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AUGUST 2003 VOLUME 45 NUMBER 111M, 11,91111111-I II

THE JOURNAL OF DIGITAL TE ,.EngineeringL'FEATURES48 High definition over triax:

Is it worth the savings?By Robert P SeidelShare the valuable lessons learned in one broadcastnetwork's experiment sending HD over triax.

56 DTV over digital cable:Reaching a larger audienceBy Bill ZouSooner or later, you'll want digital cable to carry yourprogramming. Find out what issues are involved, from thecable headend to the customer's STB.

64 CMOS image sensors: Making HDTVcameras affordableBy Les Kozlowski and Markus LooseThe same technology that powers today's computers mightpermit image sensors that eclipse the CCD.

BEYOND THEHPArtILINIFS

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12 HD sports: A whole new ballgame

FCC Update

20 New TV multiple ownershiprules adopted

Business Models

22 Remote control monitoring

DIGITALLTransition to Digital

24 Colorimetry standards

Computers and Networks

30 Media asset -management systems

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NAB eats crowIt's not often that you find a major trade associa-tion publicly eating crow for its actions, but theNAB's changing position on ownership caps has

resulted in a full plate special for the lobbying group.The NAB has been lobbying hard against the FCC's

recent actions to increase the station ownership caps.The new caps were raised to 45 percent from 35 per-cent and would allow cross -ownership between news-papers and TV stations in some markets. The FCC'saction was generally greeted as good news by largestations and groups, and bad news by small stations.Congress, knowing that there's an election just a year

away, saw the split FCC action as too good a target topass up and used the opportunity to collectivelypound their chests for more media "diversity." It wasthe perfect opportunity for both Democrats and Re-publicans to pour further scorn on those greedy me-dia moguls.

Many in the industry were surprised (okay, I was sur-prised) at NAB's initial position against raising the caps.After all, the rest of us knew that major broadcasterswere interested in a round of M&As. But when ABCdropped its NAB membership, maybe Eddie and theguys saw this as the perfect chance to kick sand in the

face of Michael Eisner and the other networks.Shortly after the FCC's action, we found the NAB's

president, Eddie Fritts and friends wandering the hallsof Congress expressing sympathy and support forthose legislators wanting to invalidate the FCC's ac-tions. Much of the public posturing seemed positionedunder that wonderful banner called diversity. To readthe comments, you'd have thought that media diver-sity was the miracle pill for broadcasting's ills.

But at the last minute, NAB changed positions. Nowit supports the higher ownership caps. The organiza-tion blamed the position change on "amendments"made in the Senate Commerce committee. NAB saidthat it still wanted a 35 percent ownership cap, butthat it was "politically and legislatively infeasible." Let'ssee, does this mean you want the cap or you don't wantthe cap? One can only wonder what damage the NAB'sblunder has done to broadcasting's image on the Hill.As I said last month, station ownership caps need to

be raised, and any effort to prevent that is shortsightedand anti -capitalistic. Broadcasters need the freedomto be able to sell, buy and merge, just like other com-panies. You can demand all the media "diversity" youwant, but unless broadcasters are allowed to trade fa-cilities as needed to financially succeed, everyone -viewers, investors and broadcasters - will lose.

The problem now is that our industry's primarylobbyist, NAB, is having to publicly eat crow becauseof its ill -thought decision to try and undo what wasthe correct FCC decision. Alliances have been bro-ken, trust damaged and friends alienated. Big mis-take guys. This is going to hurt all of us in both theshort and long run. Enjoy that crow Eddie. Unfor-tunately, the indigestion you'll get will be with all ofus for a long time.

editorial director

BE

Send comments to: [email protected] www.broadcastengineering.com


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Reaching viewersDear Mr. Arland,In a June 30 article in Beyond the

Headlines [Broadcast Engineering's e -newsletter], you are quoted as sayingthat broadcasters need to move to highpower now, citing "broadcasters whohave a 'lack of commitment' to full -

power broadcasting" as the cause forpoor over -the -air DTV reception. It'sgood to hear that Thomson is workingon increasing the sensitivity of its digi-tal tuners. Your plan to utilize multipathcancellation technology from LINXElectronics in future gen-erations is also good news.

However, you shouldprobably research yourclaims about the currentstatus of reception morethoroughly. I'm based inthe Philadelphia TV mar-ket and I have done exten-sive testing of terrestrialDTV signal propagationin all kinds of terrain, in-cluding many places where I was toldthere would be no reception. Lo and be-hold, I received signals in many of theselocations, even though they were not allthat strong. 8VSB reception does notalways depend on stations broadcastingat full power. The trick is in handlingmultipath. If a weak signal has severemultipath echoes that drop below thereceiver's noise floor, nothing will bepicked up. When moderate multipathexists, you would be amazed at how well8-VSB signals get out. I know - I havehundreds of spectrum analyzer plotsand digital photos as documentation.

You have said that a station's low -power digital signal may not reach all ofthe homes in that station's analog cov-erage area. This is a common miscon-ception about a "threshold" DTV sys-tem. The carrier -to -noise levels don'tneed to be as high as they do for analog.In many cases, the homes and apart-ments where I tested DTV reception had

marginal to poor analog reception, butwere able to receive the DTV station.Problems with DTV reception oftenhave nothing to do with RF - they havemore to do with PSIP and MPEG.

Thomson would be better advised totake a strong corporate stance thatbroadcasters should be sending outcorrect PSIP info. Many broadcastersdon't do this, and the FCC doesn't evenmandate PSIP, which is a mistake, inmy opinion. PSIP is what makes DTVmore user friendly.

Many of the DTV reception prob-lems I have investigatedturned out to be PSIP-related rather than RF-related. Manufacturerswill have problems withstore returns of 8-VSBset -top boxes as a result.The tuner may actuallybe picking up a signal,but may not be able todecode the PSIP streamcorrectly.

I'm not providing a justification forbroadcasters not broadcasting fullpower, but even with lower power lev-els, these signals get out much betterthan most would expect. And in somemarkets, going to high power meansraising the carrier level perhaps 3dBto 6dB at best. That can easily be madeup in with a better antenna and low -noise preamp.

The main problem with receivers is theuse of cheap components in the front-end RF stages and mixer. Compressionand poor third -order intercept perfor-mance here will doom any receiver. Thebest bet is to use a moderate gain, low -noise first RF stage driving a passive di-ode ring mixer, which has the highestdynamic range of any receiver front-end. Such a setup ought to have a noisefigure under 3dB and a ldB compres-sion point in excess of OdB.

If broadcasters are "guilty" of any-thing in the DTV transition, it is not

paying attention to PSIP and MPEGencoding issues. Broadcasters who donot implement even static PSIP cor-rectly are shooting their digital chan-nels in the foot. Manufacturers shouldbe jumping all over this issue as it canaffect future sales of terrestrial STBs.

If your STB engineers would like todiscuss this further, I'd be happy tooblige.

PETE PUTMAN, KT2BROAM CONSULTING

Dave Arland responds:If every market in America was like

Philadelphia (or even Indianapolis),there would be no reason to point outshortcomings because therewouldn't be any!

We stand by our technical report andrecommendations made in our sub-mission. We HAVE been beating thedrum for an FCC requirement onbroadcasters to use the A/65 PSIPstandard for many years. Still - the big-gest issue in this transition hasNOTHING to do with broadcasting.It's cable.The average consumer will expect

HDTV to work with cable. Period.

DAVE ARLAND

RCA/THOMSON MULTIMEDIA

Editor's note: If you would like to re-ceive the weekly newsletter Beyond theHeadlines, go to www.broadcastengineering.com and under FreeNewsletters, click on Beyond theHeadlines. BE

IN ADDITIONRt.

Statements have been abbreviatedfor space. Visit

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HD sports:A whole new ballgameBY CRAIG BIRKMAIER

According to AP sportswriter Alan Robinson,the broadcast industry

has been waiting for a "killer app" thatwill make consumers give up tried-and-true analog technology for the"brave new world of high definition."Sports may be the opening broadcast-ers have been looking for. Coverage oflive sporting events has become a hall-mark of broadcast television: a con-stant supply of fresh content that holdsviewers' interest - between trips to therefrigerator and the bathroom. Thecombination of sports and TV haseven created an alternative TV view-ing venue, the sports bar, which in-spired the DTV Drafthouse at thisyear's NAB. What better way to pro-mote the benefits of the HDTV view-ing experience than on the big screensof your local watering hole?

So why has it taken so long for HDcoverage of sporting events to gain thecritical mass suggested by ESPN's recentannouncement of the launch of ESPNHD? And what does this announcementsay about HDTV broadcasting?

