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JANUARY VOLUME 40 NUMBER 1 rel! A A 1041111TMIllitillrilliiiii!

EngineerinTHE JOURNAL OF DIGITAL TELEVISION

FEATURES50 Upgrading to HD

By Barry BennettForty-seven percent of U.S. households plan to buyan HDTV set in the next 10 months.This is helpingdrive broadcasters to meet the demand with new liveprogramming.

58 Audio monitoring for TV: Beyondmonitors and metersBy Mike RichardsonThe author presents an instruction manual on how toproperly monitor analog and digital audio.

64 Special report: HD/SD playout: It's notjust about the videoBy Paul TurnerWith today's new video storage technology, a singlevideo server can handle multiple formats.

70 Special report: HDTV lens design: Anew innovation for the studioBy Larry Thorpe and Gordon TubbsImpressive optical advances have been made over thepast decade, including a miniaturized HDTV studio lens.

el O.

aneri

BEYOND THE HEADLINESDowvIti

14 The real digital TV transition begins

FCC Update

20 FCC extends Emergency Alert System

DIGITAL HANDBOOKTransition to Digital

22 Digital video basics

Computers & Networks

28 A tutorial on IP network addressing

32 Microphones for surround sound

Broadcalfigineering

DAILYSHOWWOWING FORI AMR I AUGHS

UPGRADING

ON THE COVER:

The audio controlroom for "The

Daily Show WithJon Stewart"

features a SolidState Logic C100

digital audioconsole and a

DigidesignPro Tools

workstation.Photo courtesy

Dave King.

(continued on page 81

6 broadcastengineering.com JANUARY 2006

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JANUARY* VOLUME 48 NUMBER 1 - - II a

THE JOURNAL OF DIGITAL

SYSTEMS DESIGNSc INTEGRATION

Systems Design Showcases

Engineering

34 The Daily Show relocatesto house larger laughs

40 Circle R Media's commercialvideo production facility

Transmission & Distribution

46 Recovering from a catastrophe

NEW PRODUCTSak REVIEWS

Applied Technology

78 Managing hybrid networks with ILC

Field Report

80 Luma Pictures streamlines workflowwith Small Tree Communications

Technolonv in Transition

82 SD/HD conversion

New Products

84 Harris' NetVX and more ...

DEPARTMENTS10 Editorial

12 Reader Feedback

86 Classifieds

89 Advertisers Index

90 EOM

Freezefra meDefine the followingacronyms as they apply toDTV technology:

DCT, DMD, GOP, HANC,

JPEG, MPEG, SDTI, TCM,VITS, VLC

Readers submitting winningentries will be entered intoa drawing for BroadcastEngineering T-shirts Enterby e-mail. Title your entry"Freezeframe-January" inthe subject field and send itto: [email protected] answers received byMarch 1, 2006 are eligibleto win.


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To tellthe truth

In December 1956, CBS began airing the program"To Tell the Truth." The popular evening showlasted 11 years and was responsible for helping

launch the genre of quiz/celebrity television.The idea was that three contestants were introduced

to a panel of celebrities, each claiming to be the sameindividual (e.g., a baker, FBI man or someone with aunique job or characteristics). Host Bud Collyer would

describe the real life, activities and experiences of theperson each of the contestants claimed to be. The keywas that two of the people were liars. The goal of thecelebrity panelists was to discover through question-ing who was telling the truth.

After the questioning, each celebrity panelist votedfor the contestant he or she thought was really thedeal. The more effective the contestants were at fool-ing the celebrities, the more money the imitators won.The famous closing line for each round was: "Will thereal [baker, FBI man, etc.] please stand up!"

The reason for this long-winded story is based on arecent survey released by Scientific-Atlanta. From thelooks of things, perhaps American TV viewers shouldbe asking, "Will the real HDTV programming pleaseshow up!"

As of Jan. 1, 2006, some 16 mil-lion U.S. households have HDTVsets. Unfortunately, according to the Scientific-Atlantasurvey, almost half (49 percent to be exact) of thesehomes don't have any HD service. In other words,almost half of new HD set owners aren't seeing anyHDTV!About a quarter of these new HDTV owners felt the

new set gave them better reception. But, 18 percentdidn't realize they needed other equipment, such as aset -top box or antenna, to receive HD.While researching the topic, I found a professional

Web site discussing this issue and was a bit surprisedto find so much misinformation about the reception ofHD. Several viewers said they had HD sets, yet had noplans to buy HD programming from their cable or sat-ellite service. "It just looks better," said one respondentabout his HD set's picture sans HD programming.

Many of the posts were filled with claims and coun-ter claims on digital vs. HD. A few examples: Yes, stations would broadcast digital. But, no, itwouldn't necessarily be HD. HD was digital; SD wasn't, but it could be sometimes. The FCC has mandated HD broadcasts.Then, the participants got into a discussion over

screen size, numbers of pixels and interlace vs. nativeprogressive displays. Next, the participants seemed tofocus on whether an HD set would display NTSC sig-nals better or worse than an analog set. The consensuswas that if you are going to watch NTSC program-ming, better keep the ol' set.

Near the end of the posts, one fellow pretty muchsummed up my feelings about the discussion, "Myhead hurts; someone wake me when it's over."

editorial director

Send comments to: editor©orismb2b.com www.broadcastengineering.com


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HDTV: MAKING IT HAPPEN

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Italian anarchyPaul McGoldrick:

Very interesting article on Italiananarchy in the October issue. I didn'tcompletely follow the whole story andwondered if you knew if it had beenchronicled anywhere else in morecomplete form, such as a book or lon-ger article.

LARRY OLSON

DV3 PRODUCTIONS

WILMINGTON, NC

Paul McGoldrick responds:I couldn't find any story in Eng-

lish chronicling the pirate times, butthe funny thing is that it is all hap-pening again. That original pirate,Berlusconi, is now regarded as a me-dia mogul by the Italian public, andpirate TV stations are starting upin competition with him! You canwatch a short documentary about it atwww.archive.org/details/telestreet2.

Televised conferenceWhat's the best way to televise a

large conference? Say 250 delegates? Iwas thinking about using three cam-eras and a control station for mixingand post production and then distrib-

uting the video over the Internet.It's a research question right now,

and any feedback that you can pro-vide would be most appreciated.

JEREMY PHILLIPS

REGINA

Dan Stark, CBNT, of Stark RavingSolutions responds:

Jeremy, if you are doing a meetingas a one-time event, I suggest youuse an event video production com-pany. It will have all the equipmentneeded, including cameras, switch-ers, an intercom, projectors, screensand other video production require-ments, as well as qualified techni-cians and operators.

Several excellent companies areavailable for this. One of our clients,Big Picture Productions, based in theKansas City area, travels all over thecountry for events like this. The costsare difficult to estimate because itdepends so much on the productiongear and staff requirements, plus theduration of your event. Certainly anissue to discover quickly is how read-ily available a high-speed Internetconnection is in the venue where youplan to hold your event.

If your meeting space requires itsown facilities, several quality levelsand costs are available. You couldeasily spend between $25,000 to$500,000, depending on your spe-cific requirements. Selecting the ap-propriate technology is as complexas figuring out what kind of automo-bile you might require. Do you need aGeo Metro, a Cadillac or a semi trac-tor trailer? BE

Teselfour Knowledge!See the Freezeframe question of themonth on page 8 and enter to win a

Broadcast Engineering T-shirt.

Send answers to [email protected]

Se I tember Freezeframe:

Q. The September freezeframequestion asked for the properwiring color -code for an RJ 45.A. As several readers noted, thereare two standards of RJ-45 writ-ing, T -568A and T -568B. The more

common is the T -568B, which wasthe answer we were looking for.However, anyone who submittedthe correct writing for the T -568Astandard was counted as havingsubmitted a correct response andwill receive a T-shirt.

Unfortunately, many readers gotthe right colors but reversed thenomenclature. Therefore, theiranswers were incorrect.

The T -568B standard calls for awhite wire with an orange stripeto be connected to pin 1. This wirewould be designated as white/or-ange. Pin 7 needs a white wirewith a brown stripe, designated aswhite/brown.

Some readers reversed the theiruse of the color codes - in thisexample, designating pin 7 asbrown/white. This is incorrect.Wiring practice dictates that thepredominate wire color be refer-enced first, followed by the colorof the stripe (or the larger of twostripes if there are two).

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The real digitalTV transition beginsBY CRAIG BIRKMAIER

If you are a broadcaster who hasspent millions upgrading yourtransmission facility for DTV

broadcasts, a DBS service spendingbillions to launch new satellites tosupport the expanded availability oflocal HDTV broadcasts, or a cablemulti -system operator attempting tomigrate your subscribers to digitaltiers and cable modems, you mightbelieve that the television industry isapproaching the completion of a longmigration path to its digital future.

Despite billions in investment innew digital technologies by the dis-tributors of television content, a newreality began to emerge as 2005 drewto a close. The future of digital televi-sion has little to do with the digitizedversion of television to which viewersbecame addicted during the past half -century. It would be more accurate toassert that the era of analog televisionmay finally be drawing to a close, pay-

ing the way for the real digital transi-tion to begin.

In 2005, we began to see some signsthat huge media conglomerates areready to let go of the past and moveinto new forms of digital content dis-tribution, even if it means establishedinstitutions, including local televisionbroadcasters, may become irrelevant.Consumers around the world arenow addicted to their daily mediafix. The real digital transition is nowbeginning; the ability to consumeany media, anywhere, at any time isthe emerging digital television real-ity. What remains to be determined,however, is whether consumers willsupport the approaching digital tsu-nami at any price.

A new DTV deadline?Dec. 31, 2006, was to be an impor-

tant date in the history of free -to -airtelevision broadcasts in the United

k = II II.The amount of energy used yearly by U.S. TVsEnergy use forWs to increase by more than 50 percent by

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

02005

*kilowatt hours

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09

www.nrdc.org

States. On April 3, 1997, the FCC ad-opted the Fifth Report and Order inits proceedings on a DTV broadcastservice (which began in 1987). Thenew service, authorized by Congressas part of an extensive overhaul oftelecommunications law with the1996 Telecommunications Act, wasintended to allow OTA broadcastersto remain competitive as the televi-sion industry moved to digital tech-nologies that would allow the deliv-ery of higher -quality TV images andsound and/or more programs in agiven amount of bandwidth.

As part of the Fifth Report and Or-der on DTV, the FCC established atimetable for existing broadcasters tobuild out their DTV facilities and aperiod of NTSC and DTV simulcaststo allow consumers to migrate to newdigital receivers. At the end of the si-mulcast period, the NTSC channelswould be recovered, with portionsof the recovered spectrum to be usedfor emergency communications ser-vices and the rest to be auctioned fornew applications. The FCC timetableset Dec. 31, 2006, as the final day forNTSC broadcasts.

By 1997, broadcasters were begin-ning to accept the reality that theywould be required to begin the tran-sition to digital broadcasts. The time-table, requiring the return of theiranalog channels, was an unexpectedoutcome of the DTV process - anunacceptable outcome.

Within six months, broadcastersused their considerable influenceover Congress to render the FCC or-der meaningless. An amendment tothe 1997 Budget Act established a se-ries of market -based tests that had tobe met before broadcasters in a mar-ket would be required to return theiranalog channels. The amendment


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requires that 85 percent of the homesin a market must have the ability toreceive all local DTV broadcasts be-fore the analog channels would haveto be returned. Today, less than a yearbefore the FCC deadline would havetaken effect, the percentage of homesthat meets these market tests remainsless than 10 percent.

Congress is once again threaten-ing to impose a hard deadline forthe DTV transition. As 2005 drew to

guidelines on set -top receivers forDTV broadcasts. Regulations in NewYork and California limit the powera DTV receiver can consume to 8Wwhile operating and 1W in standby. Itshould be noted that these states donot impose the same limits on set -topboxes for cable and DBS multichan-nel services.

Because of the need to supportHDTV formats and complex equaliz-ers in the ATSC receiver, existing DTV

Local TV broadcasters remain focused on

protecting a business model that is becomingincreasingly irrelevant.

a close, both the House and Senatepassed bills that called for the end ofNTSC broadcasts in 2009. The billswere attached to a budget reconcili-ation package that nearly passed, asCongress rushed to complete workbefore recessing for the holidays. Aconference version of the bills clearedthe House, but the Senate made a fewchanges that require House approval;the House is expected to approvethese changes this month.

The legislation sets a new deadline forthe end of NTSC broadcasts: February18, 2009. A portion of the spectrumthat is to be vacated - channels 52 to69 - will be reallocated for emergencycommunications services. The remain-der will be auctioned for new servicesbeginning January 28, 2008.

The bill creates a $1.5 billion fund tohelp consumers pay for D/A convertersto extend the life of their analog NTSCreceivers. Coupons worth $40 towardthe purchase of these converters will beissued by the government beginningin January of 2008; each householdwill be able to request two coupons. Itdoes not appear that the coupons canbe used to purchase integrated digitalTV receivers or the more sophisticatedHD -capable set -top boxes needed forHDTV -capable monitors.

Eliminated from the House versionwas an energy pre-emption provisionintended to override state laws thatimpose strict energy consumption

receiver designs require considerablymore than 8W operating power. It isunclear whether set -top receivers thatmeet these power limits can be man-ufactured. Meanwhile, more than 30states are considering similar powerlimits on DTV receivers.

Also eliminated from the legisla-tion was a provision giving the cableindustry the right to downconvert abroadcaster's DTV signal for presen-tation on the analog tier of a cablesystem. This was removed because ofCongressional rules limiting the scopeof legislation that can be attached to abudget bill. It is expected that a sepa-rate bill related to the broadcast DTV

1111111111111111111

in subsequent years - as was the casewith the 2006 FCC deadline and sev-eral Congressional deadlines for auc-tioning blocks of spectrum currentlyoccupied by TV broadcasters.

This could be a critical year for TVbroadcasters. As always, it is difficult topredict what will happen in Congress,especially during an election year whenmembers of the House and a third ofthe Senate will be focused on raisinghundreds of millions of dollars to fundtheir re-election campaigns.

Eliminating the middlemanOne thing is becoming clear: Broad-

casters can no longer rely upon politi-cal gerrymandering to protect theirlucrative franchise. The transition tonew forms of digital distribution isaccelerating, but local TV broadcast-ers remain focused on protecting abusiness model that is becoming in-creasingly irrelevant.The deadline for broadcasters to fo-

cus their considerable resources onthe development of DTV as a viablereplacement for the NTSC servicehas already passed. More than half ofthe homes in the United States nowsubscribe to a digital multichannelTV service. The telcos are deploy-ing IPTV services to compete withcable and DBS. And with improvedbroadband connections, the Internet

Broadcasters can no longer rely upon

political gerrymandering to protecttheir lucrative franchise.

transition will be required during the2006 legislative session.

Because the new DTV deadline wascreated as part of the annual budgetreconciliation process, it is unclearwhether this deadline is any moremeaningful than those that have comeand gone since 1997. The budget rec-onciliation process is an exercise thatCongress must go through each yearin an attempt to identify sources ofrevenue and spending levels for thenext five years. Any deadline legislatedthis year can be rendered meaningless

is becoming a viable channel for thedistribution of video programmingdirect to consumers, without thecommercials that are the life -blood ofTV broadcasting.

A la carte or all you can eatPerhaps the most important lesson

learned during the first decade of theDTV transition is that the disruptivenature of digital technologies is help-ing consumers to take control of theirmedia experiences. Digital technolo-gies are making it possible to provide


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greater programming choices, whilesimultaneously empowering con-sumers to find content of interest andto consume it when they want, wherethey want.

Time and place shifting are no lon-ger sci-fi visions supported by com-puter -generated special effects. Theterms DVR, PVR and TiVo are nowpart of the language. They define anew way for consumers to acquire

has announced the ability to transferprograms recorded on its PVRs to thevideo iPod and Sony PSP. And Applemay up the ante again this monthwith a Mac Mini featuring an Intelprocessor, PVR functions and possi-bly a service to stream movies to thisin -home media center.

The Internet is threatening the waytelevision programs are packaged andsold. This threat is causing the media

The media conglomerates view the

transition ... as an opportunity to

impose tighter restrictions on when and

where their content can he consumed.

and control the TV programmingthey view, just as Apple's iTunesand iPod have redefined the ways inwhich consumers can manage anduse their personal music collections.But this just scratches the surface ofthe changes that are taking place withdigital distribution.

