TV Technology - January 7, 2009 - (Page 4)

Vol 27 No 1 January 7, 2009 FROM THE EDITOR Telephone: (703) 852-4600 Editorial fax: (703) 852-4585 e-mail: tvtech@nbmedia.com Online: www.tvtechnology.com The staff can be contacted via e-mail using first initial, last name @nbmedia.com Editor: Managing Editor: Tom Butts Melissa Sullivan James E. O’Neal Now Comes the Hard Part ast month’s announcement of the approval of an ATSC Candidate Standard for over-the-air mobile DTV represents an astounding achievement in broadcast standards development—which usually takes much longer than this standard’s lessthan-two-year process. But putting a mobile DTV chip in a device is just the beginning—now comes the hard part. To make the service commercially viable, broadcasters will have to forge alliances with CE makers and cell carriers, just to name a few of the various parties involved. This week’s CES in Las Vegas could help provide more insight into the near future deployment of the service; and expect mobile DTV to be the star at this year’s NAB Show. Although it’s still a fairly new concept, the outlook for over-the-air mobile DTV has already experienced its own period of “irrational exuberance,” L highlighted by last spring’s prediction of a potential $2 billion market within the first three years of deployment. Considering what has transpired in the economy since then, perhaps a more realistic and sobering re-assessment of this “potential market” is in order. ** * In this issue, we’re introducing Bill Klages to the family of TV Technology writers. Bill, whose career as a lighting director/designer/consultant spans more than 40 years, has won seven Emmy Awards for television lighting design and has received 28 Emmy, Monitor and Ace awards and nominations. He is currently founder and president of New Klages Inc. which provides lighting design and consulting services for television and entertainment. Bill will be contributing to “Let There Be Lighting,” along with present columnist Andy Ciddor. Check out his first column on p. 28. Welcome aboard, Bill! ** * Don’t miss NewBay Media’s “Sony HD Creation and Workflow Expo,” Jan. 15! This one-day online event will feature a live virtual exhibit hall complete with booths, demos and virtual tours. An “HD Workflow Live Panel Session” will feature experts in tapeless production, followed by a live Q&A. We’ll also feature camera system demos, production reports from independent shooters, as well as tutorials and white papers. This all-day event will provide you with the essential knowledge needed to guide you in deciding how to approach this revolutionary shift in production. To register for this complementary event, visit www.sony.com/hdvirtualexpo. Tom Butts Editor tbutts@nbmedia.com Technology Editor: News Editor/Washington Bureau Chief Sanjay Talwani News Correspondents: Susan Ashworth, Robin Berger, Ken Freed, Mary Gruszka, Craig Johnston, Claudia Kienzle, Ian MacSpadden and John Merli Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editorial Director/Video Group Production Director: Publication Coordinator: Ad Traffic Manager: Ad Coordinator: Associate Circulation Director, Audience Development: Circulation Manager: Circulation Coordinator: Eric Trabb 732-845-0004 Vytas Urbonas T. Carter Ross Davis White Carolina Schierholz Lori Richards Caroline Freeland Anne Drobish Kwentin Keenan Michele Fonville LETTERS The Ultimatte Experience Dear Editor: Send to Editor, TV Technology at e-mail tbutts@nbmedia.com SUBSCRIPTIONS TV Technology, P.O. Box 848, Lowell, MA 01853 Telephone 888-266-5828 (USA only 8:30 a.m .-5 p.m. EST) 978-667-0352 (Outside the US) Fax: 978-671-0460 E-mail: newbay@computerfulfillment.com I have now read about a zillion articles on the CNN Election Night Hologram (“CNN’s Hologram: The Science Behind the Magic,” Dec. 3), and nowhere, including in the two you’ve published, have I seen it mentioned that BlueScreen LLC of Los Angeles supplied two HD Ultimatte 11 real time hardware compositing boxes and the expertise of Ultimatte artist Bob Kertesz to integrate the remote images sent from Chicago and Phoenix with the studio images at CNN New York. The job was particularly challenging because the industrial vision cameras used to shoot the subjects on greenscreen did not have what would normally be considered HD broadcast quality images in terms of resolution and colorimetry. Since I was working at CNN New York with the people interviewed for 8-10 hours a day, every day, for two weeks, it must have just slipped everyone’s mind to mention me. Bob Kertesz BlueScreen