MEN

Up close and personalFor the most part, the broadcast net-

works have limited the coverage ofsporting events in HD to a handful ofbig championship events. NBC has vir-tually ignored HD sports. The networkdid allow HDNet to provide delayedcoverage of the 2002 Winter Olympicsin HD, but did not air any HD cover-age via its broadcast stations and affili-ates. FOX decided that widescreen 480pwas good enough, even for the SuperBowl. ABC offered one season of

SD/HD simulcasting impose revealmuch about the network's attitude to-ward HD. Here's the dilemma.

There are more than 250 millionlegacy TV sets. These sets typicallyhave screens smaller than 30 inchesdiagonal, and are limited in resolutionby legacy analog compression stan-dards - NTSC, PAL, etc. There are nowabout 5 million HDTV -capable dis-plays in American homes. Less than500,000 of these displays are capableof receiving DTV broadcasts: Most get

In contrast, broadcasters have little incentive toprovide HD sports coverage.

"Monday Night Football" (MNF) inHD, then punted; but MNF will be backin HD on ABC this fall, along with"Sunday Night Football" on ESPN HD.CBS has provided the most extensivecoverage of sporting events in HD;however, the network elected to produceSD/HD simulcasts from a single remoteproduction unit. The compromises that

: ii it 111 1_1

Stations consider "oinin forcesSome broadcasters see business opportunities in

Cable network

Broadcast station

Cable station

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their HD programming from a DBSor cable service.

As noted in recent "Download" col-umns, the driving force behind therecent increased interest in HD is theperception that it is becoming an eco-nomically attractive premium nichemarket. Those willing to fork out thebucks for an HDTV -capable big screenTV are typically among the most will-ing to pay for premium cable and DBSprogramming tiers.

In contrast, broadcasters have littleincentive to provide HD sports cov-erage. The audience is still statisticallyinsignificant, and the increased costscan be considerable, especially if ver-sions optimized for the SD and HDaudiences are produced. The situationis exacerbated by the fact that most ofthe networks have been losing moneyon their major sports packages.

Because of the legacy of small screensize and resolution inherent with ana-log television, sports production tech-niques evolved into the "up close andpersonal" medium that dominates to-day. The enhanced resolution and


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wider screen aspect ratio of HDTV areoften cited as major advantages forsports production. But these advan-tages are really differences that make itquite difficult to extract a standard-

definition version of an event from theHD version.

When ABC produced "Monday NightFootball" in HD, they understood these

differences, and decided that HD is adifferent medium -a big screen me-dium - that demands a different ap-proach to sports production. Thus twoproduction crews and associatedequipment were employed for eachbroadcast. ABC will continue to pro-duce separate SD and HD versionsnext season.

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Despite the advantage of producinga feed optimized for HD screens, theMNF producers and directorsstruggled at first with the new medium.They gradually learned that they couldpull the cameras back and sit on widershots for longer periods; they had toovercome decades of instinct to pro-vide up close and personal coverage.

The simulcast techniques developedby CBS are driven by the need to servethe larger SD audience. Wide shotscome from HD cameras, while theclose-ups and slow-motion replays

The networks are beginning to getinto HD sports production, sup-ported by a new generation of HDremote production trucks. For in-stance, NMT's HD4 unit has signedon to broadcast ABC's "MondayNight Football" in HD.

come from widescreen SD camerasthat are upconverted for the HD feed.Extra care is needed to keep criticalaction within the 4:3 "safe area." TheHD audience sees more of the actionthanks to the wide screen, and they getthe benefit of HD on the wide shots.But the full HD experience is compro-mised, and image quality varies con-siderably during a broadcast.

I versus PTo make matters worse, there is an-

other dilemma for the companies thatprovide the remote production facili-ties to the networks that produce HDsports. The ATSC standard provides aChinese menu of format options. FOXuses widescreen 480@60p; CBS andNBC use interlaced 1920x1080@30i;ABC and ESPN prefer progressive scan


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1280x720@60p. The cost of an HD -capable remote produc-tion vehicle is typically about double that of an SD produc-tion vehicle with equivalent capabilities. The latest genera-tion of HD trucks cost between $7 million and $10 million,and typically have a minimum of 16 HD cameras.

From an image processing perspective, it is relatively easyto build production gear - including video mixers, DVEsand graphics systems - that can operate using either1080@30i or 720@60p.

Cameras are another issue. Most vendors have focused on1080@24p or 720@24p for the digital cinematography mar-ket, and 1080@30i or 720@60p for the live events markets.This changed at NAB 2002, with the introduction of theThomson Grass Valley LDK 6000 MK II Worldcam. This cam-era uses an oversampling sensor that allows it to provide out-puts for both 1080@30i and 720@60p, which is useful in theremote production vehicle market. To support the growingmarkets for HD sports production, National Mobile Televi-sion (NMT), NEP and New Century Productions have builta new generation of multiformat remote production vehicleswith complements of Thomson Grass Valley Worldcams.

Panasonic has enjoyed considerable success in HD sportsproduction with the AK-HC900 HD point -of -view cam-era. This 720@60p "box" camera weighs in at 3.9 pounds,lending it to use for a variety of unmanned camera posi-tions and for use on lightweight booms and movable cam-era rigging.

It is likely that the debate over the advantages of interlacevs. progressive formats for sports production will grow involume in the coming year as "the rubber hits the road."The progressive proponents note the dramatic improve-ment in slow-motion playbacks. Many HD sports produc-tions have used SD super-slo-mo systems that areupconverted to HD resolution.

And then there's the question of digital compression effi-ciency. High -action sports can produce some of the mostdemanding scenes that an MPEG-2 encoder will ever en-counter. Panning cameras and athletes running in and outof the shot - often in different directions - can stress themotion -compensated prediction algorithms in MPEG-2.

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During the recent NBA finals therewere reports of widely varying imagequality in different TV markets. ABCdelivered a contribution quality feedto affiliates, which have different houseformats and encoders - interformatconversions and variations in encoderimplementations and/or setup mayhave been responsible for the ob-served differences.

The stage is setIn the coming year, hundreds of

sporting events will be covered in HD.It appears that the majority will beoptimized for the HD audience. So thestage is set to answer some competi-tive questions. There is little doubt that

HD sports will be the

cornerstone of strategies

being developed by the

cable and DBS

industries.

HD sports coverage is going to helpthe consumer electronics industry sellmore HD -capable TVs. Likewise, HDsports will be the cornerstone of strat-egies being developed by the cable andDBS industries to contend for pre-mium subscribers.

Will HD sports be the "killer app" thatwill kick the broadcast DTV transitioninto high gear? Or will it be the technol-ogy that causes sports to migrate from"Free TV" to subscriptions services? DE

Craig Birkmaier is a technology consultantat Pcube 'Labs, and hosts and moderatesthe OpenDTV Forum.

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New TVmultiple ownershiprules adoptedBY HARRY C. MARTIN

Twenty months and 500,000comments later, the com-mission, by a 3-2 vote along

party lines, adopted its new mediaownership rules on June 2, 2003.

The new rules for television are asfollows:

First, the commission modified theLocal Television Multiple Ownershiprule. The eight -station test establishedin 1999 has been replaced by a three-tier rule:

In DMAs with between five and17 TV stations, a company may ownup to two stations, but only one ofthese stations can be among the topfour in ratings.

In DMAs with 18 or more TV sta-tions, a company can own up to threeTV stations, but only one of these sta-tions can be among the top four inratings.

In DMAs with 11 or fewer TV sta-tions, companies can seek a waiverwhich would permit two top -four sta-tions to be commonly owned. The

The renewal cycle for televisionstations begins in 2004. On April 1,2004, stations in Maryland, Virginia'Washington, D.C., and WestVirginia must begin their pre -filingrenewal announcements and then,file the renewals on June 1, 2004.In the meantime, stations in AlaskFlorida, Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, -Oregon, the Pacific Islands, PuertoRico, the Virgin Islands andWashington must file their biennial,ownership reports by Oct. 1, 2003and, also by Oct. 1, place theirannual EEO reports in their publicfiles and on their Web sites.

FCC will evaluate on a case -by -casebasis whether such station combina-tions would provide their local com-munities better service than would bethe case if the stations remain underseparate ownership.

In addition to modifying the local tele-vision ownership rules, the commissionalso increased the National TelevisionMultiple Ownership limit from 35 per-cent to 45 percent of the national audi-ence. The national audience share will

no TV stations) ORTwo TV stations (if permissible

under the local TV ownership rule)and up to the radio station limit forthat market (i.e. no daily newspapers).