The New Oxford American Dictionarydeclared the term podcast as the wordof the year. The term is defined as "adigital recording of a radio broadcastor similar program, made availableon the Internet for downloading to apersonal audio player:' The word is de-rived from a combination of iPod andbroadcasting. It will be added to theonline version of the dictionary dur-ing the next update in early 2006.Unfortunately, the definition above

is already outdated. Video podcast-ing burst onto the scene at the end of2005, and it represents far more thana new way for the media conglom-erates to distribute their high -valuecontent. Now anyone can distributevideo content with little more than acamera, computer and a broadbandconnection.

As reported in November 2005, Ap-ple's newest iPod plays video, and theiTunes music store is now selling mu-sic videos and episodes of top -ratedTV shows from ABC, NBC, The Sci-Fi Channel and USA Network. TiVo

conglomerates and their distributionpartners to rethink the entire modelfor content distribution.

For decades, broadcast and mul-tichannel TV services have offeredcontent on an all you can eat basis.Broadcast TV stations aggregate con-tent that is paid for with advertising;consume all that you like.

Cable expanded the menu, provid-ing the means to collect subscriberand license fees in addition to adver-tising revenues. Today, about a thirdof the monthly cost of expanded basiccable is paid to the media conglom-erates filling that tier with program-ming. The DBS services are riding thesame bandwagon.

But pressure is building to providean alternative to tiering, which forcesmost consumers to pay for channelsthey do not want. Under the guise ofimposing decency standards on non -broadcast networks, the FCC andconsumer groups have gained a con-cession from the cable industry.

Testifying at a Senate CommerceCommittee hearing on Dec. 12, 2005,the National Cable and Telecom-munications Association PresidentKyle McSlarrow outlined preliminaryplans for a number of cable operatorsto voluntarily start selling family -friendly tiers. Shortly thereafter, TimeWarner and Comcast announced new

family tiers, but cable critics quicklycharacterized them as being inad-equate, increasing their calls for theability to choose cable channels on ana la carte basis.

Content protectionWhile consumers are beginning to

enjoy the benefits of time and placeshifting, the media conglomeratesview the transition to digital tech-nologies as an opportunity to imposetighter restrictions on when and wheretheir content can be consumed. Lastyear, a U.S. District Court of Appealsthrew out the broadcast flag regula-tions ordered by the FCC to controlredistribution of TV content.

The courts said that the FCC doesnot have legislative authority to im-pose such regulations on downstreamdevices. Congress plans a number ofhearings in 2006 to deal with contentmanagement and copyright issues.

So the stage is set for an interestingyear in Washington. TV broadcasterswould be well served to ignore thepolitics and focus their resources on

Is this what viewers will see on Feb. 18,2009, with their old NTSC receivers?

the development of a viable businessmodel for the emerging digital world.

Fortunately, whatever happens inWashington, broadcasters will benefit inthe short term, as they receive the lion'sshare of the money that the politiciansraise to fund the 2006 elections. BE

Craig Birkmaier is a technology consultantat Pcube Labs, and he hosts and moder-ates the OpenDTV forum.

SEND Send questions and comments to:

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FCC extendsEmergency Alert SystemBY HARRY C. MARTIN

In the wake of terror threats andhurricanes, the U.S. governmentis doing what it can to maximize

access to emergency preparedness in-formation, and the FCC is doing itspart. The agency recently announcedthat it is extending the reach of itsEmergency Alert System (EAS) rulesto include DTV, digital cable televi-sion, direct broadcast satellite (DBS)television, digital radio (DAB orIBOC) and satellite radio (SDARS) innational EAS activations.

Broadcasters operating digitally (inDTV or IBOC) and satellite program-ming providers must begin participat-ing in national EAS alerts by Dec. 31,2006. DBS television providers haveuntil May 31, 2007, to participate.

In the meantime, DTV operators,

Feb. 1 is the deadline for TV,LPTV, Class ATV and TV translatorstations in Kansas, Nebraska andOklahoma to file their 2006 licenserenewal applications. TV and ClassA TV stations in those states mustfile their EEO program reports alongwith their renewals. Only TV sta-tions must file biennial ownershipreports with their renewals.

TV stations in Texas must begintheir renewal pre -filing announce-ments on Feb. 1, in anticipation offiling their renewals on April 1.

Feb. 1 is the deadline for TV stationsin New Jersey and New York to filetheir biennial ownership reports.

Feb. 1 is the date that TV and Class

A TV stations in the following statesmust place their annual EEO reportsin their public files and on their Websites: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana,Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey,New York and Oklahoma.

including digital LPTV and digitalClass A television licensees, have thesame EAS obligations as analog tele-vision licensees. This includes install-ing endec units so that monitoringand transmitting EAS test messagescan be done at all times.

Multicasting DTV stations that par-ticipate in state and local EAS trans-missions, which is now voluntary, mustprovide EAS messages on all programstreams that the DTV station offers,including subscription streams. How-ever, DTV stations will have significantflexibility in determining the methodthey will use to deliver EAS messageson those various program streams. Oneoption available would be to transmitEAS messages on only one programstream and simultaneously force all re-ceivers to tune to that stream.

Digital cable systems may likewisedetermine the method they will useto distribute EAS messages to viewersof digital cable channels. The primaryrequirement is that all viewers receivethe complete EAS message on thechannel they are watching. The plug -and -play agreement requires that, tobe labeled as digital cable ready, a TVset must respond to EAS messagestransmitted in compliance with theDigital Video Service Multiplex andTransport System Standard for CableTelevision. Digital cable systems withless than 5000 subscribers, like simi-lar analog and wireless cable systems,may provide a video interruption andan audio alert message on all chan-nels and the EAS message on at leastone channel.

DBS providers will be required toparticipate in national EAS activa-tions, as well as provide national EASmessages to viewers of all channels.They must comply with EAS rulesregarding encoding and decoding

equipment, monitoring of EAS sourc-es and EAS testing. Although partici-pation in state and local EAS activa-tions remains voluntary, DBS mustpass through all EAS messages airedon local channels to the subscribersviewing those channels.

Over -the -air AM and FM radio sta-tions that transmit a digital signalusing the IBOC technical system inaddition to transmitting an analogsignal will be required to transmit theEAS messages that they air on all au-dio streams they provide.

SDARS (subscription services pro-vided by Sirius and XM) will be re-quired to transmit national EAS

messages on all channels. Theymust receive national EAS messagesthrough an endec unit from whichthey monitor at least two sources (in-cluding one primary entry point sta-tion) or directly monitor the FEMA.SDARS providers are encouraged tohave the ability both to receive EASalerts from state and local emergencymanagers and to disseminate them onthe local traffic and weather channelsthey offer. They must comply withEAS testing requirements and moni-tor a state or local primary source toparticipate in testing.

The FCC also issued a notice of pro-posed rulemaking under which it willexplore, along with other governmentagencies and the communicationsindustry, ways in which emergencyinformation may be made availablemore efficiently and effectively usingnew technologies. BE

Harry C. Martin is the immediate -pastpresident of the Federal Communica-tions Bar Association and a member ofFletcher, Heald and Hildreth PLC.


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Digital videobasicsBY MICHAEL ROBIN

nalog composite signals,such as NTSC, PAL andECAM, are subject to

cumulative distortions and noise thataffect the quality of the reproducedpicture. Separate distortions of theluminance and chrominance com-ponents, as well as intermodulationbetween them, are likely to occur.Such distortions can be reduced, butnot completely eliminated, by per-forming all or at least a major partof production and post -productionoperations using component analogvideo signals.

The cumulative composite orcomponent analog video signal im-pairments and their effect on thereproduced picture can be reducedconsiderably by using a digital rep-resentation of the video signal andeffecting the distribution, processingand recording in the digital domain.The A/D and D/A conversions intro-duce some impairments.

Amplitude

Amplitude

6.75MHz 13.5MHz

(a) Luminance sampling spectrum

3.375MHz 6.75MHz

(b) Color d fference sampling spectrum

Frequency

Frequency

Figure 1. Sampling spectrum of 4:2:2 SDTV signals

By a proper selection of two pa-rameters, namely the sampling fre-quency and the quantizing accuracy,these impairments can be reducedto low, visually imperceptible values.As long as the digitized signals aredistributed, processed and recorded

a 1 4A

Ilk I 1 11 1 I HiHDTV sets sold to consumersIn 2005, 9.1 million sets were sold to consumers

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

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2003 2004

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in the digital domain, these impair-ments are limited to those intro-duced by a single -pass A/D and D/Aprocessing.

SamplingThe sampling of the video signal is

essentially a pulse amplitude modu-lation process. It consists of checkingthe signal amplitude at periodic inter-vals (T). (See Figure 1.) The samplingfrequency (FB=-1 /T) has to meet tworequirements:

It has to be higher than twice themaximum baseband frequency of theanalog video signal (FB), as stipulatedby Nyquist. This is required in orderto avoid aliasing. Aliasing is visible asspurious picture elements associatedwith fine details (high frequencies)in the picture. The only way to avoidaliasing is to use an anti-aliasing filterahead of the A/D converter. The taskof this filter is to reduce the band-width of the sampled baseband to lessthan F5/2.

It has to be coherent with and re-lated to an easily identifiable and con-stant video frequency.


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An early approach, 3Fsc, sampledthe composite video signal at threetimes the color subcarrier frequency.This resulted in F5 = 3 x 3.58MHz= 10.7MHz in NTSC and F5 = 3 x4.43MHz = 13.29MHz in PAL. A laterapproach, 4F5c, sampled the compos-

ing the active line in the two formats.Similar sampling strategies are usedwith the HDTV formats.

QuantizingThe pulse amplitude modulation re-

sults in a sequence of pulses, spaced at

Experiments have shown that when less than

eight bits per sample are used, the quantizing

errors appear as contouring.ite video signal at four times the colorsubcarrier frequency, or 14.3MHz inNTSC and 17.7MHz in PAL.

While sampling at a multiple ofFsc works well in NTSC and PAL, itdoesn't work at all in SECAM. This isdue to the inherent nature of SECAM,which uses two separate line -sequen-tial frequency -modulated color sub -carriers carrying, respectively, the DBand DR color -difference signals.

It appeared evident in the 1970s thata digital video system in which theluminance and chrominance are in-dividually coded would ease the pro-gram interchange between the PALand SECAM countries. This resultedin the component digital concept,which is at the core of all contempo-rary digital video systems.

The component digital concept usesthree separate A/D converters, oneeach for the E'y, EicB and Fat com-ponent video signals. The samplingfrequencies are a multiple of the hori-zontal scanning frequency FH. Themost pervasive SDTV sampling strat-egy, the 4:2:2, samples the luminancesignal at 13.5MHz and each of the twocolor -difference signals at 6.75MHz.The luminance signal is low-pass fil-tered starting at 5.75MHz, and thecolor difference signals are low-passfiltered starting at 2.75MHz, result-ing in a comfortable guard -band withrespect to the Nyquist frequency andan alias -free sampling. The sam-pling frequencies are the same in the525/59.94 and the 625/50 standard,resulting in an equal number of sam-ples, 720 luminance samples and 360each color -difference samples, dur-

T=1/FB intervals, whose amplitude isproportional to the amplitude of thesampled analog signal at the samplinginstant. There are an infinite numberof shades of gray - ranging fromblack (lowest video signal amplitude)to white (highest video signal ampli-tude) - that the analog video signalcan represent.

The instantaneous sampling pulseamplitudes can be represented in thedigital domain by only a limited num-ber of binary values, resulting in quan-tizing errors. The possible number of

shades of gray is equal to 2n, where n isthe number of bits per sample.

Experiments have shown that whenless than eight bits per sample areused, the quantizing errors appearas contouring. With eight bits persample or more, the quantizing errorsappear, in general, as random noise(quantizing noise) in the picture. Inpractical applications, in order toavoid clipping, the signal occupiesless than 2" steps, resulting in a speci-fied quantizing range.

Figure 2 shows the relationship be-tween the E'y, EcB and Eat analogcomponent signal levels correspond-ing to a 100/0/100/0 color bars signaland the 10 -bit Y, CB and CR digitalsample values, as specified in ITU-RBT.601. In a 10 -bit system, there are1024 digital levels (210) ranging from0 to 1023 (000 to 3FF hex). Levels 000,001, 002, 003 and 3FC, 3FD, 3FE, 3FFare reserved to indicate timing refer-ences. Note that the sync is not sam-pled. This leaves a maximum quan-tizing range of 1016 digital levels,

Analog Decimal Hexadecimallevel level level

E'y signal4,

Efeadmom

eadreQ01

10231020

763.13 1019700 940

3FF }Reserved range3FC

3FB Highest quantized level3AC Peak white level

0 64 040 Blanking level-47.9 4 004 Lowest quantized level

}Reserved3 range000003

FCBsignal 4,

E'cR signal

------- +369.9-

+350

4,HOadt00111

0

102310201019 3FB Highest quantized level

960 3C0 Maximum positive level

3FF }Reserved range3FC

512 200 Blanking level

-350 64 040 Maximum negative level-369.9 4 004 Lowest quantized level

3 003 j---, Reserved range0 000

_r-

4,

10231020

- +369.9 1019 3FB Highest quantized level+350 960 3C0 Maximum positive levelt

1rHeadroom

0

3FF3FC

}Reserved range

512 200 Blanking level

-350 64-369.9 4

3

0

040 Maximum negative level004 Lowest quantized level003 -1_1 -Reserved range000

Figure 2. Relationship between analog component signals and 10 -bit Y, C, and CRdigital sample values


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Transition to AAAAA IIIM141111-S S ffie

ranging from four to 1019 to repre-sent the signal levels.The normalized (700mV p -p) Y

signal levels are assigned a range ex-tending from 64 to 940, a total of 877quantizing levels. This leaves a smallupper headroom (940 to 1019) andlower headroom (four to 64).

The normalized (700mV p -p) CBand CR signal levels are assigned arange extending from 64 to 960, atotal of 897 quantizing levels. Thisleaves a small upper headroom (960to 1019) and lower headroom (fourto 64). An eight -bit system wouldhave 220 quantizing levels for the Ycomponent and 225 quantizing levelsfor the CB and CR components.

Advantages anddisadvantages

The advantages of digital video are: Single -pass, analog -type impair-ments are non -cumulative if the sig-

nal stays digital. However, a concat-enation of digital black boxes usinganalog interfaces leads to cumula-tive analog signal degradations andshould be avoided. There is a reduced sensitivity tonoise and interference. Digital equipment efficiently andeconomically performs tasks that aredifficult or impossible to perform us-ing analog technology. It is amenable to the applicationof techniques for efficient reten-tion of essential information such ascompression.The disadvantages of digital video

are: Analog -type of distortions, as wellunique digital distortions related tosampling and quantizing, result in avariety of visible impairments. Wide bandwidth requirements forrecording, distribution and transmis-sion necessitate sophisticated bit rate

reduction and compression schemesto achieve manageable bandwidths. Unlike analog signals, the digital sig-nals do not degrade gracefully and aresubjected to a cliff effect. BE

Michael Robin, a fellow of the SMPTEand former engineer with the CanadianBroadcasting's engineering headquarters,is an independent broadcast consultantlocated in Montreal. He is co-author of"Digital Television Fundamentals," pub-lished by McGraw-Hill and translated intoChinese and Japanese.

Send questions and comments to:

michael_robin@prismacom

WPMTelevisionFundamentals

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A tutorial onIP network addressingBY BRAD GILMER

Understanding how com-puter network addresseswork is fundamental to

understanding how networked com-puters communicate. It is importantto properly configure your networks,as well as to understand how comput-ers on your network communicatewith computers on the Internet. Thismonth and next, we will look at net-work addressing in detail.

IP addressesInternet Protocol (IP) addresses

take the form )occ.xxx.xxx.xmc, wherexxx is a number between zero and255. There are public IP addressesand private IP addresses. Public IPaddresses are assigned by the Inter-net Corporation for Assigned Namesand Numbers (www.icann.org) andare routable over the Internet. Pri-

CIDRnotation

Availableaddresses

Usable addresses Subnet mask

/32 1 valid address 0 usable addresses 255.255.255.255

/31 2 valid addresses 0 usable addresses 255.255.255.254



/28 16 valid addresses 14 usablE addresses 255.255.255.240

...



Table 1. This table illustrates subnet masks. The number after the "I" in the CIDRnotation indicates the total number of IP addresses available.

refers to a host on the network. Youmight wonder why you would everneed to use a subnet mask. In fact,many times a subnet mask is notused. Most computers have theirnetwork masks set to 255.255.255.0,

If you ever work with a piece of equipmentthat is directly connected to the Internet, then

you will almost always need to set the subnetmask appropriately.

vate IP addresses are not routableover the Internet: They are intendedto be used within a facility.