LLC Hollywood Another Rant on Bad Audio Dear Editor: Longtime readers of TV Technology will remember some of my rants in the past years involving bad audio. From the network affiliate in Sacramento who used worn out videotapes to run network shows in a different time slot, to duplicating labs that distribute programs without the correct Dolby decoding, I’m ready to wave a red flag. I hear a problem, therefore I rant! And now, you can listen along with me. Currently I have three rants, but there probably ain’t enough space, so we’ll concentrate on the first two, as monitored from my Comcast connection, soon to be upgraded to digital whether I like it or not. Problem #1: Ever notice there’s a problem with commercials? No, not the volume level. I mean, they frequently never finish; or the last word is garbled. This appears to be coming from the affiliate’s local commercial server. I’m also noticing it on cable stations, as well as the newer networks. My local Fox station probably did the ultimate, cutting off a whopping 4-5 seconds from the end of a local commercial. It ended with “Call 1-800 ” Not only did it cut off the phone number, it cut off the repeat of the phone number! In the deleted space, the server inserted the next commercial. So I’m thinking this will go on until some smart advertiser hears this himself and demands a refund. Problem #2: This is such a fun audio problem, I decided to share it with you. I can tell you that it went on intermittently, for the amount of time that I was watching, which was about an hour. It may have gone on longer, maybe even much longer, I don’t know. But thanks to digital audio, we now have a whole new digital distortion to deal with! How it was created, I don’t know. A fellow engineer was theorizing that a fiber-optic cable was loose, or falling apart. Another engineer thought their audio board needed rebooting. I should also say that I haven’t heard the problem resurface, and for that reason, I won’t chastise the station. But listen for yourself. See if it ain’t the best distortion you ever heard, on my DTV Horror Stories page: www.dukeandbanner.com/DTV.html And ask yourself: What are the chances of this happening in the middle of a presidential debate? Bro Duke San Francisco CORPORATE — NEWBAY MEDIA, LLC Steve Palm Paul Mastronardi Jack Liedke Denise Robbins Joe Ferrick President and CEO Chief Financial Officer Controller Group Circulation Director Vice President of Web Development MARKET GROUPS Carmel King Executive Vice President, Video/Broadcast Division Eric Trabb Vice President Sales, Group Publisher Video Video/Broadcast Division Adam Goldstein Vice President, Group Publishing Director Systems Division and Tech & Learning John Pledger Vice President, Group Publishing Director Music Player Network and Pro Audio TV Technology Founded by Stevan B. Dana TV Technology (ISSN: 0887-1701) is published semi-monthly with additional issues in April and May by NewBay Media LLC, 810 Seventh Avenue, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 703-8524600. FAX:703-852-4583. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10199 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TV Technology, P.O. Box 848, Lowell, MA 01853. Copyright 2009 by NewBay Media LLC. All rights reserved. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome for review; send to the attention of the appropriate editor. REPRINTS: Reprints of all articles in this issue are available. Call or write Caroline Freeland, 5285 Shawnee Rd., Ste. 100, Alexandria, VA 22312. (703) 852-4610 Fax: (703) 852-4583. Member, BPA International. January 7, 2009 • TV Technology • www.tvtechnology.com http://www.tvtechnology.com http://www.sony.com/hdvirtualexpo http://www.dukeandbanner.com/DTV.html http://www.tvtechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TV Technology - January 7, 2009

TV Technology - January 7, 2009 NFL Enters a New Dimension Mobile DTV Looms Large in 2009 Contents A ‘Flexible Framework’ Doing More With Less ‘X’tra-Streamlined Finish Line in Sight for BAS Transition Ahead of the Relocation Curve DTV Transition Survival Guide ENG and the Lines of Communication DTV Transition Survival Guide Who Do We Really Work For? Obama to Expand Internet Access The Wizard Takes a Holiday The Solid-State Disk Revival To Light the Ear... or Not Hulu Gets It Right—the First Time User Reports—Video Servers & Recording/Controllers Reference Guide Product Showcase Classifieds Marketplace TV Tech Business

TV Technology - January 7, 2009

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