For those markets with three or fewerTV stations, no cross -ownership ispermitted among TV, radio and news-papers. The commission will considera waiver request if the parties can dem-onstrate that the television stationdoes not serve the area served by the

The medium and small -market TV station owners,

who needed relief the most, got little from this

round of deregulation.

be calculated by combining the totalnumber of TV households in eachmarket in which the company owns astation. At the same time, the Com-mission will maintain the "UHF dis-count," which reduces the audienceshare of a particular station by half ifit is UHF.

The commission also eliminated theRadio -Television and the Broadcast -Newspaper Cross -Ownership Rules formarkets with more than nine televisionstations. For smaller markets, the com-mission adopted the following rules:

In markets with between four andeight TV stations, combinations arelimited to one of the following:

A daily newspaper; one TV sta-tion; and up to half of the radio sta-tion limit for that market (i.e., if theradio limit in the market is six, thecompany can own no more thanthree) OR

A daily newspaper; and up to theradio station limit for that market; (i.e.

proposed acquisition (i.e., the radio sta-tion or the newspaper).

As is evident from this summary, thenew rules provide significant deregula-tion for large companies already oper-ating in large markets, companies thatwant to combine newspapers andbroadcast stations in large markets, andthe networks, which want to increasetheir nationwide inventory of owned -and -operated stations. However, themedium and small -market TV stationowners, who needed relief the most, gotlittle from this round of deregulation,in spite of the quadruple threats of DTVbuildout costs, no DTV must -carry, in-creasing competition from cable andsatellite providers, and diminishing net-work compensation. BE

Harry C. Martin is an attorney with Fletcher,Heald & Hildreth PLC, Arlington, VA.

SENDSend questions and comments to:

[email protected]


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Over 900 TV stations broadcasting in digitalThe DTV transition reached another milestone as the NAB count of digital

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Remote controlmonitoringBY JASON RIEG

s the transition to digitaltelevision continues, thetelevision transmission fa-

cility has grown to accommodate theaddition of another "channel" to thebroadcast plant. Engineers today areresponsible for maintaining an analogtransmitter, the analog backup, theDTV transmitter and, eventually, aDTV backup and all the auxiliary digi-tal equipment. This is in addition totaking care of all the transmission siteequipment - tower lights, HVAC, se-curity systems, etc. - often in a distantlocation. It is no wonder that the needfor more flexible and robust remotecontrol monitoring equipment isgrowing.

Traditionally, remote control stoodfor a one-on-one relationship betweenthe transmitter and monitoring equip-ment tethered by parallel connectionsand a phone line at the site. This laterevolved into troubleshooting for a lim-ited number of parameters, but thesesystems had a limited number of access

communicate basic graphics and systeminformation using pure HTML fortransmitter control.A new breed of add-on transmitter

Web servers was announced recentlyby a number of manufacturers. An ex-ample of this is the Harris eCDI Webinterface, shown in Figure 1. Theseservers interface to the transmitterand exciter(s) serial interface andserve the information to a standardWeb browser. The Web interfaces forthese transmitters lend themselves tomore sophistication, with at least oneusing a Java environment with graph-ics and XML for data transfer, savingthe more basic HTML for setup andlogin functions. Some add-on Webservers also provide multi -level con-trol access, SNMP agents for networkmanagement, e-mail/pager fault no-tification, and "microbrowsers" for in-terfacing to wireless PDAs and Web -enabled cell phones. Due to securityconcerns, no station to date has imple-mented wireless control.

Due to security concerns, no station to date hasimplemented wireless control.

options and very few ways to actuallyexploit the information to pinpointfailure points or problems.

Transmitter control is evolving to in -dude a network transaction using a Webinterface system with a dedicated serverto port transmitter information to a re-mote computer. Server style varies, de-pending mainly on the control systemcharacteristics of the transmitters. Onsome systems, Web servers are availablethat are integrated within the transmit-ter byway of off -the -shelf industrial PLCsystems used for control. These systems

Add-on configuration allows manu-facturers to create a common inter-face architecture for all current andlegacy products. Commonality of in-terfaces helps station personnel thatare familiar with one transmitternavigate the interface of another, lessfamiliar piece of equipment. Thiswould come in handy when install-ing a new digital exciter or taking careof a collocated FM when the trans-mitter supervisor is on vacation. Thiscommonality also becomes extremelyimportant with facilities containing

.030001_

1:=22104.0 AMP flue 1,134, 1212112[02

12,43 12,1912011/Iroutieult 0112. 12$1.171X11

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Figure 1.The Harris eCDi performancemonitoring screen provides remotemonitoring of 8-VSB signal quality.The Web interface provides transmit-ter status and control in addition toperformance monitoring for all Har-ris digital television transmitters.

multiple transmitters of different ar-chitectures, such as a solid-state VHFanalog and an IOT UHF digital.

All stations are sensitive to networksecurity and only the bravest (read:foolhardy) are willing to put transmit-ter control on an open Internet con-nection. Luckily, an effective solutionis most likely already installed on mostnetworks -a virtual private network.These saviors of security are widelyused, and an out -of -the -box systemcan be picked up for a song at any lo-cal computer retailer.

At least one manufacturer is takingcontrol and management even one stepfurther and creating a software pack-age with greater breadth of monitor-ing, allowing multiple users to simul-taneously control, monitor and viewthe status of multiple devices at mul-tiple locations. Centrali7pd monitoringand control solutions from transmit-ter manufacturers will offer service ex-pertise and insight from the peoplewho know the product best. BE

Jason Rieg is product line manager forHarris Broadcast Remote Control-eCDI.


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ColorimetrystandardsBY MICHAEL ROBIN

The electromagnetic spec-trum visible to the humaneye occupies approximately

one octave, from 380nm to 760nm(1nm = 107nm). (See Figure 1.) Theway the human visual system perceiveslight is by associating colors (or hues),a perceptual artifact, to frequencies.The eye has a maxi-mum sensitivity atthe green color andlesser sensitivity atred and blue.

Color perception isassociated with aspecific set of 6 mil-lion to 7 millioncells, called cones,situated in the eyeretina. Studies indi-cate that there are

Figure 1. Spectrum of electromagnetic radiationsspecialized types ofcones responding to red, green or bluestimuli. The cone cells have a low sen-sitivity, resulting in achromatic (no

color) perception at low light intensi-ties. They also have a low sensitivityto picture detail.

Low light intensity, achromatic lightperception and picture detail are dueto a second type of cells, called rods,also situated in the eye retina. Thereare between 110 million and 130 mil -

The CIE color diagramThe 20th century witnessed an ex-

plosion in the recording and repro-duction of still (photographs) andmoving (television and movies) im-ages. Among the early preoccupationsof the dream factories (Hollywoodand others) was the correct reproduc-

tion of colors.In 1931, a group of

scientists under theumbrella of Commis-sion Internationale del'Eclairage (CIE), orInternational LightingCommission, devel-oped a bi-dimen-sional (x,y) represen-tation of the visiblecolors, the so-calledCIE diagram, shownin Figure 2 on page 26.

This diagram allows the user to specifycolors by assigning values to x and y vari-ables. All visible colors are confined in-side a horseshoe -shaped area. Saturatedcolors occupy positions on the curve.Lower saturation colors occupy posi-tions nearer to the center of the display.

In addition to defining colors, theCIE diagram identifies the white lightas a set of x and y values describing apoint in the central area of the dia-gram. Various standards define thewhite using different pairs of x,y co-ordinates related to the temperatureto which a black body has to be raisedto generate the specific white.

Colorimetry standardsin color television

Color television relies on the lightproperties that control the visual sen-sations known as brightness, hue andsaturation. All visible colors of the spec-trum can be generated by a propercombination of three primary colors.

760nm 700nm

Visible light

600nm 500nm COnm -380nm

RadioAM

t300m

Television- VHF

RadioFM

3m 3cm 300um

Infra Ultra X-rays Gammared violet rays

3um 3nm 0.3nrr 0.003nm 0.00003nm

1MHz 102 MHz 10° MHz 105 MHz 101 MHz 104 MHz 1012MHz 10" MHz 1016 MHz

lion rods. Rods have a high sensitivityand afford a high resolution of pic-ture detail.

FRAME -Profitin ! from wireless data

Ilk . 1111 1 A ' 1 1 I 1 I

Consumer use a growing source of revenue

83.3%

63.8%

121%

68.7%

3.4%1.2%

1.7%

2.6%

2.6%3.9%

Numbers do not add up to100 percent due to rounding.