In addition to IP addresses, com-puters use a subnet mask to deter-mine which addresses are valid on anetwork. Subnets are critical to un-derstanding how the Internet works,so we are going to spend the rest ofthis month's article on this topic.

Subnet masks definedA subnet mask is a mask that is ap-

plied to an IP address to determinewhich portion of the address refersto the network and which portion

which effectively turns the subnetmask off. If this is the case, then whatis the subnet mask for?

The primary use of a subnet maskis to apportion network addressesin an environment where these ad-dresses are scarce. If you are workingwith an internal network where youcan create all the addresses you need,then you may never worry about asubnet mask. On the other hand, ifyou ever work with a piece of equip-ment that is directly connected tothe Internet, then you will almostalways need to set the subnet maskappropriately.

Understandingsubnet masks

It may be easier to understand sub -net masks if we look at an example.Let's say that you are an engineerat a television station that has a T1connection to the Internet. Your In-ternet Service Provider (ISP) tellsyou that you have six public IP ad-dresses and that your CIDR addressis 66.235.22.8/29.If you are not familiar with CIDR,

you may be a little confused. First,you should know that CIDR standsfor Classless Inter -Domain Rout-ing. CIDR resolved a problem witha shortage in Internet addresses, butmore on CIDR next month. As youlook over the information from theISP, you may wonder what the /29stands for. It means that there areeight IP addresses in this network.

By giving you the CIDR addressof 66.235.22.8, the ISP is telling youthat your network -addressing blockstarts at this address. The /29 speci-fies that there are a total of eight IPaddresses in this block. As Table 1shows, the number after the "I" in-dicates the total number of IP ad-dresses available.


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1, 11 1 1,1., 1 ,

00

I-J

I-

Why is it that Table 1 shows thatyou were issued eight addresses, butthe ISP told you that you only havesix? The reason is that the first andlast addresses are reserved. Giventhe CIDR of 66.235.22.8/29, youwould be free to assign the addresses66.235.22.9 through 66.235.22.14 tohost computers you want to connectdirectly to the Internet.

Note that you would set the sub -net mask on these computers to255.255.255.248. This would tellthese computers that the only valid

specified by four octets separated byperiods. Note that 255.255.255.255 isequal to four octets, with each octetset to a value of all "ones" in binary.The reason 255 is a common numberin Internet notation is that it is easyfor computers to count from zero to"11111111" in binary and to makedecisions based upon values that areall ones or zeros.

Network addressesNow back to the question: Why

would the number /29 be chosen

Base -10 value

Binary 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Table 2. In binary numbers, the right -most digit represents ones, the next digit tothe left represents twos, the next digit to the left represents fours, and so on.

IP addresses on this network arefrom 66.235.22.8 to 66.235.22.15.

Why in the world does /29 meanthat there are eight addresses avail-able? IP addresses run from 0.0.0.0through 255.255.255.255. But what

to represent eight addresses on ournetwork? To answer this question, itmight be useful to look at the net-work address assigned by the ISPand its corresponding subnet maskin binary. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

IP Address 66 --ri 5 22

Binary 01000010 11101011 00010110 00001000

Table 3. Network addresses assigned by the ISP

is magic about 255? It turns out thatthis is an easy number to representin binary. You may remember thatin binary, the right most digit repre-sents ones, the next digit to the leftrepresents twos, the next digit to theleft represents fours, and so on. (SeeTable 2.)

If you count the number of "ones"in the binary representation of thesubnet mask, you will find that thereare 29 of them. (Ah ha!) Not onlythat, if you look at the subnet mask,you will see that only three binarynumbers are set to zero - the lastthree. A binary value of 111 equals

Subnet mask 255 255 255 248 ,

Binary 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111000

Table 4. A network address' corresponding subnet mask in binary numbers

As you can see from the table, a bina-ry value of"11111111," or eight "ones"equals 128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1=255. With eight bits, you can repre-sent values from zero to 255 (a total of256 unique values). A group of eightbinary digits is sometimes referredto as an octet. Internet addresses are

seven. So, if you use the subnet maskto strip off all but the last three digitsof the assigned IP address, the maxi-mum number of values that can berepresented is eight (zero throughseven).

As you can imagine, it is possible todesign logic that can quickly strip off

the first 29 bits, or the last three bits.Why would this be important? Be-cause in Internet technology, it canbe important to know what address-es are local and what addresses arenetwork. Put in other terms, it maybe important to determine whethertraffic on the network is meant for alocal host or for the Internet.

One reason CIDR notation is com-mon is that it is convenient. It is mucheasier to say "66.235.22.8/29" than itis to say "66.235.22.8 with eight validIP addresses," or "66.235.22.8 with asubnet mask of 255.255.255.240."

Setting the subnet maskFinally, you may wonder if it is a

problem to leave your computers setto a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.That depends on your situation. Ifyou are working with host computersconnected to the Internet, it would bebest to set the subnet mask correctly.If you are dealing with workstationsconnected to a private network, thensetting the subnet mask correctly isnot as critical.To learn more about IP addressing,

take a look at an article titled "IP ad-dressing and subnetting for new us-ers," available at www.cisco.com, doc-ument number 13788. You may alsowant to download a free advancedsubnet calculator from www.solar-winds.com. The calculator not onlydoes subnet calculations, but alsoconverts between CIDR and conven-tional subnet notation as well as per-forms other useful tasks. BE

Brad Gilmer is a SMPTE Fellow. He isalso president of Gilmer & Associates,executive director of the Video ServicesForum and executive director of the AAFAssociation.

Send questions and comments to:[email protected]

ENTION REA113:h 1`,I lb?1{4

r rF1

at www.broadcastengineering.com


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Illation s .broadcastengineering.com

Microphonesfor surround soundBY GARY ESKOW

The migration to HDTV maybe taking longer than someexperts predicted back in the

mid -'90s, but it is taking place. Areconsumers clamoring for the benefitsthat enhanced picture and audio canbring to network and local televisionprogramming? With regard to sur-round sound, and the new micro-phone technologies that make multi-channel audio easier to capture thanever, it's clear that viewers are in thedriver's seat. Demand will dictate thepace at which the move to surroundsound advances.

The audienceMultiple speaker systems are now

available at prices that nearly anyonewith an interest in surround soundplayback in the home can afford. It'sclear that many consumers enjoy hear-ing film scores played on inexpensiveDVD machines. To date, however, theadvantages that surround can bringto local newscasts, for example, havenot captured the collective imagina-tion of the public. Will the average

ronment, this technology has alreadybeen used on Super Bowl broadcastsand other high -profile events. But lo-cal television stations have - to thispoint - remained a tough sell, de-spite these microphones' strong sell-ing points.

B Format basicsAssuming that an audience ex-

ists for surround audio, the logisticsinvolved in setting up six or sevenmicrophones to cover an unfoldingnews story make them impracticalin the fast -paced, budget -consciousENG marketplace. This is particularlytrue when a shock -mounted micro-phone attached to a camera or a sin-gle boom are the only ways that audiois captured.

One soultion: B Format technol-ogy. (See Figure 1.) SoundField'sthree surround microphones (theST250, SPS422B and Mark 5) all usethis multiple -axis concept that refer-ences all four capsules of a surroundmicrophone against a single point. Ineffect, the four capsules are angled to

One of the challenges with the new technology

is convincing broadcasters that shooters

won't need a degree in calculus to

operate the equipmenthomeowner eventually be interestedin watching coverage of a local fireand hearing trucks screeching arounda 5.1 field?

Among the manufacturers with themost to gain if this encroachment oc-curs are the microphone companieswhose product lines include multi -capsule microphones. Designed toeliminate the need to place a series ofindividual mics throughout an envi-

cover the four corners of the universe,but each one is electronically placedin the same spot, eliminating any pos-sibility of phase cancellation.

One advantage of B Format is thatseveral different audio streams canbe output at one time, making it pos-sible for a local broadcaster to deliversurround sound and stereo to coverthe needs of its entire audience base.Because only four capsules are used,

Figure 1. B Format recordings captureaudio in three planes (X,Y and Z) as wellas at a central reference (W). Recordingall four tracks allows the precise audioimage at the microphone's location tobe recreated later. The four discrete im-ages can be manipulated in post, cre-atiig an infinite variety of microphonepa:terns.

however, any multichannel setup thatneeds more outputs (read: 5.1) re-quires algorithmic manipulation toachieve the task. In SoundField's case,this consists of a hardware box or aplug-in that needs to be inserted intoa Pro Tools or Nuendo session if fiveor more channels are called for.

One of the challenges with the newtechnology is convincing broadcast-ers that shooters won't need a degreein calculus to operate the equipment.(They won't.)And, as we mentioned at the out-

set, viewer demand is also critical.Do you ever turn on your local cablestation to watch a local high schoolfootball or basketball game? Wouldsurround sound augment the expe-rience for you? Working down thechain even further, would that wed-ding video you had shot mean moreto you if it was delivered in a multi-channel format?

While SoundField uses four capsules


Academy Award -winning sound designer and composerFrank Serafine used the H2 -Pro to capture wind noise in theGrand Canyon.

and algorithms to output full surround spectrums, Ho-lophone takes a different approach. Early on in the com-pany's 12 -year history, Holophone built a 10 -channelmicrophone.

Holophone's H2 -PRO consists of eight discrete micro-phones. The concept is to allow the multiple-mic array tohear the surround image as the human brain would.

Holophone microphones have been used in the coverageof major sporting events since the 1999 NHL All Star game.In addition to the sonic reality that surround microphonesprovide, their ease of setup is a big reason why they aregaining popularity. For example, at last year's Super Bowl,setting up a pair of H2 -PROs took 45 minutes (comparedwith several days for the system used the year before). Onemicrophone was placed on a 30ft pole at the 50 -yard lineto capture the ambience of the game. The other, a wirelessmicrophone that worked with an eight -channel wirelesstransmitter, was used to pick up the crowd.

Holophone is working on its latest product, the PROmini, which will be used by NBC when it covers the TurinoWinter Olympics in February 2006 and released shortlythereafter. The PRO mini, a six -capsule microphone, willmount on a camera and follow its moving perspective.Using SRS Circle Surround II, this device will record sixaudio tracks onto a stereo pair.

B Format's futureAs impressive as Super Bowl and Olympic presenta-

tions are, manufacturers cannot sustain viable businessesby catering exclusively to the major networks. Educationand experience will play a pivotal role if surround soundis to move into the local broadcast environment and be-come a part of the every day viewing experience of theAmerican public. BE

Gary Eskow is a composer and journalist.

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JANUARY 2006 broadcastengineering.com 33

`SHOWrelocates to house larger laughs

lbw

BY MICHAEL GROTTICELLI

& - _4:41-.4(00-

; a

I , I1".i 1

-: .

The breakout success of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"on cable's Comedy Central channel has meant a larger viewingaudience and bigger laughs. It's also necessitated larger stLdio facilities.

The entire cast and crew recently moved from NEP Studio 54 into a new spaceacross town in New York City from its smaller digs (where it had been since 1998),with the help of NEP Studios, in a mere two weeks. Comedy Central did not wantto have any significant amount of downtime for the show, so the move to the newfacility, which opened in July, had to happen quickly. New construction to get thefacility ready and make room for expanded offices and production space began inJanuary 2005 and spanned six months.

I

11111/11444


NEP Studios owns the studio spaceand has agreed to lease it to "TheDaily Show" for four years. JohnChow, NEP Studios' vice presidentof engineering, oversaw the engineer-ing project, which was renovated toComedy Central specifications. Thisincludes the show's desire to haveall of the production rooms locatedon the same floor. Also, the graph-ics workstations are now locatedclose to the editing systems so that thestaff can collaborate on projects moreeffectively.

The show's producers wanted thetape operators to be able to see thecontrol room, so a hole was cut anda window built between the two. Inmost cases, the show's staff wouldrather communicate across the roomsto one another than send and grab afile off of a network. However, thestaff does have access to a Telex/RTSMatrix Intercom system with wirelessintercoms units.

Top photo: The spacious SDI production control room employs a Sony DVS -9000switcher, a Pinnacle DVEXtreme digital video effects system, Ikegami monitoringand a Telex/RTS Matrix Intercom system.

Bottom photo: The large 100ft x 75ft studio audience area accommodates morethan 200 people. The set is equipped with Sony BVP-950 cameras and three largerear -projection screens.


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1; ce_aChow also supervisedthe purchase of several

new pieces of digital produc-tion equipment, as well as the

transfer of existing systems to thenew facilities. There's also a new serialdigital/fiber-optic network connect-ing the systems and expanded spacefor the show's studio audience, writ-ers and administrative staff.

The facility did not go completelydigital. (It's 601 digital and AES withanalog video and audio layers.) There'sa Grass Valley Venus analog routerwith dozens of Grass Valley Gecko sig-nal conversion cards and numerousBetacam SP decks in use. However, itdoes takes advantage of several digi-tal islands - for editing (Avid MediaComposer Adrenalines) and for graph-ics (Discreet flint, Quantel Paintbox,etc.) - connected via a Gigabit Eth-ernet connection, that help streamlinethe sometimes frenetic productionprocess. Four Avid workstations sharematerial via a LANShare server with2.88TB of storage.

Because it's such a graphics/video -intensive production, the show alsouses five Grass Valley M -Series iVDR(two record and two playback chan-nels, with 16 hours of 25Mb/s storageper unit), Profile servers (eight chan-nels), TiVo digital video recorders andfour digital betacam VTRs to captureimages off -air for use in the show. Theeditors also use Sony DVW-M2000and DVW-A500 source decks.

An analog transmission path at theold location has been converted to aDS -3 digital link. As the show is be-ing taped live, video and audio issent to Comedy Central's office at1515 Broadway, in New York City.Then it's bounced to the network op-erations center, in Hauppauge, NY,for playout across the country.

Audio also has been greatly enhanced,with a new Solid State Logic C100digital audio console serving as thecenterpiece of a retrofitted audio pro-duction room. Tim Lester, a freelanceaudio engineer who has been with theshow since its inception, said the newconsole includes all of the features he

The tape/server operations room Ic oks into the production room. It uses SonyDigital Betacam, a Grass Valley M -Series iVDR, and DNF and Lance controllers.

Technology at workAdobe After Effects workstationAvid Technology

Media Composer Adrenaline systemsLAN Share server

Chyron iNFiNiT! CGDigidesign Pro ToolsIHD3Discreet flint workstationDNF Controls 2034CL Clip Instant Access System with ST 420 ShotboxETC Expression 3-800 lighting control consoleGrass Valley

M -Series iVDR

Venus routing switcherSignal converters

Ikegami14in and 17in broadcast monitorsRack -mount LCD panel

Lance HSE-200 four -VTR controller -editorLeader SDI waveform/vectorscopesMackie Onyx 1640 analog audio mixerPinnacle Systems

DVEXtreme digital video effects systemLightning stillstore

Quantel Paintbox workstationSennheiser EM 3532 wireless micsSolid State Logic C100 broadcast audio consoleSony

BVP-950 digital portable camera systemDVS -9000 switcher

DVW-M2000 Digital Betacam editorDVW-500 Digital Betacam VTRs

TASCAM MX -2424 SE hard -disc recorderTektronix SPG 422 SDI sync generatorTelex/RTS Matrix Intercom systems w/wireless intercomsVinten

Vector 70 pan/tilt headsFulmar pedestals


wished he had in the existing facility."The Daily Show" selected the SSL

C100 due to a number of live produc-tion features. The new version 2 soft-ware includes expanded I/O capac-ity and TouchPan, a feature that allowsLester to have full 5.1 panning accesson every channel from the console'scentral touch screen. The console's abil-ity to handle full 5.1 surround soundmixes was another key factor in select-ing the unit, as "The Daily Show" plansto begin producing the show in DolbyDigital sometime this year. Lester alsouses a Digidesign Pro Tools system anda TASCAM 24 -track, 24 -bit hard diskrecorder to create sound effects.An expanded production studio,

which is the former home of The FoodNetwork shows such as "Emeril Live,"includes four Sony BVP-950 digitalcameras (with switchable aspect ratio),an ETC lighting system and a larger stu-dio audience area. The studio audiencearea accommodates more than 200people, twice the amount of people theolder studio held. The set also has beenredesigned, with the addition of threelarge rear -projection screens.

