Submitted by Martin Dyster

Published 01 February 2013

Meeting standards in 3D

It has been said that poor quality stereoscopic TV will ‘poison the water’ for everyone. This was because in the past 3D was made to quite poor and uncontrolled production and delivery standards. But since BSkyB’s “Technical Guidelines for Plano Stereoscopic 3D Programme Content” were published over two years ago programme makers have had specific...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

Loudness Monitoring: Complacent Wont Get You Compliant

Stricter regulations across the globe, the worldwide need for standardized audio level loudness processing, the need for logging and graphing mixed with long-term records maintenance for compliance verification, and the convergence of SDI/IP and ASI technologies all make for a challenging time in the broadcast industry. Identical and obligatory com...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2012