20.3%

5.2%

Business Inter/intraneill Consumer Internet Financial transactions Gaming/entertainment Location -based services M. -commerce Advertising

SOURCE: Kagan World Media www. kagan. corn


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e LEITCH.

Iran is n to Di Rai

Y

0.9

am

G

520nm

SMPTE 170M

NTSC 1953

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4065

4) R

0.3 780nm

0.2

0.1

380n

X

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Figure 2. CIE color diagram showing loca-tion of primaries and outlines of NTSC1953 and SMPTE 170M color triangles

The definition of a group of three pri-mary colors is that none of the threecould be generated by adding the othertwo. The process of generating variouscolors using three primary colorsources is called additive color mix. Alllight sources generate additive colors.

The photographic reproduction ofcolors is based on thesubtractive color pro-cess. Here a white lightilluminating a coloredsurface results in allwavelengths being ab-sorbed, except one,which is reflected andidentifies the color ofthe object.

The television pri-mary colors are redwith a wavelength of700nm, green with awavelength of 546.1nmand blue with a wave-length of 435.8nm. Anyother set of primarycolors could have beenused, but the choice wasdetermined by the easewith which (in 1953)relatively efficient red-,green- and blue -col-ored phosphors couldbe manufactured. Thex,y coordinates of the

chosen phosphors delineate a"phosphor color triangle."

Several television colorimetrystandards coexist and are detailedin Table 1. These standards definethe following: The x,y coordinates of the colorprimaries and of the referencewhite. This involves the specifi-cation of the x and y coordinatesrepresenting the primary colorsand the reference white. The transfer characteristics.The transfer characteristic of theCRT is inherently nonlinear. Thetransfer function is approxi-mately exponential and com-monly referred to as "gamma"curve. Gamma is mainly a lightreproduction function of the

CRT. In order to achieve an overall lin-ear transfer characteristic, the nonlin-ear-ity of the CRT is compensated forelsewhere in the system. Figure 3 onpage 28 shows how a nonlinear CRTdisplay is compensated for by a pre -cor-rection of the original signal. Histori-cally, the compensation is carried out

Standard Color rimariesPrimary X Y

Transfer characteristics(gamma)

Matrix coefficients

ITU-R

BT.470-4

INTSC 1953)

Compositeanalogformat

Red 0.670 0.330

Green 0.210 0.710

Blue 0.140 0.080

White (C) 0.310 0.310

Gamma = 2.2

Ey = 0.5.6 + 0.11Ea + 0.30En

Ea.y = 0.493 (E'n - Ey

E'R.y = 0.077 (ER - Ey)

ITU-R

BT.470-4

(PAL B, S)Compositeanalogformat

Red 0.640 0.330

Green 0.290 0.600

Blue 0.150 0.060

White (065) 0.313 0.329

Gamma = 2.8

Ey = 0.567EG + 0.114E'8 + 0.299ER

Ea., = 0,93 (Ea - Ey)

E'R.y = 0.177 (E9 - Ey)

SMPTE

170M

(NTSC 1953)

Compositeanalogformat

Red 0.630 0.340

Green 0.310 0.595

Blue 0.155 0.070

White (D65) 0.3127 0.329

V= 1.099Lc0-45 - 0.099

for 1 0 Lc 0 0.018

V = 4.5Lc

for 0.018> Lc >0

Ey = 0.58f Ea + 0.11E8 + 0.299ER

Ea -y= 0..93 (Ea - En)

ER.y = RF/7 (ER - Ey)

ITU-R

131.601

ComponentdigitalSON

Red "0.630 '0.340

Green *0.310 *0.595

Blue *0.155 *0.070

White (065) *0.3127 *0.329

*V= 1.099Lc0.45 - 0.099

for 1 0 Lc > 0.018

*V = 4.5Lc

for 0.018 > Lc 0 0

Ey = 0.58Ea + 0.11E8 + 0.299ER

E.B., = 0.%4 (Ea - EY

ER.y = 0.713 (ER - Ey1

ITU-R

BT.709

ComponentdigitalHDTV

"Assumed but not

Red 0.640 0330

Green 0.300 0.600

Blue 0.150 0.060

White (0651 0.3127 0.329

pecified

V= 1.099LC0.45 - 0.099

tort > Lc 0 0.018

V =4.5Lc

for 0.018> Lc >0

Ey = 0.7102E0 + 0.0722E'a + 0.2126ER

E84.0.E89(EB-E0

Five = 0.635(6, - Ey)

Table 1. Various colorimetry standards used in TV production

in the camera and is referred to asgamma correction. This results in red,green and blue signals pre -distortedto match the reference characteristicof the CRT as follows:

".YGtransinit = Gpickup = EG

= B 111' = E'Btransmitpickup If

R = R 11'_ E'transmit ,pickup

The NTSC standard defines agamma of 2.2, while the PAL andSECAM standards define a gamma of2.8. It is important to note that ITU-RBT.601 doesn't specify the x,y coordi-nate nor the gamma. Some organiza-tions use the NTSC values, and othersuse the PAL values. More recent stan-dards, such as ITU-R BT.709, specifycomplex mathematical expressions,which are applied to linear R, G, B sig-nals to compensate for defined CRTnonlinearities. This has, as a side ef-fect, a positive effect on the noise in-fluence on the reproduced picture.The human eye is more sensitive tonoise in the dark areas, where thegamma behavior of the CRT reducesthe visibility. The transfer standardswill eventually have

to be revisited in orderto reflect the appear-ance of non -CRT dis-play technologies fea-turing linear transfercharacteristics. The luminance equa-tion. This involves thespecification of thematrix coefficients re-lated to the E'G, E'B andE'R primary signals The color -differenceequations. This in-volves the specifica-tion of the matrix co-efficients related to theE'G, E'0 and E'0 pri-mary signals.

The ITU-R.BT.470-4 (NTSC 1953) de-fines parameters ofthe NTSC color tele-vision system,adopted for transmis-sion in the UnitedStates in 1953. These


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lal A A .111.1111rirri"I I I 11

0.8

',7", 0.6

0.4cc

0.2

Gammacorrection

c''''

e Z,/

C.°

CRTresponse

0.2 0.4 0.6

CRT control voltage

0.8

Figure 3. Correction of CRT nonlineartransfer curve

parameters reflected the CRT tech-nologies in existence at the time. Earlyversions of the PAL and SECAM systemsused the same parameters. Later CRTtechnologies used phosphors with dif-ferent chromaticities. This necessitateda review and update of the colorimetrystandards. The ITU-R.BT.470-4 (PAL

B,G) used different parameters.The NTSC specifications were re-issued in 1995 as SMPTE 170Mand used parameters similar tothose used for PAL and SECAM.The ITU-R BT.601 standardspecifies the parameters of theSDTV component digital format.Note that the color -differencescaling factors are quite differentfrom those used for NTSC andPAL. This is due to the fact thatthese signals have a peak -to -peaksignal amplitude equal to that ofthe luminance signal unlikeNTSC and PAL. The ITU-R.BT.709 standard is the specified

version for HDTV.Signals using the legacy NTSC 1953

standard differ considerably from thenewer standards, which have smallerdifferences. The implementation ofthe DTV standard will require a fairnumber of format conversions. In or-der to avoid color changes in the pro-

SAV

cess, the input and output signal for-mat colorimetry parameters will haveto be considered and recalculated asrequired. BE

Michael Robin, a fellow of the SMPTE andformer engineer with the CanadianBroadcasting Corp.'s engineering headquar-ters, is an independent broadcastconsultant located in Montreal, Canada.He is co-author of Digital TelevisionFundamentals, published by McGraw-Hill,and recently translated into Chinese andJapanese.


michael [email protected]

............

Television

FundamentalsDESIOM MVO IMSTAEEA110M OFVIDEO AND AUDIO SYSTEMS

:=1:4="4

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The Second Editionof Michael Robin'sbook may beordered directlyfrom the publisherby calling800-262-4729.The book isavailable fromseveral booksellers.

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Mediaasset -managementsystemsBY BRAD GILMER

If you have it but you can't findit, you don't have it. In a sen-tence, this describes why media

asset -management (MAM) systemsare important. They help the user lo-cate content. MAM systems have beena part of broadcast operations for years.The first MAM systems were file cardsand sheets of paper. As collections grew,broadcasters and post -production fa-cilities began to use computers to track

and enter some preliminary informa-tion. Once the ingest process hasstarted, the essence may be availablefor further processing. (Some MAMsystems require that the ingest processbe complete before users can beginworking with the system.) Most MAMsystems can also track material that isnot ingested, such as tapes on shelves.Annotation. During annotation, a

user types in notes while viewing the

MAM systems have evolved significantly, and therole of the archive has changed dramatically.

material in their archives. The archivewas viewed as an end -of -pipe process,and MAM systems were largely con-fined to simple catalog systems.