A renovated control room features

Design teamNEP Studios

Charles Pontillo, presidentJohn T Chow, VP of

engineeringKevin Tobin, chief engineer

Studio 52

Lorenzo Handsford, engineerStudio 52

Adriane Truex, facilitymanager Studio 52

Bill Willig, project managerGeorgia Pappas, executive in

charge of productionRay DeMartini, director of

support services -engineering & facilities

Kevin Tobin & Ed Modzel, designengineers

Sonny Waysack, installationsupervisor

Alan Garry, Kossar & GarryArchitects

a four M/E Sony DVS -9000 SD pro-duction switcher, fully loaded with80 inputs and 48 outputs. Images arestored for each night's show on a Pin-nacle Systems Lightning server, whichcan be called up through the switcherfor insertion into the show as well.Ikegami monitors fill out a compre-hensive monitor wall, where the di-rector and TD sit and call the shots.

The new digital facility offers JonStewart and his staff a chance to spreadtheir wings and produce more com-plex segments than they could before.The frenetic pace of producing theshow is still the same, but now thereis more room to roam. BE

Michael Grotticelli regularly reports onthe professional video and broadcasttechnology industries.

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broadcastengineering.com 39

commercial video production faBY TIM DAVIS

Texas is not exactly the firstplace that comes to mindwhen considering hotspots

of broadcast and production facili-ties in the United States. But Circle RMedia aimed to change all that withthe construction of a new facility inthe heart of North Texas. The com-pany replaced its existing facility with

a 48,000sq-ft video, film and audioproduction facility that opened indowntown Fort Worth in May 2005.

Forward -thinking designThe first step to creating a world -class

production facility was taken whenCircle R Media hired Russ Berger De-sign Group (RBDG). In addition to

baseline goals such as centralizing thefacility's UPS system, the companypresented RBDG with several impor-tant requirements, including: creating a first-rate critical listeningenvironment in the edit suites andcontrol rooms; increasing the studio grid heightwith a retractable grid system;


Track lighting sets the mood forthose working in the video controlrooms while the completely patch-able monitor bridge can be easilyviewed from anywhere in the room.

developing a space that was flexibleand fully upgradable; and enabling the company to inde-pendently run its own IT operations.

The high level of critical listening inthe edit suites was achieved in part byhaving AEC - specialists in architec-tural noise control - install sound-proofing wall fabrics to keep acoustics

tuned within the rooms. In addi-tion, the noisy equipment in the halfheight racks outside the suites wasisolated. Perhaps most significantly,the new facility was constructed witha dual -floating slab and sound -sealeddoors that ensure ultra -quiet rooms.

Circle R Media's previous facilitywas reasonably sized at 40,000sq ft,but it was designed around a centralelevator system that created areas ofunusable space. At 48,000sq ft, thenew facility is only slightly larger,but with an absolute minimum ofwasted space.

A high level of space efficiency wasgained by installing a retractable gridsystem to increase the grid height inthe studios. Of the new facility's threestudios, the largest - which measures83ft x 45ft with a grid height of 25ft- is equipped with a DeSisti retract-able light grid system.

In addition to increasing the stu-dio grid height, the system allows forquick set lighting changes and savesthe company an average of two hoursper shoot day. The light bars are auto -load balancing, which eliminates theneed to evenly space the lights on thebar. Also, because the system uses a se-ries of hoists that can be lowered to thestudio floor from a control panel, it'snot necessary to use a lift or ladders toposition each light above the set.

The 3800sqft sound stage comes com-plete with a DeSisti retractable lightingsystem equipped with 160 dimmersand HDC hoist digital control.

In keeping with the expectation thatthe new facility should last at least 15years, Circle R Media put a good dealof thought into creating a space thatwas flexible and fully upgradable. Thiswas achieved in part by using as muchdigital equipment as possible and up-grading the central routing to SDIdigital video and AES/EBU digital au-dio. With the exception of a minimalamount of analog video monitoringand live audio equipment, 90 percentdigital implementation was achievedin the new facility.

The company also chose a Leitch In-tegrator Gold Series 128 x 128 routerfor its modularity, multiformat capa-bilities and upgrade path. The fullymodular digital video, audio andmachine -control router moves high-speed signals from up to 128 loca-tions throughout the facility, makingit easy to control complex productionfrom a single point and provide su-perb -quality sound. And because theprevious analog router was also madeby Leitch, it was possible to reuse sev-eral of the route head controllers.

Upgradability was also foremost inmind when deciding on Signal Trans-port's modular panel system, whichallows for quick termination of theproper room connections with thelatest connector types.

Finally, as a newly independent

Studio A's DeSisti lighting system con-tains movable, self -leveling battens andan HDC hoist digital control system.


CIRCLE R I MEDIA'Scommercial

fvaicti

private company, it wasimportant that Circle R

Media handle and manageits own IT operations. As a re-

sult, all the data connections in thefacility were routed to terminate inthe central machine room instead ofthe BDF closets. A firewall, exchangeserver, file servers and FTP server sys-tem were all installed. The companyalso had to provision its own connec-tivity into the campus and demark itat the central machine room. The ex-tra work was extensive but well worth

The audio control room is isolated fromthe video control room, making for amore precise listening environment- the envy of any audiophile.

it because it provides the flexibility toreact quickly to customers' IT needs.

Assembling the technologyFrom the beginning of the project,

it was determined that Circle R Mediawould use its in-house engineering stafffor all system integration and installa-tion, using VidCAD for systems docu-mentation. The internal engineeringstaff consists of five full-time engineerswith combined broadcast engineeringexperience of more than 100 years.

In terms of equipping the new fa-cility, some equipment was simplytransferred from the old facility to thenew. This included Sony BVP-700Astudio cameras that were deemed tohave several more years of good useleft on their life cycle.

Naturally, a good deal of new equip-ment was also acquired. The new ed-iting systems are comprised of twoAvid Media Composer AdrenalinHD systems, Avid Symphony, AvidExpress Elite and an Avid DSIHD forfinishing. For EFP, the company pur-

chased a Panasonic AJ-HDX400, aswell as the AJ-HD1200A DVCPROHD VTR for its 1080i capability andfor the open use software codec thateasily interfaced with two new AppleFinal Cut Pro HD systems. The FinalCut systems were chosen as a goodcomplement to the facility's Avidsystems with Unity storage for stand-alone productions that don't require acollaborative editing environment.

Storage needs were met with theselection of an Apple XRAID for theFinal Cut Pro HD systems, while an

The facility's engineers provide serviceto the three individual stages and twocontrol rooms from one central area.Cameras, intercom stations, tallies androuters can all be easily switched fromone to another in seconds.

existing Unity drive system was up-graded to 4TB with 2Gb switching.ETC dimmers and controls were cho-sen for studio lighting, with systemsvarying in size from 48 channels in thesmall stage to 226 in the large stage.The grid and all the lighting instru-ments in the three studios, includingbattens and the dimmer control, areoperated using DMX control.

The facility's graphics and animationstudio was equipped with dual Xeonprocessors running on a gigabit back-bone server. This technology was select-ed because it provides a render networkof eight dual -processor servers thathasten the production of animationsequences. The main programs usedare Maya, Adobe After Effects, Boujoumotion tracking software and Smedge2 for render farm management.

All of the new facility's video and au-dio control rooms were outfitted withsoundproof soffits for possible futureinstallation of projection systems.

For the time being, however, SonyLMD2105 and LMD4420 LCD moni-tors were installed. This reduction ofweight allowed for experimentationwith a different monitor mountingscheme. The decision was made touse standard computer relay racks formonitor bridging to save space andgive the bridges a streamlined look.The control rooms were also outfittedwith power outlets at speaker heightto allow the use of powered audiomonitors, if required.

One of the most important technol-ogy decisions made in the new facilitywas to incorporate fiber optic as themain transmission method. CircleR chose to service its clients with fi-ber optic via Genesis Networks. Thisprovides the ability to schedule andmonitor loops over the Internet andvary bandwidth according to pro-gram needs. It has proven to be bothcost-effective for the company and agreat value for its clients.

The new facility is also hardwired to11 locations at the nearby corporateoffice of RadioShack, one of CircleR Media's clients, including boardrooms, model stores, training roomsand outdoor locations. The external lo-cations are wired and terminated withtriax, audio, video, hybrid copper fibercombo and single mode fiber, whichenable the company to roll its studiocameras to these locations and broad-cast to the more than 7000 RadioShackstores via EchoStar in Cheyenne, WY.By using hybrid and single -mode fiber,the company is assured of staying con-nected well into the future.

Challenges and completionAlthough the project flowed well

and was ultimately successful, thefacility had a few minor challengesto overcome. Not the least of thesechallenges was how to create pris-tine acoustical integrity in a build-ing facing one of the area's busiestthoroughfares.

Architecturally, it was necessary toplace the facility's west wall against theparking garage and the main entrancealong the busiest street in downtown


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CIRCLE I R I MEDIA'scporomdmuncoinalfvattoy

Fort Worth, thus pre-senting a real challenge

to build a vibration- andnoise -free facility. Ultimately,

the solution came in the form of adual -floating slab system designed to

The bamboo flooring in the audio suitesand video -audio control rooms sits atopa dual floating concrete slab founda-tion.This, along with the sound absorb-ing material on the walls, makes for anultra -quiet working environment.

provide true vibration -free recordingstages and soundproofed listeningareas. Other measures that furtherensured acoustical integrity includedinstalling sound -lock doors, plac-ing noise -producing equipment ina central machine room and imple-menting a room -within -a -room suitedesign. In addition, Gordon Ceilings'custom -designed suspended ceilinggrids were used for all editing and au-dio suites.

Another challenge was keeping theold facility online until the new onewas fully functional. This took a tre-mendous amount of planning andcoordination, stretching the compa-ny's engineering staff to the limit. Not

The central machine room is the mainhub from which all processes take place.Noise is kept to a minimum within thesurrounding edit suites because rout-ing, patching and tape playback occurin this area.

only was it necessary to manage theequipment move, but also the moveof the staff and offices. Every engineerlogged more than 60 straight workingdays to effect a smooth transition.

Circle R Media has been in the newfacility since May 2005 and is now log-ging more than 3000 hours per monthsupporting its clients. Today, the facil-ity's world -class capabilities combinecutting -edge video production, ani-mation and graphics studios, and offer

producers, directors and productionmanagers both full production andpost -production capabilities.

The three spacious studios are alllarge enough for staging televisionproductions, as well as the most up-to-date animation, motion capture and4-D design and production capabili-ties. The facility also offers the com-pany's clients enhanced capacity fornational television spot production.

In addition to the studios, the newfacility features nine video and audioedit suites, video and audio controlrooms, sound booths, an engineeringlab, a conference room that seats 30,duplication and replication rooms, atape library and archive, dressing areas,a commissary, a master control room,and office area for 15 employees.

More important than the space, how-ever, are the technological capabilitiesoffered by the advanced motion cap-ture laboratory, which can handle upto five "mo-cap" figures in a singleshoot and a 4-D video process capableof producing amusement park -qual-ity videos and studios for retail, salesmotivation and other corporate appli-cations. In addition to advanced pro-duction capabilities, the company alsoprovides clients with a wide range ofprofessional services, such as Internetsimulcast, network origination, digital

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Tim Davis is chief operating officer andchief technology officer of Circle R Mediaand a 30 -year veteran of the broadcastengineering field.

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Russ Berger Design GroupRichard Schrag, design prin-cipal, acoustics and architecttural engineering

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Recoveringfrom a catastropheBY DON MARKLEY

It's bad enough trying to make ev-erything work again when a rou-tine component failure occurs.

In a more serious repair problem, thefacility has suffered from a fire or, asalong the Gulf Coast this year, one ormore hurricanes with accompanyingwind and water damage. While thesetwo situations would seem to be to-tally different, the repairs have a cer-tain amount of similarity.

Extinguishing the flamesIf the flames actually are around the

equipment, it probably is destroyed.It's then necessary to order new pieces.What becomes a more difficult situationis when the equipment is not directlyexposed to the fire but simply findsitself in an environment that causesharm. That environment includes bothsmoke damage and the results of extin-guishing the flames.

One problem with transmitter sitefires is that the sites are usually un-manned. Good fire and smoke sensorswith an extinguishing system are anabsolute must.

The most desirable solution is a Ha-lon system. In a complete system, the

power would be shut off at the mainbreaker with a shunt trip, the build-ing air vents would be closed, and thebuilding would be filled with Halonin a gaseous form.

However, Halon poses a problem.Halon rises in the air and ultimatelyattacks the ozone layer. As a result, itis now illegal to manufacture Halonin the United States. On the otherhand, there is no good way to get ridof the existing Halon.

So far, the solution has been to re-condition existing Halon by clean-ing it both physically and chemi-cally. Then, the leftover Halon can bereused in fire extinguisher systems.While it is illegal to manufacture Ha-lon, the Federal Aviation Administra-tion urges the use of Halon systemsfor aircraft. This results in an interest-ing dilemma. One government agen-cy says you can't make the stuff, whileanother urges its use.

Halon simply creates an atmospherewhere nothing will burn without anadditional stimulus. In low concen-trations, it isn't harmful to people,but for numerous reasons, one shouldleave the building. Besides the Halon,

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fires in electrical equipment generategases that can be extremely harmful,if not fatal. If members of the stationstaff happen to be in the area when thesystem fires, they should leave, mak-ing sure the doors are closed, and callthe fire department. After the fire istotally out, the building can be ventedand systems brought back online.

A major problem with fires is thatwell-meaning staff or firemen sprayeverything with dry powder fire ex-tinguishers. While good at putting outthe fire, the compound used in thoseextinguishers is harmful to equip-ment. The material combines withthe copper on circuit boards and con-nectors as well as some other metals.The plating on tape paths is destroyed,with only the base metal remaining.Bearings in motors or tape decks aredamaged. The general corrosion ofthe copper starts immediately.

As an absolute rule, no dry powderextinguishers should be allowed any-where near the station. In addition,visit the local fire department and re-quest that it does not use dry chemi-cals if it is called to the site.

For the station, if a complete, fixedHalon system cannot be installed,portable extinguishers are availablewith Halon in a liquid form. It shouldbe sprayed at the base of the flamesuntil the fire is out. Obviously, thepower should be turned off to elimi-nate the cause of the fire or to reducethe probability of the fire rekindling.

If a dry chemical has been applied,the equipment should be treated assoon as possible by an experiencedcleaning service that has the neces-sary solvents to stop the effects of thechemicals.

Proper cleaning can greatly reducethe bad effects of the chemical extin-guishers. In one case, a studio full of


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high -end cameras was badly exposedto smoke and the dust from dry chem-icals used to put out the fire. The cam-eras were cleaned by a professional ser-vice, but the station was worried thatthe cameras wouldn't be reliable, sothey were sold to another local station.The cameras ended up providing yearsof reliable service, with no more thanusual routine maintenance needed.The continued good performance ofthose cleaned cameras changed manyminds, including mine, about the abil-ity to clean electronics equipment.

Water damage controlThe other big problem is water

damage resulting from major storms.This includes salt water flooding fromhurricanes and the loss of buildingroofs due to tornadoes.

For equipment that has been im-mersed in salt water filled with sand,mud and chemicals, in most cases,the obvious solution is replacement.It isn't just the salt water; that can becleaned up. The problem is all the crudthat gets carried in at the same time,in addition to the inability to get theequipment cleaned quickly.

Exposure to rain isn't necessarily aproblem. Pure rainwater is essentiallycleaner than the best quality tap water.Unfortunately, the rainwater gets fil-tered through dirt on the roof, in theattic, on top of the racks, etc. The resultis that the equipment is exposed to allsorts of unwanted contaminants. Thedamage will probably be repairable ifthe power is shut off quickly to avoiddamage from the operating voltages.

The repairs, if no mechanical or elec-trical damage occurs, usually involvecleaning by a professional service.However, simple fresh water exposureis usually treatable by the station staff.

Cleaning houseContacting the station's insurance

carrier immediately is a good idea.The carrier will help to get profession-al cleaners in as soon as possible. Get-ting the corrosive materials out of theequipment works best if done beforeextensive corrosion occurs.

Damage to equipment from unwant-ed contaminants in the water can berepairable if the power is shut off im-mediately. This helps to avoid furtherdamage from the operating voltages,which could completely destroy theequipment.

Engines, as in the standby powerplant, can be returned to service withminimal problems. Engine servicefacilities, especially on the coasts, areexperienced in dealing with total im-mersion when boats sink. The repairsnormally involve lots of flushing withvarious solvents and running the en-gine for short periods with oil chang-es between those periods. All electri-cal systems, not just the electronicsequipment, need a thorough clean-ing, lubricating, recalibrating, etc. Asa rule, motors should be serviced by agood service facility.

Getting back on -airThe one remaining problem normal-

ly found with major damage is thatthe stations cannot return to the airimmediately.

