KitPlus | Articles

Eye to Eye on Delivery and Distribution

A notable aspect of the 2010 IBC and 2011 NAB conference sessions was the rapidly increasing focus on IP streaming. Fibre-optic delivery to the home has yet to be turned into widespread reality but transport speeds over existing electrical infrastructure continue to accelerate. Cloud-based storage and distribution services offer a solution to the c...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

Meeting the Demands Of The Market

Much has been said about audio loudness and there can be few people in broadcast who are unaware of the new legislation being introduced by various countries to control this problem. The UK and Italy have already set limits on loudness levels and in 2010 the US introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM), making it illega...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

Whats new in broadcast test and measurement

The test and measurement product category continues to expand as the broadcast business itself diversifies. Notable recent developments include higher resolution displays and a gradually increasing number of analysers which, having detected a fault, endeavour to fix it. No sign at NAB 2011 of any tablet-based test and measurement equipment but perh...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

Test and measurement in digital television

Do we need to worry about test and measurement in digital television?Let’s be clear about this. Test and measurement tools are not there to make life difficult for you, they are there to ensure that we get the best quality pictures and sound through the long path to the home within a required technical specification. So yes, simply put, checking th...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

QC: An Inside Job

The requirement for quality control grew up in the early days of television and depended on measurement instruments to check the video and audio going to air. This T&M made prefect sense when equipment was analogue and, to an extent, has continued into the digital era, however the needs of the digital file based workflow environment are very differ...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

The New ITU-R BS1770-2 Loudness Standard

HistoryThe ITU-R standard BS1770-1, released in 2006, describes a fundamental loudness measurement algorithm. The basic technique was validated through listening tests on varied program material, performed in labs around the world. In late 2010 the ITU committee which maintains BS1770 accepted (after much negotiation) changes submitted by the EBU....

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

Achieving Cost-Effective Monitoring of Critical AV Feeds

Broadcasters once were able to transmit a signal up on the satellite and worry only about that feed. Now, with the growth and diversification of audio video (A/V) service handoffs, the points at which feeds enter the facility or are sent out to downstream targets such as cable operators, pay-TV services and other service providers, broadcasters hav...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2011

Whats new in audio

The NAB show is not the first event that comes to mind for pro-audio kit but in fact rivals any audio-specific exhibition on the planet. The following is a summary of significant new sound equipment seen during a tour of this year's exhibits. AKG's C 544 L head-worn microphone is designed to be worn by gymnastics or (almost the same thing in some c...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2011

Loudness Whats All The Noise About

Anyone involved in our industry can’t have failed to notice the amount of noise broadcasters, manufacturers and legislators are making about audio loudness. As topics go, this one is currently red hot. Broadcast audio that comes with annoying loudness differences can result in complaints from viewers and, in some territories, these complaints can t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2011

Challenging Loudness

Numerous definitions of the word loudness exist but to understand the relevance of the word in relation to the world of broadcast sound perhaps the statement that loudness is “our perceived impression of the intensity, frequency, and duration of a sound” fits closest. We all watch TV with the remote control close at hand; not just to change channel...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 June 2011

Challenging Loudness

Numerous definitions of the word loudness exist but to understand the relevance of the word in relation to the world of broadcast sound perhaps the statement that loudness is “our perceived impression of the intensity, frequency, and duration of a sound” fits closest. We all watch TV with the remote control close at hand; not just to change channel...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011

Expanding Arqiva into HD playout

ATG Broadcast recently completed a major SD to HD upgrade for Arqiva broadcast transmission centre at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The expanded system enables Arqiva to process and transmit four fully-operational 1080i HD channels as well as six new SD channels. It includes the installation and equipping of a server-based ingest suite, playout...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2010

tv-bay IBC2010 double takes

Tv-bay Double Takes..!Acquisition For-A VFC-7000 Camera HD Variable Frame Rate CameraASA1800 Sensitivity, Native 720x1280 resolution with inbuilt up-convert to 1920x1080 and will output at 50 or 59.94 frame rates. 120 - 700 Frames per second recording speed. Two HD-SDI outputs enabling live and recordings to be viewed simultaneously. Standard onboa...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 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

Breaking Down Loudness Control

Q: What is loudness and why is so much attention being paid to it?A: Loudness is what people hear. It refers to the perceived strength of a piece of audio such as music, speech or sound effects. Among other factors, loudness depends on the level, frequency, content and duration of the audio the listener is hearing. Right now, television viewers are...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2010