MAM systems have evolved signifi-cantly, and the role of the archive haschanged dramatically. MAM systemsnow can locate and track contentthroughout a facility. Broadcastershave created a new category ofarchived, shared -content storage, thatoften operates at the center of net-worked production facilities.

MAM anatomyMAM systems have several func-

tional areas, including ingest, annota-tion, cataloging, storage, retrieval anddelivery. Although these are describedlinearly here, work may occur simul-taneously in these areas.

Ingest. During the ingest process,storage systems capture essence (videoand audio) in digital form. Usually,they capture low -resolution and full -resolution content simultaneously.Ingest operators or automated systemslink the captured material to ametadata record in the MAM system,

content. Typical annotation clients in -dude VTR -like functions that allow theannotator to pause the content whileentering notes. It is extremely impor-tant that the annotation and VTR com-mands be intuitive and quickly acces-sible from the keyboard. Most usersperform a quick annotation as the sys-tem ingests the material. For importantcontent, they may go back and performan in-depth analysis.

Cataloging. During this extremely im-portant phase, users enter informationthat others will later use to retrieve thecontent. They typically enter title, date,location and keywords, along withother information such as segmentlength, overall length, and talent. Sincethis information is critical to retrieval,users might employ a limited thesau-rus to restrict the entries allowed in cer-tain fields. The MAM system may alsouse automated cataloging technologiesto capture keyframes, closed -captiontext and other information. MAM sys-tems can also populate their catalogswith information from editing and au-tomation systems.

Storage. MAM systems continuously

store material. During the initial ingestprocess, the MAM stores essence andmetadata. Additional metadata is storedduring annotation, cataloging and au-tomated analysis.

Retrieval. Users employ the retrievalprocess to locate, identify, and view pre-viously cataloged and annotated con-tent. The first and most common wayto retrieve material is a text search. Theretrieval client may use simple or com-plicated searching techniques to lookthrough the catalog and annotations,and return a list of content matching thesearch criteria. But, more commonly, thesystem presents the user with a view thatincludes still images of the search results.In some cases, the client will even takeusers to the area of the content where itfound a match. This can be useful if youare trying to locate a particular scene ina two-hour movie.

Figure 1 shows a screenshot from aMAM product made by Artesia called

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Figure 1. In this storyboard viewfrom Artesia'sTEAMS MAM system,the user is presented withkeyframes to quickly locate impor-tant content.

TEAMS. In this storyboard view, thesystem presents the user with keyframesto quickly locate important content.

Delivery. In some cases, the retrievalfunction is also the delivery function. Inother configurations, the MAM system


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delivers high -resolution content by filetransfer. Sometimes, the MAM retrievalprocess is part of a larger retrieval func-tion where users view low -resolutionproxies to quickly locate material in thesystem or in an offline library.

Workflow supportSeveral years ago, production

workflows were much more linear thanthey are today. A news feed would comeinto a facility, someone in the tape roomwould record the feed, an editor wouldpick up the tape and begin editing and,finally, the completed story would bedelivered to the control room for inte-gration into the evening news. Then ifthe story was particularly important,

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someone would put it on a shelf in thelibrary and perhaps catalog its locationfor later retrieval.

But technology has enabled majorchanges to this workflow. In newworkflows, the archive serves as a cen-tral repository for content, and theMAM system allows people to quicklylocate the material they need. Severaleditors can work on the same sourcematerial at the same time to create dif-ferent products. For example, a producermay send a particularly important newsstory directly to air as it arrives from thefield. At the same time, the system feedsthe material into a central repository.Editors begin creating rough -cut storiesfrom the incoming feed almost imme-diately. Taped pieces begin appearingwithin a few minutes. As this is happen-ing, different groups of editors may havealready begun working on pieces for the6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. news.

The point is that many people maywant access to the same content at thesame time. This was difficult to do whenediting systems were primarily tape -based. But as we move to networkedediting environments, it becomes pos-sible for the user to change from a lin-ear workflow to a more collaborativeenvironment. Once material is stored ona server and different groups begin put-ting various completed pieces back onthe server, some sort of content -track-ing system becomes critical. That is thefunction of a MAM system - to keeptrack of where content is located andhelp users find it.

The MAM dilemmaWhile MAM sounds great, there are

challenges in implementing these sys-tems. One challenge is figuring out howto pay for them. MAM systems typi-cally incur costs in one area, but delivervalue in that area and other areas aswell. It may cost a significant amountof money to purchase, install and trainpersonnel to operate the systems. Ad-ditionally, an archive group may incuradditional costs in time and personnelduring annotation and cataloging. Thebenefits of MAM systems typically ac-crue to users of the system - research-ers, post -production departments and


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on -air promotion people, for example.This usually means that the archivegroup gets hit with all the cost, whileother departments receive the benefits.

Where does the metadatacome from?

Another dilemma facing owners ofMAM systems is how to obtain

metadata such as cataloging informa-tion and annotations. It is one thing togo to a search engine on the Web, typein a word or phrase and have hundredsof likely Web pages appear. Search en-gines parse text to build databases thatyield quick search results. It's quite an-other to search video content.The dilemma for video is simple to

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explain, but difficult to resolve. Whodo you designate to watch movies ornews stories and type in the informa-tion that others will later use to re-trieve the video or audio? If your or-ganization already has an archive, itis likely that someone there is famil-iar with its contents. If the volume ofnew material entering your archive islow, then it may be possible for thisperson to enter detailed informationon a scene -by -scene basis. But manylarger organizations face a huge task,either because they have largeamounts of new material coming intotheir facilities or because they have ahuge backlog of material waiting tobe cataloged. In either case, any singleindividual is likely to burn out quicklyif asked to complete this task.

Faced with this problem, one facil-ity hired students to help with its cata-loging effort. While the students cata-logued a great deal of material in arelatively short period of time, it wasnot long before those using the sys-tem found that some of the catalog in-formation was missing, some was inerror, and much was either irrelevantor did not include terms for whichsomeone was likely to search.

What's next?But better solutions are appearing on

the horizon. Cataloging technology isimproving. Speech -to -text, on -screentext recognition, closed -caption cap-ture and other automated tools mayimprove the cataloging process.Metadata-aware file formats such asMXF and AAF may also aid in themetadata-collection process. Slate in-formation from an MXF camera maybe retained in an MXF file. Editor com-ments may be held in an AAF file. Lateron, a MAM system can collect metadatafrom these files that can be used to lo-cate a particular piece of video. BE

Brad Gilmer is president of Gilmer &Associates, executive director of the AAFAssociation and executive director of theVideo Services Forum.


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WirelessENG/EFP camerasBY BENNETT LILES

he world of terrestrial liveshots exists largely in met-ropolitan canyons between

steel and concrete, which have longcaused havoc with terrestrial analogmicrowave transmission in the formof multipath interference. A single car-rier bouncing off buildings arrives atthe receiver with mutually cancelingtime delays, causing fading or com-plete dropout. Static multipath istricky enough, but when an attemptis made to move the transmitter, dy-namic multipath problems cause suchwireless links to be tenuous.

ESPN used Link Research's LinkXP1 digitalwireless camera to broadcast the Stanley Cup.

The primary reason for officialadoption of the COFDM as the Euro-pean DVB-T standard has been itsperformance in severe multipath en-vironments. American TV news engi-neers also noted that its use of mul-tiple carriers, each of which is modu-lated at 90 degrees to those adjacent,provided less range but bettermultipath reception than the Cana-dian/American 8-VSB, though gainsin 8-VSB performance have beenmade. COFDM actually eats multipathsignals and grows stronger. Withlarger transmitters, news helicoptershave reported an effective throw of 50miles or more with omni patterns,

compared with 90 to 100 miles withdirectional analog microwave undersimilar conditions.

A small amount of the total infor-mation stream is put on each of nearly2000 narrowband carriers, andenough data is included to enable re-construction and even reinforcementof the signal among the multipathvariants seen at the receiving end. Thesecret of its robust RF performance isin the limited bandwidth and data rateon each carrier. Another advantage ofwireless ENG cameras is the selectionof data rates for specific conditions.

Operators can choose be-tween QPSK, 16 QAM or even64 QAM modulation to cus-tom -tailor the data rate forvarying degrees of signal/noise performance vs. spectralefficiency, with QPSK offeringthe lowest bit rate and mostrobust performance.