The one good experience that thestaff will have is in dealing with manu-facturers to get replacement equipmentto the station. Generally, manufactur-ers will bend over backwards to helpget stations back on the air. That mayinclude using equipment from theirlab and diverting deliveries for otherstations where delays won't cause thosestations to be off the air. The broadcastindustry, especially on the technicalside, generally pulls together in majorcalamities. BE

Don Markley is president of a L. Markleyand Associates.

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UPGRAto HDpreviously I've addressedthe issues facing the NTSCtruck owner considering a

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still involves similar questions regard-ing the physical issues of the existingtrailer, power, heat, air conditioning,etc. This article focuses on the variousquestions that must be addressed toturn an SD truck into an HD truck.

NGTo be HD or not to be HD

The time has come. Your clients havebeen pressuring you for the past yearor more to offer them an HD produc-tion vehicle. You, of course, with oneor several SD trucks in your fleet and

Photo: Upgrades sometimes require getting into tight spots to avoid removing alot of equipment needlessly. Small installers are ideal for this purpose.


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UPGRADING to HD

A decision must be made initiallywhether to save existing wiring or startfrom scratch.

perhaps several analog trucks, havejumped right in with multi -milliondollar upgrades for each and everyvehicle in your fleet, right? WRONG!You have barely begun paying for thatshiny new SD truck you built only twoor three years ago. How can you nowjustify an upgrade that will set youback roughly one half to three quar-ters of the original price of the truck,the initial cost of which you have onlybarely begun to write off?

The answer to that question is simple:You will have to find a way. HD is hereto stay, and you are being driven bymarket forces to provide this service.If you don't, you'll be left behind bythose who do. The intricate and usual-ly painful details of financing this up-grade are not the subject of this article.Neither are the various client -orienteddiscussions you, your banker and yourstaff have been undertaking for mostof this past year as to whether or not toupgrade vs. build an entirely new ve-hicle. While the concept of upgradingis relatively simple, the mechanics bywhich it may be achieved are not.

This article will focus on the nutsand bolts of actually accomplishingthe conversion. We will examine thepros and cons of an upgrade as op-posed to a complete replacement ofthe vehicle, beginning with the op-tions for the video core systems andcontinuing through all of the audio,communications, structural, elec-trical, air conditioning and variousother subsystems, each of which can

This upgrade required moving theold video wiring and starting at thebeginning.

cause many sleepless nights when de-ciding if/how/what to upgrade, whatto reuse and what to replace.

For the remainder of this article, HDwill refer to a high -definition digitalsignal, namely 1080i, 720p and all thevarious permutations thereof. SD willrefer to a standard -definition digitalsignal, or plain old 601. Aspect ratioof 16:9 is, of course, assumed.

First things firstYou have come to the conclusion that

you simply must offer HD produc-tion to your clients. One of the initialdecisions you will face is whether toupgrade one of your existing trucks,or start from scratch and build an en-

munications, room layout, etc.) are alsosufficient for the new truck concept. Youalso must consider the cost of both interms of new equipment purchase andlost revenue from downtime while theconversion is being accomplished. Thislatter point is important to consider.

Consider whether the downtime re-quired to accomplish your conversionmay cost you an amount equal to orgreater than that of building an entirelynew vehicle from scratch. Careful plan-ning can make the upgrade significant-ly more cost-effective than building anentirely new truck Some of the moreobvious factors that must be thoughtout in advance are timely equipmentdelivery, advance engineering and pre-fabrication of some or all of the wiring,and picking an appropriate spot on thecalendar during which your vehicle'sbeing off -road would least impact yourproduction income projections.

If it is a straight truck as opposedto an expando, is it adequate in sizeand layout to attract and/or keep theclients that will be needed to pay forall the shiny new equipment? If theanswer to this question is no, or youdetermine that you also require acomplete audio system replacement,then you will likely be consideringa new trailer as opposed to upgrad-ing this existing one, and you have

HD is here to stay, and you are being driven bymarket forces to provide this service. If you don't,

you'll be leftbehind by those who do.tirely new vehicle. Because this articleis about upgrading, we will focus onthis concept. There are many individ-ual and intertwined steps that have ledyou to the conclusion that upgradingyour existing truck is the way to go. Athorough analysis of your existing ve-hicle will be the first step in the pro-cess, from both the physical/technicalperspective and, of course, the always -present financial considerations.

You must simultaneously determine ifyour existing trailer will suffice to houseyour new HD video system and if theremainder of the systems (audio, corn -

passed beyond the scope of this ar-ticle. Overcoming these two issueswould require completely gutting theold truck, modifying whatever struc-ture is inadequate in the old layoutand then essentially building a newtruck within the old remodeled box.The downtime alone for a project ofthis magnitude will probably placethis approach to an upgrade beyondconsideration in terms of cost effec-tiveness. I wish you well with yourentirely new truck build!

If, on the other hand, your existingtrailer is physically adequate in both


space and layout, and your remainingtechnical and mechanical systems areup to par, then it is likely that upgrad-ing only the video systems will addyour truck to the HD -for -hire fleet.You may wish to take this opportuni-ty to evaluate and upgrade, or repairif necessary, the mechanical systemsof the truck. This would include airconditioning, power, running gear,frame and expando mechanisms. Ifany of these areas need attention,the time for correcting these issueswould be now, by employing carefultime management of your upgradeproject. Otherwise, you will probablybe facing the prospect of pulling thetruck off the road again in the nearfuture to address such issues.

Nuts and boltsCareful examination of these points

have led you to the decision that youwill be upgrading an existing truck by

The old system (left) has been removed, and installation of the new HD video coresystem (right) has begun. Seen through the racks of the new system are coils ofgreen wire, which is all that is left of the old system in this particular rack.The col-ored bundle in the back of the rack is the new wiring beginning to go in.

converting the SD or NTSC video sys-tem to HD. The next decision facingthe truck owner and system designeris whether to completely remove andreplace the video system, which in-cludes all the cabling, patching, dis-tribution and production equipment

and wiring, or attempt to reuse someof the installed gear and cabling.

Experience has shown that the lattercourse of action is generally the onlyway to accomplish this upgrade with-out incurring an extraordinary amountof downtime and labor in an attempt

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UPGRADING to HO

As an upgrade, a flat -screen monitor wall makes an impression on clients.There islittle that can compare in sheer visual impact to a monitor wall with high -resolu-tion plasma displays.

to salvage a relatively small portion ofthe existing video substructure. Thisquestion is more or less equivalent todeciding whether to upgrade or replacea computer. At the time you built it, itlooked like a good idea to future -proofit somewhat by designing an appar-ently simple upgrade path. What hasoccurred in the meantime, however,is that the equipment manufacturershave by no means been standing still.Newer, and in almost all cases better,and vastly more capable equipmenthas been constantly introduced, andyour planned "just replace the DAsand router" idea has most likely fallencompletely off course. Unless your la-bor is free, complete replacement ofthe video system will make the mostsense in almost all cases.

At the same time you are convertingyour SD or analog truck to HD, youmust still consider that this truck will,for some time into the future, stillneed to have some multiformat capa-bility. Exactly how much capability isthe tricky part.

Are all sources required to be availablein all formats at all times? If so, yourtruck will be a lot more complex than apure HD truck that may have SD and/or analog available as only a final out-put format. You may be able to have thebest of both worlds here by using thenon -HD outputs from equipment thatdoes supply these signals and includinga bank of routable format converters tohandle the unforeseen needs.

My own experience would seemto indicate that pure HD is becom-ing more and more of a trend in, atleast, the core design of the vehicles.SD, interestingly, appears to be fallingaside in favor of a design that is lesscostly in wiring, patching and conver-sion overhead. If you can go with HDmonitoring throughout the truck,this is definitely worth considering.In this event, you would simply needto provide NTSC outputs for field

And, of course, there is the consider-ation of 16:9 vs. 4:3. This issue branch-es quickly into a truly dazzling array ofpossible solutions. If your tube moni-tors are not already 16:9 switchable, Iwould recommend you jump down tothe flat -screen options below. If youhave 16:9 monitors with SD inputs,you will need to do some soul search-ing to decide if you want to keep themand use them in SD mode, or switchover to one of the HD flat -screen solu-tions. Hopefully, as this is now a pureHD truck, you have made the decisionto jump into HD monitoring.

Fortunately, there exist some relative-ly simple and elegant solutions to thismonitoring issue. Of course, with suchelegance comes a price. It's expensive.But, when you factor in all the costsof conversion and complexity in thetruck's technical core, the cost in dol-lars may not be that much additional,particularly for the benefit gained. Atthis point in your design process, it mayoffer you both a solution to the com-plexity of trying to use your analog tubemonitors in an HD environment and alarge step into the future, where tubes

Fortunately, there exist some relatively simple

and elegant solutions to this monitoring issue. Ofcourse, with such elegance comes a price.

monitoring and the occasional pieceof legacy equipment (i.e. the alwayspresent VHS deck).

Seeing the big pictureOne of the first decisions you will

be confronted with in designing yourupgrade will be that of monitoring.You presumably have a truck full of9in tube monitors. Perhaps they haveSD inputs as well as analog. In anyevent, you will have to decide whetheryou are keeping your existing moni-tors or moving on to a flat -screen so-lution. If you elect to keep the exist-ing monitoring in the truck, you haveyet another decision to make. Do youwant these monitors to be displayingNTSC, SD or HD? I would hope youcould rule out the NTSC approach.

have all given way to flat -screen display.I say "future" with the full awarenessthat this future has already arrived. You,however, must weigh the actual costsinvolved in this decision.

So, what are these avenues of moni-toring? First of all, you can simplyreplace the tube monitors with indi-vidual flat screens, now available withall types of input and panel resolutionoptions. A quick aside on flat -screentechnology: If you are expecting tosee the best pictures on your displays,you will want to make sure that thedisplay can handle native resolutionof whatever HD signal you intend tohave as your primary truck signals.I suppose you could make the argu-ment that when viewed on a smallmonitor, native HD resolution will


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UPGRADING to HD

not be particularly discernable fromany other. However, make sure thatany of the larger displays can handleyour signals in native mode.

The second monitoring solutionis, of course, one of the multidisplayengines that have now come of age inthe HD world. There is little that cancompare, in sheer visual impact, to a

monitor wall consisting of a handfulof 50in high -resolution plasma dis-plays, chopped up into whatever mixof 16:9, 4:3, small, large, bordered, tal-lied and UMD-displayed viewing ar-eas that your clients may desire. Theonly drawback is the aforementionedcost in dollars. The benefits are many.Not to be overlooked is a huge say-

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ings in weight and heat. Because thisis an upgrade, you may not realize thespace savings available with this solu-tion unless you have the downtimeand budget to rework your racks andfloor plan as well as replace the tech-nical equipment.An added benefit to the multiscreen

display engine approach to yourdesign is that this system acts as amonitoring router at the same time.The one twist is that any areas of thetruck that do not use a large paneldisplay driven off the multiscreen en-gine will require either router feedsor discreet patching. Don't overlookthe designer's quandry that once youstart routing your monitors, by what-ever means, it becomes rather messyfrom a design standpoint to not haveall of the monitors routed. Essentially,it creates the need for a lot of extraDA outputs to feed whatever num-ber of discreet monitors are scatteredaround the truck.

Sounds like NDOf course, no upgrade to HD video

is as simple as it seems. One of the ar-eas that generally rears its ugly headlate in the planning stages, or perhapsearly in the actual build itself, is thequestion of audio. Because we havealready determined that your audiosystem is adequate (or we would bebuilding from scratch), what makesaudio a special consideration? Well,two things really. One is delay, and thesecond is transmission.

On the subject of delay, this in andof itself can be a rather involved mat-ter to attend to. Consider the virtualmonitor wall solution mentionedabove: Not only do you have theusual amount of digital video pro-cessing delay relative to audio to dealwith, but you now have an additionalframe, two, or even three to considerthat has delayed your HD video withreference to program audio in theproduction areas of the truck. Thiscan be a lot more involved than mayat first appear. You can have notice-able and perhaps even distractinglip sync errors on your pristine HD


monitor wall. Easily corrected? Foryour main room program feed, yes.But you also must consider the othersources of audio in the productionroom. Will you have to individuallydelay every input to every Wohlermonitor? While this question mustbe considered sometime during thedesign, it is usually left until the test-ing phase to determine what delay, ifany is required. Make sure you factorit into your plans as an item that mustbe dealt with eventually.

Part two of audio for HD is thetransmission system. You can prettymuch solve this with the proper se-lection of a final TX processor. If itdoes embedding, disembedding, de-lay and all the magic tricks that thebetter units today do, you are donewith this issue. Do not overlook thepossibility of AES inputs to the pro-cessor as well, which may add a smalldigital audio level to your existinganalog system.You may wish to avoid the expense

of this final output device. Most like-ly, however, the costs of using discretedevices to accomplish the same taskwill equal or exceed the proc, and youwill probably not get the same level offunctionality.

In summaryThe issues facing the designer, opera-

tor and banker involved in upgradinga truck to HD are many, varied andrather complex. Start at the beginning,and work out a solution to the problembefore just jumping in. At the end ofthe upgrade, you will have saved your-self the cost of a new trailer, audio sys-tem, support systems and, of course, alot of downtime. As we discussed at thebeginning of this article, several factorsmust point to an upgrade being a pos-sible path to HD as opposed to buildinga new truck from scratch. Hopefully,you can save 30 to 50 percent of the costof a new truck by pursuing the upgradepath. Happy motoring! BE

Barry Bennett is president of BennettSystems, a specialist in truck systemsintegration and design in Columbus, OH.

Find outa demo (9

JANUARY 2006

111311!1) M:1.111.TORING

BEYOND MONITORS AND METERSNumerous articles havebeen written about ourindustry's migration to

digital and its impact on both thebroadcaster and the home viewer. Ingeneral, emphasis has been placed onvisual elements, such as compression

technologies, emerging formats andconversion strategies. However, theimpact of the audio elements is equallyimportant - and merits discussion.

The simple days of the all -analogfacility are gone and have been re-placed with a complex, multichannel

digital audio environment that posesseveral workflow challenges. Not onlydoes the broadcaster need to designand configure a flexible audio infra-structure, but also a comprehensiveand effective audio monitoring ca-pability must be readily accessible to


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rxistmrim uninnom 10/26/2005 11:32:51 TVM-95040 mow= umircH 10/26/-00510:46:34I, IIV mlk. minis V. ow am I of I V,

10/26/05 11:32:61 00:00:00:00Bitstream Format Dolby D 32 bitProgram Configuration 3/2L

RF Overmodulation Protection Disabled

Preferred Stereo Dowamlo Not indicated

Dolby Surround EX Mode Not Indicated

AID Converter Type Normal

Original Elitstrearn Original

Copyright Bit Protected

DC Fitter Disable

Lowpass Filter Disable

LEE Loa/pass Filter Disable

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RF Mode Compression Gain Exists

Compression Gain +6 02 dEi

Line Mode Compression Gain Emsts

Dynamic Range Gain +6 02 ad

44 PROGRAM A PAGE DOLBY METADATA PAGE 2 OF 2

TOM-950HD

Dolb Emb. I ut 5 Dolb D 3/2L

Figure 1.TVM-950HD display showing comprehensive em- Figure 2. This display shows an example of the Nordic scale, abedded Dolby metadata monitoring table commonly used regional scale.

ensure the highest possible audioquality to complement the visuals.

Monitoring in the midstof complexity

Because most facilities deal with acomplicated mix of multichannel for-mats, there is no single way to transportand monitor the audio. At different

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Even if a broadcast facility attempts

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If the facility desires to fully monitoraudio signals in order to identify andprevent problems, traditional speak-ers and meters are simply not suffi-cient in today's digital environment.Problems can arise that are not read-

ily evident - particularly in a noisymaster control or machine roomsituation. Phase errors, for example,can cause audible distortions. Andnon -synchronous conditions at theclock level (especially with embed-ded formats) can cause audio pops,clicks and dropouts. The number ofpossible HD video formats also com-plicates this situation.

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AUDIO MONITORING FOR TV:

BEYOND MONITORS AND METERS

Yes, metadatacan be monitored

The monitoring challenge is com-pounded because new digital formatscarry both sound and metadata, thedigital information that describes theaudio's inherent characteristics. (SeeFigure 1.) Audio metadata exists inboth compressed and uncompressedformats, and it should be monitoredas diligently as the audio itself.

If the choice is made not to monitoraudio metadata (or to ignore it), be pre-pared to face a host of potential traps.For example, the improper setting ofcertain flags, such as the validity bit, inthe AES stream can prevent the audioitself from being converted to analog.Or, if the resolution is set improperly(e.g., treating a 20 -bit stream as 24 bits),unwanted distortions can arise.

