KitPlus | Articles

Taking legacy content into the 4K world

by Josef MarcIssue 84 - December 2013 There are 780,000 UHDTVs already manufactured and poised to hit the marketplace, and the effects of those devices (and the factories that continue to make them) are unstoppable. UHDTV and 4K will be everywhere, sponsored by UHDTV manufacturers and content owners. 4K tablets are shipping as well. As the drumbeat...

Submitted by Josef Marc

Published 01 January 2014

Supporting the transition to 4K

by David AckroydIssue 84 - December 2013 Plasma, LCD and LED screen technologies brought broadcasters HD audiences that justified their investment in HDTV. Recent computer monitors, tablets, mobile phones, digital cinema and 3D have driven an explosion in viewing formats. Together they have created an appetite for continued change and development i...

Submitted by David Ackroyd

Published 01 January 2014

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

A preview of this years IBC with Will Strauss

by Will StraussIssue 80 - August 2013 Writing an IBC preview when the show itself is still seven weeks away is never easy. Despite best intentions, lots of exhibitors havent yet shown their hands (or are still deciding which cards to play) and many of those that have, are really not giving much away. However, fear not dear reader. The next two page...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 September 2013

Monitoring Image and Signal Degradation

by Peter LampelIssue 79 - July 2013 OmniTeks latest waveform analysis software focused on assessing the degradation in video and audio quality and timing suffered by images as they are transmitted or stored. What approach has OmniTek taken to measuring these effects? In an ideal world, all broadcasters would love to have a piece of equipment that s...

Submitted by Mike Hodson

Published 01 August 2013

Demystifying the black art of digital audio

by Alan WheableIssue 79 - July 2013 At the pure analogue end of the audio world (which these days is very narrow with much of the audio content being captured digitally) it is quite straight forward to check that an audio channel is present, that it sounds right and has the right levels. Likewise if the audio channel has hum or a buzz on it is rela...

Submitted by Alan Wheable

Published 01 August 2013

Ask the experts: Content readiness in time-deferred workf...

by Sudeep BoseIssue 79 - July 2013 What are the fundamental considerations that must be addressed to ensure the quality of non-real-time content, whether played out from a broadcasters media server or time-shifted for VOD and other OTT services?When focusing on the actual content itself, rather than the service, network or other components, the key...

Submitted by Sudeep Bose

Published 01 August 2013

Is 4K the end of the line?

In my TV-Bay April 2013 article I mused over the familiar BNC connector and was it at the end of its line as far as broadcast interconnections were concerned. It’s been around a long time, the BNC was invented in the late 1940s primarily for military radio frequency and microwave interconnections but then became the standard for baseband video conn...

Submitted by Robin Palmer

Published 01 July 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

4K at NAB with Bob Pank

As we head once more to NAB you may wonder what this year’s big thing will be. I put my money on 4K. As I write there must be many exhibitors polishing up their ‘4K solution’ message, ready for their customers at the show. With the extraordinary situation of screens costing more than cameras, a viable business model clearly remains far off. But, to...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 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

TV-BAY: Ask the Experts

Studio Technologies responds to typical booth visitor questions at NAB and IBCBy: Gordon Kapes, president, Studio TechnologiesStudio Technologies, the manufacturer of tailored, high-performance video, audio and fiber optic products for the professional audio and broadcast markets, has been building equipment to address the production needs of broad...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

4KTV The next bigger thing?

4KTV – The next bigger thing?The history of 4K digital moving images goes way back to the mid 1990s. That was when film effects started to be processed digitally and produced amazing results – maybe a bit too amazing for some. Of course the effects had to be seamless and so the digitised effects images had to carry all the required detail of the 35...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

Automating intelligence across the signal flow

Back when broadcasters maintained small channel lineups, monitoring was a simple task that could be performed cost-effectively by station staff. The manual system-wide monitoring of critical audio and video parameters required dedicated staff all along the broadcast chain, but the investment typically could be justified. However, even with dedicate...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012