Another selectable param-eter exists in the transmissionpattern. Small, omni-direc-tional antennas for COFDMtransmission have even madelive shots from moving ve-

hicles a relatively simple task. In staticsituations, however, range can be in-creased by using antennas withswitched 90 -degree segments, en-abling the concentration of powerover a narrower polar pattern. Thisrepresents a significant ENG advancebecause antenna alignment has typi-cally stolen valuable time in setting uplive shots. Recent developments inauto -tracking antennas promise tofurther increase range without sacri-ficing RF durability. In situationswhere multiple mobile cameras areneeded inside a large building, receiv-ing antenna arrays can be strungthough the rooms in a manner long

used by TV sound people for continu-ous pickup of wireless microphones.In fact, one new offering for wirelessENG cameras is diversity receptionwith two tiny truck -mounted rooftopantennas.

Operators must become familiarwith the effects of combining MPEG-2 parameters such as 4:2:2 and 4:2:0chroma sampling with the selectablemodulation schemes for COFDM tosuit local conditions because resultscan vary substantially. Adjustablegroup of picture (GOP) structure, thetype of forward error correction(FEC) and horizontal picture resolu-tion have dramatic effects on picturequality, so good results are anythingbut automatic. Longer GOP intervalswill increase latency, a vital factor incutting these shots with those fromwired cameras. Over the past year, la-tency rates have decreased to less thantwo frames. Among the current mod-els, the DVCPRO format and waveletcompression are being used, but mostmanufacturers have stayed withMPEG processing for its ability toget a quality picture onto a QPSK or16 QAM bitstream.

Package optionsAs the technology has evolved, its box

has shrunk and moved from trucks tothe cameras themselves. The latest stagehas seen standard battery mounts ap-plied to the transmitters for mountingdirectly on the back or side of the cam-era batteries. Makers of dockable cam-eras have enabled substitution of therecorder section by a matched -mountCOFDM transmitter. Of course, thistrades local recording capability forincreased live mobility. BE

Bennett Liles is a writer and TV productionengineer in the Atlanta area.


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When Court TV waslaunched as a start-up operation on July

1, 1991, its original location was notbuilt with the intention of it becom-ing a broadcast facility. It was essen-tially pieced together without the in-frastructure that is essential for suchfacilities. This included unsuitableHVAC and power. Twelve years later,the network's viewership had grownto nearly 80 million viewers, but thebasic facility had remained un-changed. It was time to upgrade the

entire operation. After that long on air,the original infrastructure and equip-ment was nearing the end of its life.The facility had to be upgraded in allaspects, from the building essentialsto the technology being used. It wasdecided to find space in the network'sexisting Manhattan building for a newnetwork operations center (NOC).

After several venue changes, thebuilding's 20th floor was settled uponas the final location for the new NOC.The team allocated about 3200 squarefeet for an electrical room, a mechani-cal room, HVAC, a new master con-trol room, equipment center, somenetwork operations support space anda staff break room.

Above: Court TV's new master control room is the showpiece of thenetwork's new digital network operations center. Three 67 -inch Barco Ja-nus projection screens driven by Hydra processors assist operators in moni-tor the health of the facility's systems and ensure that media shows up onplaylists where it is needed. Photos courtesy George Kopp.


BY JOSEPH SCHWINGHAMMER

Converting to digital asset managementProject goals

In addition to the total redesign ofthe facility and an upgrade to digitaltechnology, a fundamental goal was toachieve improved content movementand facility workflow through a digi-tal asset management system. Such afundamental alteration would bebased upon the creation of a central-ized machine room that would serveas the foundation for a networkwidetechnology makeover. A.F. Associatesof Northvale, NJ, was brought in forguidance on the overall facility designand implementation. Concadia Solu-tions provided expertise for the assetmanagement portion of the redesign.

There are significant challenges in aconversion to a digital asset manage-ment system. Operations workflowissues in this kind of environmentconstitute a whole new way of work-ing technologically, and getting allhardware and software vendors to en-sure compatibility is important. Evengetting different companies to worktogether can be a challenge. In the caseof the new facility, they all camethrough and no serious problems wereencountered, due largely to an exten-sive advanced planning stage.

Even when logistical issues are solved,it is still a significant challenge to getinternal staff to think differently aboutthe way they work. That is a big adjust-ment. The jobs of operators at CourtTV have changed. Instead of pushingbuttons and timing segments, they arechecking logs and monitoring thehealth of the facility's systems. They arealso doing more things up front to setup processes and ensure that the me-dia enters the system properly andshows up on playlists where it is needed.

So in order to move forward with abetter looking and sounding signal,laying a digital framework was criti-cal. Also, to move to a digital assetmanagement system, obviously achange to digital was mandatory -beginning by converting the assetsinto a digital format.

One of the fruits of going digital waseliminating tapes moving about thefacility. It also allowed the implemen-tation of a system that relied much lesson the human element and more ontechnology and software. This meantconverting the facility to an entirelyserver -based environment supportedby a digital robotic archive. The finalresult was a facility with high reliabil-ity and consistency.

Profile XP servers were selected formany reasons, including Court TV'spositive experience with ThomsonGrass Valley's line of video servers. Thenew facility utilizes two PVS 1026s for

Coast. The List Sync backup air sta-tion receives automatic updates fromthe primary air station. This ensuresthat playlist changes are reflected onboth stations without manual inter-vention on the backup.

Sundance also wrote a codec to allowthe automation log to be pushed to theDNF 3040 controller. The 3040 drivesa server port on the ingest server, pro-viding yet another layer of redundancyand diversity.

At the heart of the archive system isEMC's AVALONidm software runningon a Sun Microsystems V880 serverbacked by an ADIC Scalar 10K roboticarchive. The robot is equipped with10 Sony AIT-3 tape drives. The AIT-3tape format was chosen because itsstorage capacity and media costs of-fered an attractive combination.Sundance issues archive requeststhrough AVALONidm to the ADIC li-brary. The system combines the storage

One of the fruits of going digital was eliminating

now tapes moving about the facility.

play to air, and one PVS 1044 for in-gesting the content. Each server isequipped with 1.8TB of storage. Thenetwork encodes its material at a bitrate of 18Mb/s. The servers are drivenby Sundance Fast Break Automationin a mirrored configuration backed bya digital archive.

Technical plantThe team chose a Sundance system

with a high level of redundancy Thefacility uses a main and backup air sta-tion for both the East and the West

of on -air footage under control of theautomation system, and the digitalvideo contained in the servers. Thelatter material, as high -resolution files,are managed by the AVALONidm soft-ware. The V880 is directly connectedto approximately 4TB of disk cachestorage. Policies established withinAvalon determine what media filesreside on the disk cache and what fileswill be moved onto digital tape in theScalar 10K.

Content files that haven't been ac-cessed for a user -defined time period

AUGUST 2003 broadcastengineering.com 39

are automatically deletedfrom the disk cache system,

while all files are saved for long-term backup on data tape. This

keeps the disk cache system free fornew or more frequently used files.

When material is sent to the archive,the asset management software also cop-ies a file to a Dell Power Edge runningTelestream's Flip Factory. Telestreamflips the files into a 1.5MB MPEG-1 filewith embedded frame -accurate time

The machine room shown above contains thecore infrastructure for Court TV's networkoperations center, including aThomson GrassValley Trin ix 256x256 SDI router, a SunMicrosystems V880 running AVALON, an LSILogic spinning disk cache, and Motorola'sDigiCipher II transmission platform.

code that is sent back to the array.These proxies can then be accessedacross the facility's wide area networkfrom a standard Windows orMacintosh workstation by virtue ofthe Avalon XDSM file system client.Concadia also provided Court TVwith an asset management system forgraphics assets based around Canto'sCumulus product, which providescheck-in/check-out and Web publish-ing. The graphics elements are also

stored on the spinning diskcache and in the ADIC robot.

Concadia also tied the assetmanagement system into theeditorial department to expe-dite the flow of station promosto air. Telestream allows editorsworking on an Avid Unity sys-tem to take files and post themin a hot folder. Telestreamgrabs those files and convertsthem to the Profile's GXFserver format and puts themon play -to -air servers. This re-moves a step by allowingpromos to be cut and sentstraight to air without havingto go through the intermedi-ate stage of recording to tapeand sending that tape toplayout. The system permitsgoing both ways, to and fromthe edit suites.