The engineering departments at mostfacilities are comfortable with the useof audio metadata and have invested

in compatible equipment, the requiredprocedures and the proper training.However, many facilities nationwideremain novices at metadata implemen-tation. Without the proper audio test,measurement and monitoring equip-ment in-house, the phone will ring inmaster control if audio problems findtheir way to the home consumer.

The home GC stationHome theater sales are increasing,

and most purchases include a 16:9display with a compatible surround -sound system. To the viewer, thebrilliant HD image is not nearly asimpressive when the accompanyingaudio has phase distortion, audibleclicks or a restricted dynamic range.Consumers do not typically under-stand sample rates and metadata;however, they do know the differencebetween superb and degraded sound.

Arguably, in a multichannel home

environment, the audio is as importantto the viewer as the video, regardless ofthe consumer's level of expertise. If thebroadcast facility's monitoring is thor-ough, the resulting quality reaches thehome receiver. The market -inspireddemand for multichannel audio hasforced broadcasters to increase their useof metadata. With compressed formats,consumers now can use metadata to al-ter numerous audio characteristics.

By desIgn, the same audio streamcan provide multiple listening expe-riences. Two examples that affect theviewer directly are dialnorm and dy-namic range control (DRC).

Dialnorm is a metadata functionwithin the Dolby Digital (AC -3) el-ementary bit stream that provides ameans to ensure consistent loudness.When properly set, audio levels remainfairly constant as channels are changed.If volume changes dramatically, dial -norm is either set improperly or simply

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vtnmrsa Lamm 10/26/2005 10.44:20

Dolby Eo.b Input 5 Dolby D 3/2L

TVM-95090

Figure 3. This audio display shows a spatially mapped setof level meters for multichannel monitoring.

not present in the audio stream.DRC is a metadata function that al-

lows consumers with stereo and 5.1surround -sound systems to choose thedesired amount of compression. WithDRC properly enabled at the facil-ity, consumers can intentionally com-press the dynamic range using variousDRC profiles, such as speech, musiclight and film standard. When DRC isset improperly, the function is deacti-vated (and those loud car crashes canwake the family when you're watchingmidnight movies). In each case, com-prehensive metadata monitoring canspot potential problems - providedthat the right tools are in place.

'Loom. LErroot 10/27/:005 09:55:41 0

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251s 1150011. 1.02/J. 0ILLIAL2120110.151 MI.0013 121MS11Lair20110011 hvb.on 40.0140 000101 25./0111210000. 1220.01, a00011.1.10 21120152 121220041.9010.0010, 121.01 021-11 00101 204001 -zy daysVona .0.101401. 2 02101 ass -L11 00.00,110.20 200001

FAIT= CLEAR .4 =1First = _ast A - Pp Up If = Pg DnB ALARM LOG PAGE 1 OF 7

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TVM-950H0

/CHANNEL PAGE

EMBEDDED AUDIO PAGE 17 OF 32

Figure 4.TVM-950HD multi -pane display including audio alarmlog and level alert message

Don't ignore the basicsTraditional audio monitoring re-

mains important, including the abil-ity to hear each program's sound onreference monitors and see a graphicalrepresentation on high -quality me-ters. Unfortunately, graphic meteringitself has become more complex withthe advent of digital (and the arrivalof meters that are easily customized).For example, true peak meteringuses an extremely quick respondingballistic, while loudness metering isextremely slow - yet both are quiteuseful in the right applications.

An additional complication is theproliferation of unique regional audio

scales. For facilities performing interna-tional work, the localization of the scaleitself can be a challenge. (See Figure 2on page 60.) This too can be solved witha comprehensive monitoring tool thatprovides a library of scales.

Even though analog monitoring issecond nature, the facility still needsthe proper D/A conversion equip-ment to turn digital to analog, alongwith a decoder for the proper moni-toring of Dolby formats.

In terms of the responsibility factor,large facilities, such as satellite pro-viders, have dedicated personnel atdedicated consoles assigned to moni-toring tasks, but smaller facilities can't

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AUDIO MONITORING FOR TV:

BEYOND MONITORS AND METERS

afford that luxury. At the local level,at a minimum, two crucial pointsshould be fully monitored by trainedstaff: ingest (to guarantee the qualityof all audio placed on the server) andmaster control (to ensure consistentand flawless output quality).

Monitoring checklistWith full knowledge of the com-

plexity, ensure that your facility'smonitoring, master control or qualitycontrol station is equipped with theproper audio test and measurementtools. You need to: Provide the necessary speakers andamplifiers to monitor dual and mul-tichannel audio configurations witheasy ways to select individual or mix -down channel combinations. Provide a CRT or LCD display thatenables audio phase monitoring, us-ing either Lissajous or phase correla-tion methods. Provide a way to graphically representaudio levels, peaks and reference scales. Select a monitoring configurationfor surround sound that uses an in-tuitive design - one that, in effect,mimics the spatial relationships of allspeakers. Consider an audio monitoring toolthat offers automatic or visual alarmcapability. Particularly in unattendedmonitoring configurations, condi-tions (e.g., clipping) can be set toautomatically generate alarms andalert engineering via GPI, Ethernet orSNMP traps. (See Figure 4.) Remember that monitoring meta -data is as critical today as monitoringthe audio itself. Ensure that you canmonitor both Dolby and non -Dolbymetadata, including equalization set-tings, sample rates, timecode and thevalidity bit. With both AES and em-bedded streams, choose a methodthat enables you to see and easily un-derstand each representative value ina tabular display - rather than in acryptic format. If budget is an issue, design a migra-tion path that starts with the moni-toring basics and adds functionalityas required. This includes choosing a

manufacturer that offers both firm-ware and hardware updates and theproper hooks for emerging formats.

Finally, trust your ears. The humanear is still the last receiver in the signalpath. With proper amplification andsuperb speakers, this all-importantevaluation step won't be overlooked.

If your facility is not monitoring

the full range of audio parameters,you're simply not getting the full pic-ture. There are significant advantagesto doing it properly, both within thebroadcast facility and for the homeconsumer. BE

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Special Report:

HD/SD playout: It's not just about the video

issues during the transition fromblack and white to full color.

The need for simultaneousHD and SD playout

Business realities dictate that broad-casters have to offer programming inSD. They need to maintain their cur-rent revenue stream while also offer-ing HD programming in order to fu-ture -proof that same revenue stream.That's the first point.

The second point is that there isa vast library of legacy material invaults worldwide that was capturedin SD, and these libraries will stillhave great value as we move towardthe HD world. Both of these pointslead to the simple conclusion that HDoutput will need to be created frommaterial that was originated in SD.

As we move through the transitionperiod, it is foolish to arbitrarily limitour SD output to material that origi-nated in the past in SD; the ability togenerate SD output from new HDmaterial is a clear need. And so there

Two Omneon Spectrum media servers support production and playout tasks atWCPO-TV.

While most offer this capability viainternal up-/downconversion, someoffer the additional ability to use ex-ternal equipment for this function.In any case, up-/downconversion is areality in the current business mod-el. (See Figure 1.) But simply solv-

HD file

Data from disk

SD file

HD decoder

I'm I

SD decoder -0-

I- 1

HD -SDDown convert

HD -SDUpconvert

Select

SelectSD output

Figure 1. Generating simultaneous HD and SD content

is a real necessity to crossconvert SDand HD material as we navigate ourway through the transition periodand beyond. No one is going to con-vert all their legacy material to HD allat once; it will be a process that con-tinues for some time.

Thus, we find that many manufac-turers are now offering the ability tomix SD material and HD material onthe same timeline (i.e., the same serv-er output channel), under the controlof a single channel of automation.

ing the frame/line structure issue isnot enough. We have to consider thequestion of aspect ratio.

Aspect ratio conversionAlmost all HD material originates in

widescreen 16:9 format, and almostall SD material is 4:3. Because letter -boxing doesn't happen by itself, this isthe first point of consideration whenup-/downconverting material.

The simplest and most temptingapproach is to set the crossconver-

sion once and leave it. In the broad-cast world, however, there are alwaysexceptions that have to be taken intoaccount. For instance, while most SDmaterial is indeed 4:3, there are manyregions where SD has been shot in16:9. SD can even be shot 14:9, a com-promise standard used in Europe,which minimizes the black bars whenprojected on to a 16:9 screen, whilelosing the minimal amount of pictureinformation when projected onto a4:3 screen. Or consider an anamor-phic squeeze, where the aspect ratioof the actual pixels is altered in or-der to easily fit 16:9 into 4:3 to passthrough legacy equipment.

These exceptions to the rule forcealternate approaches, such as the ideaof having clip -dependent aspect ratioconversion (ARC) as a requirement.There may be no control over theaspect ratio of the material received,but it can still be converted to be pre-sented in the best way to the viewers.Clip -dependent ARC will probablysuccessfully address most of the is-sues a facility will face, but the topic islaced with additional complexities.

Consider the following scenario: Apiece of material originates as HDV(16:9) and, in some external process, isletterboxed for SD projection. Finally,it arrives at a facility, where an ARC isperformed to produce an HD output.


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Special Report:

HD/SD playout: It's not just about the video

Unless the original aspect ratio of thematerial is taken into account, the let-terboxed material will be pillarboxed,resulting in reduced active picture area.

There are ways to resolve this prob-lem, basically requiring that a historyof the ARC previously applied to thematerial be encapsulated with the clipitself. Within the server infrastruc-

ture, the easiest way to do this is inthe metadata included as part of thefile structure of the clip. However,external to the server infrastructure,the information probably needs to becarried in the video stream itself.

Closed captioningJust like the aspect ratio issue, closed

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captioning needs to be taken into ac-count. In SD, EIA 608 is the standardfor the inclusion of closed captioningin a digital signal. In the HD domain,there is the EIA 708 standard. As partof the real-time conversion process,the closed captioning informationneeds to be crossconverted, and mostservers accommodate that function-ality within their I/O channels.

In Europe, though, the situation isnot so straightforward. There is noratified standard for carrying closedcaptioning and subtitles in the HDsignal. This will need to be dealt with

We sidestep the issue,

treating a pair of framesas if it's a pair of fields

and trick the automation

by presenting 30fps

timecode.

quickly, and users and manufacturerswill no doubt unite in bringing this toconclusion within the next year.

Control/timecodeFinally, consider the idea of automa-

tion and the timecode implications ofprogressive material. Automation sys-tems use the frame rate information- 29.97fps in the United States and25fps in Europe - to calculate theduration of a specific clip. But now inthis transition period, we introducethe intermingling of HD and SD ma-terial on the same timeline, whichisn't a problem until we consider theissues of progressive material, run-ning at 50fps or 59.94fps. (See Figure2.) We can have slower frame rates inprogressive, but the motion tends tobe jerky.

The problem is how to describe thetimecode. How do we represent 60fps(rounded up, of course) to an auto-mation system that's expecting 30fps?The answer is that in most cases, wesidestep the issue, treating a pair of


frames as if it's a pair of fields andtrick the automation by presenting30fps timecode. It is a trick, but itworks. We've been dealing with an ac-curacy of 1/30th of a second for years,so nothing is lost. However, it must betaken into account if counting framesthrough an API, and most serversoffer an API for partners to exercisegreater control over their operation.None of this is insurmountable, nordoes it necessarily cause any prob-lems, but the user should be aware ofthe issue so as to ask the right ques-tions of vendors as they migrate tothe HD world.

ConclusionThere's more to think about in the

playout of HD and SD in a serverinfrastructure than just the video.The good news is that these issuesare well understood by vendors, andcompromise solutions are in place to

Clip start Clip end

720 60p clip (100 frames)

Mark -ii Mark -out

720 60p (80 frames)

Clip start Clip end

525 30i clip (50 frames)

Mark -inO

Mark -out

525 30i (40 frames)

-60 0

Clip start

/\ 60 /\ 120

Current Clip endposit on

Playout curation = 80 frames 80 frames

Figure 2. Intermingling 30fps and 60fps material on the same timeline

deal with the corner cases. These is- as you make your own plans to adoptsues will be with us for some time, so HD in your environment.it certainly makes sense to considerthe pros and cons of each approach marketing for Omneon Video Networks.

BE

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ATVLENS DESIGN:auiwIEW INI AT 10 im rr r THHI E STUDIOBY LARRY THORPE AND GORDON TUBBS

1 he traditional studio lenshas long been considered theflagship among the various

lens categories in terms of measur-ing ultimate performance. The high -aperture optics of such lenses are thebasis of how they achieve high opti-cal sensitivity, but this requires largerglass elements, which adds weight.

The television studio lens hasevolved to quite a sizeable packageover the past 60 years, a consequenceof an unceasing quest for wider anglesof view, longer zoom ratios and ever -escalating performance aspirations.

Today, that means optimizing theselenses for HDTV, which is no meanfeat. Although advances in cameraand recording technologies movemuch more quickly than those in op-tics, impressive optical advances havebeen made during the past decade.A good example is the miniaturizedHDTV studio lens for direct mount-ing to a portable production camera.

HOW studio performanceexpectations

As the standard used to measureultimate performance, contempo-

rary studio lenses are the most closelyscrutinized in formal technical evalu-ations by television organizations allover the world. In terms of specificimage -performance parameters, thefollowing are generally agreed to be thekey design priorities for studio lenses: achievement of a maximum relativeaperture to ensure HD image capturewith a high signal-to-noise in lowscene illumination maximization of contrast perfor-mance by minimization of flare andveiling glare at the black extremityand ghosting and highlight -related


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Optical port diameter

Overall glass length

Weight

XJ22 x 7.3compact studio

150mm

316mm

13.4lbs

HJ22 x 7.6BEFP portable

105mm

222mm

6.03Ibs

Table 1.A comparison of the physical aspects of thenew compact studio HD lens with a current EFPportable HD lens of equivalent focal range

optical interferences due to stronglight sources optimization of relative light distri-bution from picture center to theouter image extremes a high Modulation Transfer Function(MTF) characteristic at picture cen-ter as well as the outer regions of thepicture plane (with as even an MTFcharacteristic as possible across theimage plane) minimization of curvature of field -one of the classic optical aberrationsthat contribute to corner defocusing careful control of spherical andcomatic aberrations - defocusingimpairments that impair MTF acrossthe image plane minimization of astigmatism -another defocusing impairment thatnegatively affects MTF minimization of lateral chromaticaberrations that blur and color detailtransitions (especially at the extremi-ties of the image plane), which in turndirectly impairs lens MTF elimination of geometric distortionto the degree possible, especially atthe wider angles of view.

Developments in portablecamera designs

Slowly and inexorably, many por-table cameras have achieved the pic-ture performance, operational flex-ibilities and systemization that largerstudio cameras have been known for.Today, many of these portable cam-eras - both SDTV and HDTV - arevirtually indistinguishable from thelarger companion studio cameras inperformance and creative flexibilities.

Only the desire for the highest per-formance lenses (necessitating a lensthat is large in size), enhanced opera-tional considerations and better sys-tem facilities and interfaces sustainsthe popularity of the large hard stu-

dio camera. To many, theseare still important.

A sizeable number of endusers feel that the perfor-mance of current portablecameras meets many studioneeds. The use of a build-

up system (called a support cradle bysome) that can facilitate rapid recon-figuration of a portable handheld intoa traditional studio system using a largebox lens is operationally important forsome forms of program origination.For others, the use of the build-up kitis not attractive, or it is not necessaryfor their needs. The lens -camera sys-tem cost remains the driving impera-tive. Accordingly, some have chosento use a portable camera and portableEFP lens in the studio on the basis thatit is good enough for the application.

Canon believes that there is a grow-ing constituency - aspiring to thehighest quality studio performance(for prime -time drama productionand flagship news studios, for exam-ple) - seeking a better compromise.This conviction warranted an invest-ment in developing a miniaturizedfull -performance studio lens intend-ed to directly couple to all of the ma-jor HDTV and SDTV 2/3in portable

SPECIAL REPORT

HDTV LENS DESIGN:A new innovation for the studio

weight approximately equal to thatof contemporary portable cameras target full HDTV studio perfor-mance to the highest degree possible no compromise in operational capa-bilities as measured by the precision,repeatability and speed of operationof the zoom, focus and iris controls

all contemporary interfaces (robot-ic, virtual studio) to be built-in creative digital controls that matchthose of high -end studio lens systems.

Physical featuresThe result of addressing these crite-

ria was the new compact studio lens,which has a 20x zoom ratio and awide-angle setting at 7.3mm.

