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Shooting in secret

by Kieron Seth Issue 88 - April 2014 Now showing on Channel 4 is Endemols new and highly popular Secret Eaters series. Based round a fixed rig production, the series uses newly developed mobile fixed rig technology and incorporates a number of recently introduced technical innovations, vital for fast turn-around TV. Secret Eaters is one of a string...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 May 2014

The UKs PTZ explosion

by Kieron SethIssue 83 - November 2013 The advent of broadcast quality, remotely controlled PTZ cameras has had an enormous impact on television production in the UK. Not only can cameras now be discreetly placed in virtually any location but they can also be operated a very small team of technicians. This combination of creative freedom and the si...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2013

A year in the life of SIS LIVE

by David MeynellIssue 81 - September 2013 This time a year ago SIS LIVE was still glowing with the pride that came from working to deliver outside broadcast TV coverage and satellite connectivity for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic events. At the time 2013 was billed as a fallow year for the live broadcasting industry which, as we will see, was...

Submitted by David Meynell

Published 01 October 2013

How to choose the right broadcast microphone

By Ralph Dunlop, Director, Sound Network– UK distributor for DPA Microphones1. What are most common types of microphones for broadcast use and how far has microphone technology progressed in the digital world?Traditionally the most popular microphone used in broadcast and film sound recording was the “Boom” mounted mic. The problem with older boom...

Submitted by Ralph Dunlop

Published 01 June 2013

BNC: Is it at the end of the line?

by Robin PalmerThe familiar BNC connector has been around a long time. It was invented in the late 1940s, primarily for military radio frequency and microwave interconnections. The initials derive from the style plus the names of the inventors (Paul Neill and Carl Concelman): Bayonet Neill–Concelman. The original development work was done by Octavi...

Submitted by Robin Palmer

Published 01 May 2013

Monitoring: Cutting the Wires

Teradek began the wireless monitoring revolution at last year's NAB show. Its Cube wireless encoders are no bigger than a pack of playing cards. They compress a camcorder's video feed into an H.264 signal for transmission to either a WiFi-enabled laptop, iPad or tablet or to a Cube decoder. Straight-away live, remote and affordable monitoring was b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 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

Id Hide You.......

I’d Hide You....... The 8,000 mile journey of the Olympics torch has been the surprise hit of the games so far. Each step and every handover is filmed and beamed live to connected viewers over the Internet. Easy enough for an organisation as large and technically astute as the BBC, with its wealth of resources, but in this age of new technology, su...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2012

Light weight 3D side-by-side production

Whenever you see a typical publicity picture of a 3D production shoot, it invariably includes a very bulky and expensive-looking mirror rig. This can look daunting for the new initiate coming into 3D production and is not the sort of kit you might not want to risk using outdoors. The mirror rig arrangement allows two (usually large) cameras to be p...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

The evolving art of sports television

Given the choice of watching a major live event on site or via television, most people would opt for the real thing. Sure, you have to get to the venue, perhaps queue to buy a ticket, find your seat or maybe stand for hours. If it is a football match, the audience in front will probably stand up for a better view of each goal, completely blocking y...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

The Biggest Game in Town

The Biggest Game in TownAnnually, as the Super Bowl approaches, stores across the States stack their shelves with the latest HDTV sets. Advertising sales teams cancel all holidays and prepare for a feeding frenzy. Networks bid in earnest to win exclusive game broadcasting rights. And new media innovators roll out their latest online and mobile apps...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2012

Eye to eye: How secure is your content?

Before getting up steam for this article, I contacted a former colleague who worked for several decades on the editorial side of the consumer-audio press. He became one of the first collectors of Compact Discs, a medium trusted by many archivists. The oldest items in his collection date back to the original Q4 1982 launch of audio CDs. Were the old...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

Storage and archiving

Anyone looking closely at a helical scan video tape mechanism, particularly the miniature variety, might be forgiven for wondering how such an elaborate technology ever came to be invented. The first experimental video tape recorders were essentially audio recorders running at very high speed to achieve the bandwidth needed for television signals....

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Keeping both eyes on the ball

It goes without saying that spectator sports are made for television; of course they are, as can easily be proved by trying to follow a football match on radio. A skilled radio commentator can describe key aspects of the action fairly well but television actually gives viewers the impression that they are sitting in the stadium. Widescreen high def...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

IBC2011 must sees

Over 1,300 exhibitors will be supporting IBC2011, each bringing perhaps one, two or three new or enhanced products. My task is to distill these down to the 20 devices likely to be of greatest interest to TV-Bay readers, so far as that is possible several weeks before the show opens. As a recent convert to OS X, I note with gloom that Apple remains...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011