An Axon TX -Compliance

Metadata is attached and media isencoded into a digital format at en-coding stations in the facility. Theencoded media is then pushed to thearchive using AVALONidm software.

recorder allows the sales departmentto record digitally in an MPEG format.Previously the network used VHS ma-chines for recording air checks. Therecorder provides 90 days of storageat 500kB. Each day's program can besegmented into small sections of user -

defined length. These segments canthen be viewed by time and date andeven edited. When programming is-sues arise, the segments in questioncan be e -mailed to the appropriateparties.

Another goal of the NOC rebuild wasto allow for truly discrete master con-trol switching for the East and WestCoasts. In the past, the West Coast wassimply a three-hour delay of the EastCoast feed. Ad sales requested the abil-ity to carry discrete programming andcommercials to a West Coast audience.

To help facilitate this, the team in-stalled two Thomson Grass Valley

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Project teamCourt TV

Joe Schwinghammer, VP, eng.A.F. Associates

Tom Michaels, project managerMario Patuto, automation

Concadia SolutionsPatrick Turner, sr. system arch.

M2100s. Evertz X1202Ss are used forbackup switching. Graphics elementsare derived from two Chyron DuetLEX character generators with clipplayer option. Other graphic ele-ments such as bug and ratings infor-mation originate on two LeitchLogomotions. A Chyron MAX is alsoemployed for supplying thenewscrawl. For inserting the captionand XDS data, an Evertz 8084 is be-ing used. Orban Optimod 6200shandle the audio processing.

The team decided on a centralizedrouter with a chassis big enough to ex-pand as needed. This would be a criticalcomponent in the next phase of the fa-cility rebuild and it was important to sizeit appropriately. Court TV chose to runwith embedded audio and installed aThomson Grass Valley Trinix DV 33-256router with an Encore control system.

EMC's AVALONidm software on aSun Microsystems V880 server,backed by the ADIC Scalar 10K ro-botic archive shown above, is at theheart of the facility's new digitalasset management system.

The facility also employs the MotorolaDigiCipher II platform for transmis-sion compression. The primary DC IIencoder is located at the new facility. Asecond encoder is located at the AscentMedia uplink site in Northvale, NJ.This provides separate, yet redundant

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Profile XP serversM2100 MC switcherTrinix DV 33-256 router

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processing while offering central con-trol over both units from the NOC. Theproject also included the addition of theDigiCipher Event Manager for admin-istering affiliate cue tones.

As a signature of the conversion todigital, it was decided that the mastercontrol room should be turned into ashowpiece. To provide the eye candy,three 67 -inch Barco Janus projectionscreens were installed and stitched to-gether to appear as one large screen.The projectors are driven by threeBarco Hydra processors. This allows upto 90 images of any size to be displayedat any one time. All sources can be dis-played with tallies, alarms and audiometering. Forecast Consoles providedall of the furniture in master control.

Court TV has taken a huge step for-ward. Working with the engineeringand design teams at A.F. Associates andConcadia, it has created a state -of -theart facility that meets current needs andis prepared for the network's future. BE

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RFexposure guidelinesBY DON MARKLEY

This month's column mightbe called "Avoiding thetoasty -critter syndrome" or

"How to fight fear and superstition?'Either of these would be equally ap-propriate for those unfortunateenough to have to defend their exist-ing or proposed RF facilities in a pub-lic forum.

If your proposed station modifica-tion requires the approval of a zon-ing board, zoning board of appealsor any similar group, the question ofexposure to non -ionizing radiation isbound to come up. You need to ac-cept the fact that some well-meaningmembers of the community are hon-estly and sincerely concerned aboutthe health and safety of themselvesand others. Such people deserve yourattention and a full explanation of thepossible effects of your proposed fa-cilities. There are also those whoaren't worried; they realize that youaren't going to turn them into toast.But, inevitably, you will have somekooks who arrive with a 1952 articlefrom Popular Mechanics that theyclaim holds the definitive word on thematter.

Number of new cable subsc

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Be informedPrepare for these meetings by mak-

ing an immediate andconcerted effort to in-form yourself of theapplicable regula-tions. Start with ourold friend, the Rulesand Regulations ofthe FCC. Section1.1310 is a brief butmeaningful littleparagraph that refersyou to OST/OET Bul-letin Number 65,"Evaluating Compli-ance with FCC -Speci-fied Guidelines forHuman Exposure toRadio Frequency Ra-diation?' You will alsofind charts of the ba-sic limits for and definitions of theterms "occupational/controlled expo-sures" and "general population/un-controlled exposure."

Exposure levelsEssentially, there are two levels of ex-

posure about which you need to be

G1 Q2 Q3 Q4 01 Q2 Q3 Q4 G1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2000 2000 2000 2000

SOURCE: The McKinsey Quarterly www.mckinseyquarterly.com

Several governmentagencies provide guide-lines that facilities shoulduse to limit people's ex-posure to non -ionizingradiation (see article).

concerned: one for people who work atcommercial RF transmission sites, and

one for the general pub-lic. The occupational/controlled level applies inareas where all personnelare aware of the hazardand the exposure is tran-sient and carefully con-trolled. The generalpopulation is protectedto a greater degree be-cause they may not beaware that the exposureis occurring. Such expo-sure might occur wherea roof -mounted trans-mitting antenna exposespeople in an adjacentbuilding or people sim-ply walking by the site toRF radiation without

their knowledge. The guidelines call forexposing the general population to alevel of radiation no more than one fifththat allowed for occupational areas.

The exposures in the rules or con-tained in the standards are for whole -body exposure averaged over a finiteperiod. For controlled areas, the limitis six minutes; for uncontrolled areas,its 30 minutes. The standards are hardto apply to very localized exposures,as in the case of the state trooper whosued over claimed damage from hisradar gun. He had a habit of leavingthe device on and placing it in his lapuntil ready to take a reading - prob-ably setting a new standard for stupid-ity. You should take reasonable precau-tions to protect yourself.

There is a wealth of material avail-able to help you prepare to argue yourcase. Go to good old www.fcc.gov (itshould already be on your "favorites"list) and then go to "Engineering andTechnology."


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Educating the laymanThe first big challenge is to make

sure you inform and educate the pub-lic officials involved in the hearing.The general public goes into a semi -

comatose state whenever they hearthe word "radiation." They reallyaren't sure what it means, but they au-tomatically assume that "non -ioniz-ing" means that they will be sterilized,vaporized, atomized and generallycooked by any exposure. If you'relucky, the officials whom you mustconvince are a bit more educated thanthat - but don't take a chance. Thecommission prints a document titled"A Local Government Official's Guideto Transmitting Antenna RF Emis-sion Safety: Rules, Procedures, andPractical Guidance." Download thatpublication and make sure you dis-tribute it to every member of theboard(s) you face, along with a copyof OET Bulletin 56, "Questions and

Modified regulationsThe commission has recently pro-

posed a rule that will modify the non-

ionizing protection requirements of theRules and Regulations. Docket No. 03-137 proposes changes to several defi-nitions as well as to the way some ra-diations are calculated or excludedfrom calculation. Primarily, thesechanges affect only the wireless -com-munications crowd. The existing rulestend to exclude transmitters based onthe antenna height above ground. Thatis being changed to more accurately re-flect the distance to the observer, re-gardless of height. You should reviewthose changes. They might apply toyour station's remote -pickup facilities,especially those transmitters and anten-nas that may be at fixed locations.

In summary, prepare yourself be-fore meeting the public at hearingsor attempting to argue your case be-fore public officials. Plenty of good

Even if you fully prepare yourself, it will be diffi-cult to convince some members of the public that

they are out of harm's way.Answers about Biological Effects andPotential Hazards of Radio frequencyElectromagnetic Fields." (Notice thatthe government really isn't big onshort, catchy titles.)

FAesFinally, those who plead your cause

should read the list of frequently askedquestions on the Web site with theOET bulletin. That section discussessome of the other agencies that are in-volved with non -ionizing radiationproblems, such as OSHA, NIOSH, De-partment of Defense, etc., and givesWeb pages so that you can review theirpublications on the subject. The bigpoint here is to be educated concern-ing non -ionizing radiation and its ef-fects. Even if you fully prepare your-self, it will be difficult to convincesome members of the public that theyare out of harm's way. You don't havea chance if you aren't prepared.

information is available, includingOET 56 and 65 (confusing, isn't it),sets of questions and answers, and anexcellent guide for public officials.