A decision on a 150mm diameter waschosen following initial computer sim-ulation. The preservation of full stu-dio configuration of optical elementsquickly dictated the overall length ofthe optical path. (See Table 1.) There isquite a striking increase in glass com-pared to the portable EFP lens.

This difference, however, must nowbe put into perspective with the physi-cal attributes of the full-bodied stu-dio box lens described earlier. (SeeTable 2.) The aesthetics of the lensdesign is exemplified by how it looks

ysucaattributes

Size

Weight

Large studio lens25xs

Compact studio22xs

558mm x 250mm x 255mm 336mm x 165mm x 17mm

471bs 13.4Ibs

Table 2. A comparison of the size and weight of the compact studio HD lens withthat of a traditional studio box lens

cameras - without the use of a com-plex support cradle.

Design goals for a compactstudio lens

In undertaking to develop such alens, classic design criteria for studiolenses were applied. A summary ofthe general design goals for the com-pact lens were as follows: significantly smaller in total volumethan a traditional studio box lens (byone third the total volume of thatlarger lens)

when mounted on some of the con-temporary portable HDTV cameras.See the photo on page 76 for an illus-tration of how small the XJ22 lens iscompared to a typical HD studio lens.

Performance of thecompact lens

The desired wide angle of view andthe zoom ratio go hand in hand (interms of a basic manageable optical de-sign), and the lens' designers also chosethat the compact studio HD lens wouldhave a 7.3mm wide angle extremity and


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Meese compositionObject image format

Object image size(Presented to camera imagers)

Zoom ratio

Focal length range

with extender

Angular field of view

At 7.3mm

At 161mm

With extender

At 14.6mm

At 322mm

XJ22 x 7.3B

2/3in 16:9 aspect ratio

9.59mm (H) x 5.39mm (V)

22x

7.3mm

14.6mm

66.7mm x 40.6mm

3.4mm x 1.9mm

36.4mm x 21.0mm

1.7mm x 1.0mm

161mm

322mm

Table 3. The specific angles achieved in a compact studioter -to -corner

are particularly impressivewide-angle focal length.

HD lens

a 22x zoom ratio - both being opera-tional parameters comfortably consis-tent with most studio needs. (See Table3.) This wide of an angle of view posedtechnical challenges to achieving a lowgeometric distortion - but the lensdesign successfully achieved a contem-porary performance level.

special challenges. (SeeFigure 1.) The picturecenter MTF is about82 percent (comparedwith the 84 percent ofthe larger lens) at theoptical reference fre-quency of 56 LP/mm(or approximately 600TVL/Ph for the 1080 -line system). The cen-

resultsat full

Color reproductionThe spectral transmittance char-

acteristic of the lens has the first cutat predetermining the overall colo-rimetry of the camera system. The

Opticalperformance

Max relativeaperture

MOD

Field of view(degrees)

Large studio lens25xs

1:1.5 at 6.8mm to 122mm1:2.1mm at 170mm

0.6m

70.4mm x 43.3mm3.23mm x 1.82mm

1.rCompact studio9 e22xs

1:1.8 at 7.3mm to 111.5mm1:2.6 at 161mm

0.8m

66.7mm x 40.6mm3.4mm x 1.9mm

Table 4. A comparison of the performance of the compact studio HD lens with thatof a larger studio lens

The new compact lens was able toachieve a maximum relative apertureof 1:1.8, which holds up over a zoomratio of almost 16:1. (See Table 4.)This will address a great deal of nor-mal studio needs. This specificationmeans that if the lens is used with aportable HDTV camera with an f 10sensitivity specification (2000 luxof 3200 -degree scene illumination),then the lens -camera system canmake full 100 IRE luminance videolevel at maximum aperture with ap-proximately 75 lux of scene illumina-tion (less than 7.5ft candles).

MTF performance of thecompact studio lens

The design imperative of this newcompact studio HD lens still retainedsome constraints (in size and weight)compared to its larger traditionalcounterpart - and this posed some

SPECIAL REPORT


shape of that spectral transmittancecurve (especially at the critical blueand red end of the visual spectrum)must concatenate with both the RGBspectral separation of the digitalcamera beam -splitting system andthe spectral characteristics of its im-age sensors to implement the finaldigital camera system colorimetry.This light -transmission system mustanticipate meeting the colorimetryspecified in the SMPTE 274M/296M(and in the international ITU R BT709) HDTV production standardswhen the camera operational controlsare set to their detent position.

The subsequent creative control ofthe digital camera over color reproduc-tion - to meet production aspirations- must also be taken into account.Here, the ability to digitally alter theprescribed nonlinear transfer charac-teristic and the color matricing fromthe camera video operational panel tosuccessfully manipulate chosen colors(in brightness, hue and saturation)does anticipate as wide a color gamutas possible from the lens/beam-split-ter/sensor combination. The role ofthe lens within this combination issometimes underestimated.

100

90

80 00

70

XJ22 x 7.3Bat F4.0

7.3m m

40mm

161mm

Center Middle Corner

MTF profile with focal length(measured at 56LP/mm)

Figure 1. Shows the MTF profile across the image plane for different focal lengthsof the compact studio HD lens


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C 100

80

60

40

20

0

f = 7.3mm

2 4 55

loo

80

;_2, 60

40

'El 20

0

Image height (mm)

f = 40mm

2 4 55Image height (mm)

F/5.6/

F

F/1.8

F/5.6F/2.8

F/1.8

Figure 2. Shows the relative light distributioncharacteristic of the compact studio HD lens

The compact studio lens has a hightransmission efficiency of 82 percent- a result of the fact that it uses fewerelements than a larger box lens.

Despite that efficiency dif-ference, the larger lens is stillmore sensitive because itsdistinctly larger optics gath-ers more light flux.

Relative lightdistribution

The quoted f-number for agiven studio lens is a measureof the light transmittance ofthe lens at the center of theimage plane. It is another ofthe frustrations of optical sci-ence that this light flux can-not be made perfectly uni-form across that plane.

As discussed earlier in thisseries of lens articles, the vi-gnetting components con-

tribute to a fall -off in light intensitywith field angle of view. This fall -off istypically specified as a curve showingthat light level shortfall from picture

Photo: Comparing the compact XJ22HD studio lens with a typical full-sizeHD studio lens

center along a radial termed pictureheight. (See Figure 2.)

Digital interfaces on thecompact studio lens

Today's studio lenses are expected tohave the capability of interfacing withrobotic systems and virtual studiosystems. The new compact studio HDlens has a 20 -pin connector labeledvirtual, where the 16 -bit digital out-puts of the three optical rotary encod-ers are made available for direct andbidirectional digital communicationwith digital robotic and virtual studio

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systems. Two other 20 -pin connectorsprovide a direct communication in-terface with Canon's digital zoom andfocus controllers.

An optional PC interface is availablefor the lens. This facilitates a digitalcommunication link between the lensand a computer (using special software)for implementing lens diagnostics.

Precision control anddigital display

The use of the new miniature 16 -bitoptical rotary encoders offers a wholenew level of control precision. Thecombination of the controllers andthe high-res lens system provides 13 -bit repeatability for zoom and focus.The digital interface with a camera'sdigital iris control has 10 -bit compat-ibility. The zoom servo provides anexceptionally wide dynamic rangeof control, from a fast zoom of 0.5seconds to a super slow zoom of 3

minutes. The lens has a built-in in-formational display (mounted on theside close to the rear of the lens) thatprovides a great deal of informationrelating to the many digital opera-tional features that are incorporatedinto the lens -control system.

Different zoom servo characteristicscan be selected that offer wide diversityin creative shaping of the zoom move-ment. The lens also supports prepro-gramming a variety of functions, suchas automatic shuttling between twochosen focal lengths, preset framingand presetting of zoom speed.

ConclusionsThe design of the new compact stu-

dio HD lens (model XJ22x7.3B) re-sponds to an increasing desire to de-ploy smaller and more cost-effectiveportable production cameras withinstudio shooting environments. It is anexample of a broadening strategy for

HDTV lenses that seeks to march instep with the developments in smallercameras and recorders.

While the performance of various im-aging parameters does not fully matchthose of the larger studio lenses, theshortfalls are modest. The same broadoptimization strategies applied to thelarge studio lens were carefully main-tained in this new design in terms ofthe emphasis on MTF over the imageplane, contrast and relative light dis-tribution, optical sensitivity and colorreproduction. This new lens facilitates amore cost-effective, smaller and lighterstudio lens -camera system that allowsuse of a smaller pedestal and is ideal forstudio robotic systems. BE

Larry Thorpe is the national marketingexecutive and Gordon Tubbs is the as-sistant director of the Canon Broadcast &Communications Division. Photo on page70 courtesy of Ascent Media; photogra-phy by John Benson.

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Managinghybrid networks withBY DARREK PORTER

As broadcast networksgrow to deliver video,DTV and other broad-

band services, managing the resultinghybrid network becomes more com-plex and difficult. The problem: Thenetworks are converging, but networkmanagement products are not.This leaves engineers and IT direc-

tors struggling with a patchwork ofsoftware systems, even as staff andresources in their broadcast operatingcenter or network operations centerare reduced. Adding pressure to analready difficult situation, the con-sequences of network downtime aresignificant, costing one major broad-caster $3.3 million every minute it isoff the air.

Regretfully, chief engineers and ITdirectors often purchase one manage-ment system after another to maintaincontrol over the evolving parts of thebroadcast chain. This chain may in-clude a mix of broadcast, satellite, cable,fiber, wireless, microwave, transmitter,IT, building and security systems, andequipment. The separate managementsystems installed to control this hy-brid network often are not integratedand cannot speak to one another. Thisforces operators to contend with mul-tiple graphical user interfaces and theresulting network blind spots that al-low critical problems to fester.

Controlling divergentsystems

The remedy is a powerful, yet easy -to -use, platform -agnostic system thatcan monitor and control all the de-vices in your network, regardless oftechnology type. ILC's solution is theMaxView broadband network man-agement system. This software in-tegrates technology and third -partymanagement systems into one net-

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The Office Network window offers simple visualization of IT equipment in an officeenvironment, such as workstations, servers, switches and routers.

work management console, allowingnetwork operators to fully automatecontrol of next -generation networksand services. The system also allowsfurther control, such as correlation ofnetwork faults, automation, serviceprovisioning and scheduling.

The management system allows us-ers to choose the level of control theyrequire, ranging from basic monitor,control and reporting for disparatedevices to consolidated control of ex-isting vendor -specific management,master and control or automationsystems. The drag -and -drop deviceintegration functionality allows evennon -programmers to add new de-vices into the system fast and easily.This eliminates dependence on devicemanufacturers to update drivers andfrees technology experts to concen-trate on critical projects that impactthe organization's bottom line.

Consolidate and standardizeThe broadband network manage-

ment strategy starts with consoli-dation. Rather than operating withseparate network management silos,operators using this system have aunified management environmentwith one worldview from which theymanage all devices, systems and third -party applications in the network.

The system also standardizes networkoperations to promote quicker prob-lem resolution, which leads to lowertraining costs and a staff empoweredto optimize network operations. Thisstandardization is achieved by: creating uniform views of multi -vendor equipment to allow staffto monitor devices without specialtraining; depicting services that run across hy-brid networks with simple icons to al-low non -expert personnel to monitor


and control service availability; and enabling distributed or central -casting models with full access fromanyplace with a network connection.

Using the systemTaking advantage of network -wide

consolidation and standardization,the broadband network managementsystem offers bi-directional data flow,enabling operators to exert commandand control over the actions of spe-cific devices to automate daily andevent -specific operations, including: outage recovery to provide uninter-rupted programming during a cata-strophic failure; fault and configuration manage-ment, detecting failures and switchingtraffic to broadcast via an alternatechannel or from a backup facility; and event scheduling, carrier moni-toring and service provisioning andactivation to maximize bandwidth

use by automating program collec-tion and distribution.

In addition, the system offers manag-er of managers capability, eliminatingnetwork operators' common practiceof swivel chair management - theconstant turning from one graphicaluser interface to another as they man-age the hybrid network. They can con-solidate their control of the network byunifying these systems into a universalview of the entire network.

With consolidated, standardized andautomated control of the entire hybridnetwork, operators have the power toeasily perform advanced managementfunctions within one software suite,including proactive network manage-ment, equipment control, automationand circuit provisioning, video qualityof service monitoring, and carrier andspectrum monitoring.

Rolling all these capabilities into onesystem simplifies broadband network

management, enabling the reliableand more profitable delivery of videoand other broadband services.

MaxView's unique benefits include: the ability to do end -to -end provi-sioning that spans an entire networkor group of networks; the cost savings and availabilityafforded through automation a distributed architecture that allowsunlimited scaling so that networkmanagement systems are guaranteedto grow alongside your network; and the ability to identify serviceimpact due to network problems andtake corrective action.

This amounts to reduced operationalcosts, greater service assurance andgreater speed in deploying new servic-es. At the end of the day, this is a broad-cast organization's bottom line. BE

Darrek Porter is director of corporatecommunications and marketing for ILC.

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Luma Picturesstreamlines workflow withSmall Tree CommunicationsBY CHRIS SAGE

irhe mission if you choose toaccept it: Produce six 15 -second television commer-

cial spots for Nike using limited stockfootage manipulated with complicatedvisual effects sequences. Oh, and do allof this in five -and -a -half weeks.

That was the charge given to us atLuma Pictures, a visual effects studiobased in Santa Monica, CA, by produc-tion company Notorious 24/7. Crazyas it sounds, we accepted the mission,I mean project, and successfully com-pleted the task.

Known primarily for our visual ef-fects work on major motion picturessuch as "Underworld," "Sky Captainand the World of Tomorrow" and"The Cave," we were eager to tacklethis challenging project.

From fantasy to realityThe "Nike vs. Nature" campaign, cre-

ated by Wieden + Kennedy, comparestop-flight NBA players with forcesof nature. Out of a tornado viciouslyspinning across land comes PhoenixSuns' guard Steve Nash using a spinmove to leave a defender in his wake.As fire winds its way through the paint,hot-headed Detroit Pistons' forwardRasheed Wallace fires a monster dunkhome. From the plains of Africa, a lionsteps onto the court and hurls into thelane, picking up speed, leaping as theCleveland Cavaliers' forward LebronJames sends in a tomahawk jam.

Because we couldn't set the court onfire, bottle a tornado and unleash it onthe court or take the time to train a lionto run down the court and leap at theappropriate point, we were directed tomold the real with the unreal ... andfast. With less than a month and a halfto complete the spots, we needed every

ounce of bandwidth necessary so thatmultiple members of the team couldwork on the spots simultaneously.

We are an all -Mac facility, workingon off -the -shelf Apple G5 worksta-tions and Xserves. These are ideal forproducing creative content, but they'relimiting with regard to supplying thethroughput needed for this project.The solution was the installation ofmulti -port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)cards and an 802.3ad link aggregationsystem, both of which were providedby Small Tree Communications.

Gearing upSmall Tree's multi -port cards sup-

port jumbo frames, which offer higherdata transfer rates. The dual-, quad -and six -port Gigabit over copperEthernet adapters are 64-bit/133MHzPCI-X network interface cards con-taining two, four or six independent10/100/1000 megabit ports on onePCI-X adapter. When used in con-junction with Small Tree's 802.3adlink aggregation, which bonds mul-tiple Ethernet ports into one virtualinterface, bandwidth levels increasedto provide a more streamlined work-flow, enabling Luma to meet the tightdeadline. With the Small Tree gear,we often times reach 15 percent to20 percent beyond what we were pre-viously achieving.

Our biggest challenges were the timeframe and finding and manipulatingthe footage. When you're on such atight schedule, tasks have to occur si-multaneously. Therefore, people areworking on the elements as they'rebeing composed at the same time. Asartists continue to refine the elements,everybody moves in tandem in a par-allel, nonlinear way. All the sequences

Luma Pictures produced six 15 -secondtelevision commercial spots for Nike us-ing limited stock footage manipulatedwith complicated visual effects sequenc-es. To meet the tight deadline and in-crease server throughput, the companyused multi -port Gigabit Ethemet cards

aggregation systemfrom Small Tree Communications.

run in parallel as well. We scheduledthe more difficult sequences towardsthe end of the delivery, in order to givethem the greatest amount of develop-ment time.

The GbE adapters eased networkcongestion, simplified network man-agement and provided increased serv-er throughput available while mini-mizing CPU use. The cards offered aninstant performance boost over Cat -5UTP copper cabling and are ideal forimplementing multiple network seg-ment environments within high-per-formance servers.

By installing the GbE cards and802.3ad link aggregation, we were ableto meet the client's deadline. Withoutthem, it would have been extremelydifficult. Our options would been lim-ited and cost -prohibitive. We probablywould have had to hire additional staff,increasing our budget and turnaroundtime to the point where our client wouldhave explored other options. BE

Chris Sage is vice president of operationsfor Luma Pictures.


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SD/HDconversionBY JOHN LUFF

An often forgotten factabout Sir Isaac Newton isthat he was an alchemist.

Dictionary.com defines alchemy as:1. A medieval chemical science

and speculative philosophy aimingto achieve the transmutation of thebase metals into gold, the discoveryof a universal cure for disease, and thediscovery of a means of indefinitelyprolonging life;

2. A power or process of transform-ing something common into some-thing special;

3. An inexplicable or mysterioustransmuting.

While Newton was interested in thefirst definition, today we are moreinterested in the last two. You mightfind the second definition similar tothe conversion of SD pictures intoHDTV images, which is not at all un-like alchemy. Those "wizards" whosucceed at finding ways of transmut-ing SD into HD are no less valuablein our technological industry thanan alchemist would have been to theeconomy of Newton's time. The grailwe seek would allow us to repurposeimages acquired in a simpler timeand deliver high -quality images fromthose golden assets.

Which leads us to the third defini-tion. It is hard to understand how wemight actually achieve such a mysteri-ous transmutation of a low -resolutionimage into one with more informationcontent. On the surface, it would be in-explicable. But in reality, there are effec-tive techniques that take low-res imag-es and infer deeper content that mightnot be obvious. In still photography,we have all seen miraculous processingof blurry images from spacecraft thatend up with stunning clarity. Amateurastronomers now routinely take pho-tos with Webcams that, when stacked

with hundreds of others and processedto death, look like Hubble took them.Why not in our business as well?

Limiting factorsThere are complicating factors. One

factor is the interlace nature of mostimage acquisition today, and anotheris motion (complicated by interlace).If we could use still image techniquesalone, and wait for non -real-timeprocessing, we would get those as-tounding transmutations. But weseek instant gratification and insist onmoving images. So approximationsand best effort approaches abound.There are other limiting factors as

well. Starting from an NTSC imagemakes upconversion pretty ineffec-tive, like transmuting lead into tin.The bandwidth limitations on thecolor channels in NTSC and the fact

for I and Q. In practice, however, bothI and Q are equal in many contem-porary implementations. In addition,if done poorly, the decoding processleaves the luminance with well belowthe color subcarrier of 3.579MHz ineffective bandwidth. Trying to con-vert an image with barely 3MHz ofcontent into an HD image where na-tive luminance bandwidth is 27MHzis a real science project.

It is far better to start with a com-ponent picture. The luminance band-width of SMPTE 259 signals is a true5MHz, and the color difference sig-nals half of that.

The information content of an SDIimage is about two to three timesmore dense, and it also does not suf-fer from cross luminance and crosscolor artifacts, which do not help up -conversion at all. (See Figure 1.)

-lif

No Moire'

liFigure 1. Moire is a distortion or pattern of an image caused by conflicting fre-quencies from two or more different resolutions overlapping each other. A com-mon moire video effect is seen when someone wears a cloth containing a verticalweave or pattern, which conflicts with the horizontal scan of the camera. The re-sulting moving moire can be quite annoying to the viewer.

that they are modulated into onecomposite channel severely limits theusefulness of NTSC for upconversioninput. By definition, NTSC has un-equal bandwidths of only 4.2MHz forluminance, and 1.5MHz and .5MHz

When an SDI image is interpolatedinto a higher -resolution image map,the results can be quite pleasing,though clearly a native HD image willalways be superior. Even the picturesconverted from 720p acquisition


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must be interpolated when crosscon-verting to 1080i or 1080p format. Thisconversion is nearly transparent, andbecause consumers do not receive afull 1920 x 1080 image, the results arequite good at the consumer receiver.

A number of conversionsConsider how many conversions an

image might go through. Let's assumea consumer is watching an HD NFLsports highlight show on a DBS ser-vice. Some of those images come fromSD sources, some from 720p produc-tions and some from 1080i produc-tions. Commercials come in as letter -boxed SD and 4:3. The output of thecontrol room is 720p, so right away,there are conversions happening.

The letterboxed SD commercialsare upconverted with no aspect ratiochange, but because they started asless than full image height, they areeffectively reduced in vertical resolu-tion compared to 4:3 content. The1080i (1920 x 1080) material is de -in-terlaced and re -sampled to 720x1280.The production contains HDV im-ages that were re -sampled from 1080i(limited to 1440 pixels).

In homes, the image is displayed ona plasma screen with 1388 x 768 pix-els, but the output of the set -top boxis 1080i only. So right there, anotherprogressive to interlace conversionand scaling is required. How manyconversions? No less than four andperhaps as many as six. If analog -to -digital conversion was also required,it would leave a pretty tattered signal.The net result is that without high -quality conversion and attention todetail, modern production techniqueswould not be rational, or as our thirddefinition of alchemy says, only amysterious process would achieve us-able results.

Today's composite devicesToday many of the composite de-

vices used in transmuting signals arebased on remarkable silicon imple-mentations. This is especially preva-lent in consumer equipment, whichcan produce credible results for all

formats. Given the manufacturingcost and volume equation, it is obvi-ous why some of the silicon has foundits way into the professional realm.

As our industry moves further awayfrom its SD past and into the HD fu-ture, content conversion will be moreimportant. With nearly 50 years ofcolor SD content on the shelf and a vo-

racious appetite for reuse, you can ex-pect the conversion to continue to im-prove and prices to slide downwards.Not a bad time to be an alchemist. BE

John Luff is the senior vice president ofbusiness development for AZCAR.

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Interested applicants should submit theirresume by logging on to

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CHIEF ENGINEERABC affiliate KQTV, St. Joseph, MO seeks aChief Engineer. Candidate should have ex-perience with VHF transmitters, microwaveequipment, all studio related and ENG equip-ment. Position requires an individual withmanagement skills as well as strong hands oncapability. Major responsibilities will includemanaging and involvement in the daily repairand maintenance of studio/transmitter, main-taining operating budgets, capital projectimplementation and maintenance of in housecomputer network. Salary is commensuratewith experience.

Send cover letter and resume to:Rick Stolpe, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

62 South Franklin St.Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

EOE

CertificationAre your engineers

Certified?

SBESBE Certification

The Industry BenchmarkN 1kw.sbe.org (317) 846-9000

MAINTENANCE ENGINEERExperienced maintenance engineer for analogand digital systems, automation, and videoservers. Computer networking, PC/MAC plat-forms a plus. Two year degree in electronicsis preferred or equivalent electronics back-ground in television broadcast engineering.

Please send resume to:Mission Broadcasting, Inc.

5956 Smith Hill RoadUtica, NY 13503

Attn: Diane Siembab or email:[email protected]. EOE.

The Totai

ENGINEERING OPPORTUNITIESQVC, Inc. is a $5.7 billion industry pioneer. Ourstate-of-the-art broadcast studio in West Chester,PA (a highly rated suburb just 35 miles west ofPhiladelphia) is equipped with next -generationtechnology & expert knowhow.

We are currently seeking candidates with a back-ground in the design, repair & installation of multi-media communications systems, and knowledgeof equipment and current industry trends & tech-nical developments. These positions are responsi-ble for the design & functional checkout ofadvance audio, video & software systems. Contractpositions are currently available. QualifiedEngineers interested in possible future full-timeopenings are welcome to submit their resume.

Broadcast Engineer IIWill work on -site and/or in the shop servicerepair department. Requires the ability to providetechnical repair/maintenance services to broad-cast, postproduction and facility A/V clients.Must have experience in component -level repairof broadcast cameras, video recorders, and otherproduction equipment.

Systems EngineerDuties include pre -wiring and preparing rackedsystems and furniture consoles for broadcastfacilities. Must have experience in cable fabrica-tion and termination, mechanical assembly, andrack & cabinet wiring and harnessing. Must havethe ability to understand and use wiring lists,schematics, and technical documents.

QVC offers competitive wages and a generousemployee discount. Qualified candidates canapply by visiting www.QVC.com/Careers. Pleasesubmit a resume, cover letter & salary require-ments. EOE. Drug Free/Smoke Free WorkEnvironment. Pre -employment drug screeningrequired.

QVC on

rem pisre to work

For Sale

AcousticsFirstII N:,b:r. 888-765.2900Full product line for sound controland noise elimination.Web: http://www.acousticsfirst.com

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Ad InBroadcast Engineering is not responsiblefor errors in the Advertisers Index. Sal s ffices

Page Advertiser WebsiteHotline Address

ADC Telecommunications Inc. 71 1-800-366-3891 adc.com/broadcast

AJA Video 61 530-274-2048 aja.com

Avid Technology 4-5 800 -949 -AVID avid.com/instinct

Axcera 75 724-873-8100 axcera.com

Azden Corp 45 516-328-7500 azdencorp.com

Belden 39 1-800-BELDEN- 4 belden.com

Blackmagic Design 17 blackmagic-design.com

Broadcast Microwave Services 79 +1-858-391-3050 bms-inc.com

Calrec Audio Ltd 55 212-586-7376 calrec.com

Canare Cable Inc. 77 818-365-2446 canare.com

Clear-Com Communication Systems 25 1-510-496-6600 clearcom.com

Convergent Design Inc. 73 720-221-3861 convergent-design.com

Dell Computer 29 888 -738 -DELL dell.conn/smb/dccsolutions

DK Technologies 76 dk-technologies.com

DMT USA 47 888 -912 -TEAM dmtonline.us

Dolby Labs Inc. 15 dolby.com/tvaudio

ERI Electronics Research Inc 76 877-ERI-LINE eriinc.com

ESE 63 310-322-2136 ese-web.com

Euphonix 31 650-855-0400 euphonix.com

Evertz Microsystems Ltd. IBC 905-335-3700 evertz.com

Fischer Connectors 48 800-551-0121 fischerconnectors.com

Gerling & Associates 56 740-965-2888 gerlinggroup.com

Hamlet Video International Ltd 62 866 -4 -HAMLET hamlet.co.uk

Harris Broadcast 3 800 -4 -HARRIS harris.com

Inlet Technologies 19 919-256-8145 inlethd.com

Leitch Inc 51 800-387-0233 leitch.com/inscribe-

Leitch Inc BC 800-387-0233 leitch.com/icon

Marshall Electronics Inc. 26 800-800-6608 lcdracks.com

Maxell Corp. of America 9 800-533-2836 maxellpromedia.com

Miranda Technologies Inc 11 514-333-1772 miranda.com

Miller Camera Support 57 973-857-8300 millertripods.com

NAB 2006 81 nabshow.com

Network Electronics 44 800-420-5909 network-electronics.com

Omneon Video Networks 23 1-866-861-5690 omneon.com

Panasonic Broadcast 7 1-800-528-8601 panasonic.com/hvx200

Pro -Bel 83 pro-bel.com

Radyne Corporation 49 602-437-9620 radn.com

Riedel Communications 60 +1-84-563-4100 riedel.net

Rohde & Schwarz 67 1-888-837-8772 rohde-schwarz.com/usa

Sachtler Corp. of America 27 1-845-268-2113 sachtler.com

Studer USA 37 866-406-2349 studer.ch

Sundance Digital 68 972-444-8442 sundancedigital.com

Teranex 69 407-858-6000 teranex.com

Terayon Communications 21 terayon.com

Thomson/Grass Valley 13 thomsongrassvalley.com/K2

Utah Scientific 53 utahscientific.com

Videotek Inc 43 800-800-5719 videotek.com

Wheatstone Corporation IFC 252-638-7000 wheatstone.com

Wohler Technologies Inc 59 1-888-5-WOHLER wohler.com

360 Systems 33 818-991-0360 360systems.com

360 Systems 65 818-991-0360 360systems.com

US/CANADAWESTGeorge Watts Ill(360) 546-0379; Fax: (360) [email protected]

EASTJosh Gordon(718) 802-0488; Fax: (718) [email protected]

MIDWESTEmily Kalmus(312) 840-8492; Fax: (913) [email protected]

INTERNATIONALEUROPERichard Woolley+44-1295-278-407Fax: [email protected]

IsraelAsa TalbarTalbar Media+972-3-5629565; Fax: [email protected]

JAPANMashy YoshikawaOrient Echo, Inc.+81-3-3235-5961; Fax: [email protected]

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Customer Service:913-967-1707 or 800-441-0294

January 2006, Vol 48, No 1 (ISSN 0007-1994) is pub-lished monthly and mailed free to qualified persons byPrism Business Media, 9800 Metcalf Ave., OverlandPark, KS 66212-2216. Periodicals postage paid at Shaw-nee Mission, KS, and additional mailing offices. Cana-dian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40597023.Canada return address: DHL Global Mail, 7496 BathRoad, Unit 2, Mississauga, ON L4T 1L2. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to Broadcast Engineering, P0. Box

2100, Skokie, IL 60076-7800 USA. CORRESPONDENCE:Editorial and Advertising: 9800 Metcalf, Overland Park,KS 66212-2216 Phone: 913-341-1300; Edit. fax: 913-967-1905. Advert. fax: 913-967-1904. © 2006 by Prism Busi-ness Media. All rights reserved.


Too muchinformationBY PAUL MCGOLDRICK

Those of us in the televisionindustry who remember theadvent of color TV can easily

recall some of the early panics, illu-sions and general silliness.

Color television came when theBritish had almost persuaded theUnited States to abandon the vidiconpickup tube in favor of the image or-thicon, which came in both 3in and4.5in sizes. But a color camera fittedwith even three 3in tubes was oneheavy beast and was not the kind ofobject that you moved around the set;the set came to it. If you watch someof the surviving golden oldies fromthat period, such as the Mary Martinversion of "Peter Pan," you'll noticethat the actors came to the cameraand not the other way around.

The invention of the plumbiconpickup tube by Philips put an endto the tank -sized cameras, but therewere other issues. We were sure, forexample, that viewers would not en-joy the new color service if differen-tial phase and gain exceeded an arbi-trary 10° and 10 percent, respectively.And for a while, we were required toswitch in a color filter if we recordedsuch readings from measurements onthe vertical -interval test signal. Theonly occasion when I had to do thiswas when a home viewer complained.(That home viewer happened to bemy boss, who was watching TV inhis BBC -provided house on his BBC -provided color TV.)

But the most fun was in the actualprogram production. In monochromeproductions, you could get away witha lot. Studio floor marks would disap-pear using duct tape, the luminancevalue of hideous color choices hidthe real facts, lighting was chosen formood, and makeup was arbitrary.

Lo and behold, with color and the

different gamma of the shadowmasktube, directors painted the studiofloors to look like carpet or hardwoodflooring in order to match the set.Color choices were made carefullywith non -reflective paints. Lightingwas uniform to the CIE standard Illu-minant D65 for correct color balance.Makeup became critical.

There were other new effects as well:the beat frequency of the color subcar-rier with some striped ties and otherclothing; the dreadful color keying(using blue) around a woman's hair

doubling resolution for a real HDTVproduction will cause things to be alittle different. Up until now, makeuphasn't been an issue because most HDproductions have been in the sportingworld. But now that more program-ming is commonly being shot in HD,actresses in particular are panickingabout the prospects of exposing everyfacial blemish to their adoring public.Even the color and texture graduationbetween makeup at the edges of theface, around the eyes, at the neck andbelow the ears is going to look savage

Now that more programming is commonly beingshot in HD, actresses in particular are panicking

about the prospects of exposing every facialblemish to their adoring public.

when she had used hairspray; and theimpossibility of getting any kind ofmatch between studio shots and ma-terial inserted from color film scenesproduced outdoors.

Of all those, makeup was the mostaffected. The basic makeup techniquesthat were used in the theater for gen-erations and had transferred to televi-sion were abandoned. New techniquesevolved that not only eliminated theshiny nose or the red eye from thoselunch martinis, but also got flesh tonesto look real under the unforgiving stu-dio lights. Under normal house light-ing, the makeup looked kind of ridicu-lous, but in the studio, with a camera'seye, it looked right.

With HD, things have gone full circleagain. In Europe, with resolutions lessthan doubling for the services that arerolling out this month, makeup issuesaren't going to be visibly different. Buthere in the United States, more than

if not applied correctly. And the tal-ent of the current makeup artists isnot yet honed for this work.

There are stories that the offices ofplastic surgeons in Southern Califor-nia are being swamped by actresseswho want to remove the tiny blem-ishes that a splodge of makeup hidbefore - as if that resulting tiny scaris going to be any less visible.

Yes, way too much information. BE

Paul McGoldrick is an industry consultantbased on the West Coast.


[email protected]

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