One problem you might encounteris the desire of local governmentalgroups to enact their own regulationsconcerning non -ionizing radiation.Now, that is a rather ticklish area. TheTelecommunications Act of 1996clearly outlaws any regulation of wire-less facilities based on the environ-mental effects of RF emissions. On theother hand, the act doesn't treat broad-cast radiation the same way. Maybebroadcasters just don't have as muchclout as the wireless folks. But then weknew that, didn't we? BE

Don Markley is president of D.L. Markleyand Associates, Peoria, IL.

swu Send questions and comments to:

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AUGUST 2003

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The existing triax at Fenway Park in Boston proved un-3uitable for HD production, so Sony installed fiber-op-tic cable. Shown above is Sony's HDC-900 studio cam-sra connected to the fiber-optic cable for broadcastingmcoming Red Sox games and'other events in HD.

High definitionover triax

Is it worth the savings?BY ROBERT P. SEIDEL

Does it make sense to connect high -definition digital cam-eras to the camera -control unit through analog triaxcables? Certainly, the concept has powerful advantages,

especially because it represents the current infrastructure in most stu-dios and sports venues. While using triax would eliminate the cost ofrunning fiber-optic cables for each event, the experience of CBS Sportsdemonstrates that running HD over triax can create visible artifactson both HD and NTSC home receivers. Further, laboratory tests re-vealed visible distortions corresponding to timing impairments.

CBS Sports' experience with HD coverage includes a full range ofevents and venues, including post -season NFL games including Su-per Bowl XXXV, NCAA football, NCAA Final Four basketball, the Mas-ters Golf tournament, and the US Open Tennis tournament. At thebeginning, CBS spent the time and money to connect its cameras tothe truck through SMPTE fiber-optic cables.

The quality of fiberFiber-optic cable seems the obvious choice because it maintains the

camera signal in pure digital form, it offers a range of lengths, and iteasily accommodates the bandwidth required for full HD quality. Whenusing fiber, not only does the HD broadcast look great, but the

The network recognized that it could save

a tremendous amount of time and

money if it could use the existingtriax infrastructure.

downconverted standard -definition broadcast also improves.Unfortunately, fiber-optic cable is not permanently installed in most

sports venues. This creates a logistical challenge - and an added cost -for HD coverage. HD advertising bears this cost. Consider the typicalNCAA football broadcast on a Saturday afternoon. CBS crews need torun miles of fiber on Thursday, broadcast the game in broadband onSaturday, and remove all the fiber on Sunday. Obviously, this is not agood long-term solution.

Initial hopes for ND over triaxThe first opportunity to solve the problem was based on an HD-

over-triax solution.

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The network recognized that it couldsave a tremendous amount of timeand money if it could use the existingtriax infrastructure. The goal would beto set up for an HD broadcast in muchthe same way as for an SD broadcast.The crews could arrive with the truck,install triax jumpers to the breakoutpanels and broadcast the program -simple and quick.

Figure 1 shows a block diagram of thesignal flow from the digital camera(s)through the triax cable in the trial HD-over-triax solution. The camera side ofthe system includes a digital -to -analogconverter and modulation/multiplexing

a cable -equalization issue. Also de-grading the picture were overshootsand ringing from the band filter andequalizers of the existing triax system.

To be fair, the physical condition ofthe installed triax infrastructure mayalso play a role. Installed cables varywidely in terms of age, manufacturer,connector corrosion and exposure toweather and physical abuse. While mi-nor errors due to such physical cableattributes may not be highly detrimen-tal to an SD signal, they can be visiblyobjectionable in an HD image.

The triax processing generated vis-ible artifacts in the output signals of

D/A converter

Digital signal

Modulator Triax Auto cable Ell I Demodulator ND converter I-1.

Analog signal*Digital signal

Figure 1.This block diagram shows the signal flow from the digital camera(s)through the triax cable in the trial HD-over-triax solution.

circuitry. On the camera -control unit(CCU) side of the triax cable, comple-mentary electronics include a demodu-lator/demultiplexer and an analog -to -digital converter. It also includes anauto -compensation circuit that intro-duces steps of equalization for selectedcables lengths.

The initial results were disappoint-ing. While the performance of stan-dard -definition component videoover triax cable was acceptable, HDruns smack into the cable's bandwidthlimitations. Group delay becomes animmediate concern over the 100MHzbandpass required for HD, with hori-zontal color shifts that can turn a white

the cameras. The problems also creptinto the NTSC downconvertedbroadcast. Some knowledgeableviewers complained that thenetwork's traditionally high -qualityimages were being degraded. Moreimportantly, the HD advertisers/un-derwriters - which include such com-panies as Mitsubishi, RCA, Samsung,Panasonic, Sears, Sony and Zenith -were not happy with the pictures.

Laboratory testingIn late November 2002, the entire

HD-over-triax camera system was in-stalled in the CBS Engineering lab fordetailed testing. Initial tests revealed a

While the performance of standard -definition

component video over triax cable was

acceptable. HD runs smack into the cable's

bandwidth limitations.

goal post into separate red, green andblue images. At first, the crew runningthe test suspected a lens problem,since the image distortions lookedlike chromatic aberration. Upon fur-ther investigation, they realized it was

delay of about 25 nanoseconds in thered signal relative to the luminance. Theeffect of the delay was visible on a 20-

inch HD monitor. This delay was con-stant across the image and did not in-crease with longer triax cable lengths.

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The delay was alsoconsistent with thecolor shifts experi-enced during actualbroadcasts.

For a standard ofcomparison, CBStechnicians aimedan HD camera atthe 100 -TV -lines -per -picture -height(TVL/PH) sectionof a Marconi reso-lution chart andexamined the out-put. Figure 2ashows the camera'ssignal as carriedover SMPTE fiber-optic cable.

Figure 2b showsthe 100 TVL/PHsignal as carried bytriax cable. The HD-over-triax systemintroduced visible overshoot on the

2b

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ft

Figure 2.These oscillographscompare the effects ofSMPTE fiber-optic cable andtriax cable on a signal gen-erated by an HD cameraaimed at the 100TVLPH por-tion of a Marconi resolutionchart. Figure 2a shows thesignal conveyed by SMPTEfiber-optic cable, while Fig-ure 2b shows the same sig-nal carried by triax.

rising and fallingsharp transitions.

Adding enhance-ment at the CCUintroduced sym-metrical over-shoots to the peaksof the 100 TVL/PHsignal carried overfiber-optic cable, asshown in Figure 3a.Notice that thepeaks are sym-metrical. Figure 3bis the same signalcarried by the HD-over-triax systemand enhanced inthe CCU. Note thedistortion andasymmetrical over-shoots: over -peaked on the ris-ing edge, under -peaked on the fall-ing edge.

Figure 4a shows the performance ofSMPTE fiber-optic cable with a cam-era signal that includes both 800 and700 TVLPH. Note the relatively even

edges, distorting

waveform and thesmooth white barbetween the test sig-nals. Figure 4bshows this same sig-nal after passingthrough approxi-mately 150 feet oftriax cable. Note theovershoot and ring-ing in the white bar.The effects areclearly visible on avideo monitor. Fig-ure 4c shows the ef-fect of increasingthe triax cablelength to 600 feet.The problems ofovershoot and ring-ing have becomemore severe andthere is apparent

over -equalization of the higher -fre-quency signals.

It is important to remember that be-cause the cable car-ries the analog Y, Pb,Pr signals at differentfrequencies, their re-.ulting equalizationand gain is differentfor each channel.This results in a dif-ferent set of over-shoots and under-shoots for each sig-nal. These differencesmanifest themselvesas convergence er-rors in the resultingpicture.

When techniciansattempted to conductinterchange tests be-tween different cam-eras and CCUs, theydetermined that thetransmitter at thecamera and the re-ceiver at the CCU

needed to be matched pairs to optimizethe component signals. This was an un-acceptable constraint because it wouldlimit the field crews if they ever needed

3a

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3b

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Figure 3.These oscillographsshow how enhancements atthe CCU affect the signalsshown in Figure 2. Figure 3ashows the signal conveyed bySMPTE fiber-optic cable,while Figure 3b shows thesame signal carried by triax.

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to replace cameraheads or CCUs dur-ing the broadcast.

Test summarySending HD sig-

nals over triax cableresulted in non -symmetrical over-shoots on rising andfalling edges, exces-sive ringing follow-ing transitions andunequal color com-ponent delays onthe order of 25ns.Perversely, the arti-facts appear wherethey are least wel-come: before thesignals even get tothe CCU. The arti-facts were visible inboth HD picturemonitors and in thedownconverted sig-nals viewed on SDpicture monitors.

A second tryfor triax

In an attempt tofurther improve theperformance of itsHD-over-triax system, the manufac-turer subsequently revised the equal-ization circuitry. Upon evaluation, CBSfound that the manufacturer had im-proved some aspects of picture perfor-

4b

4c

111.111MIN

Figure 4.These oscillographscompare the effects ofSMPTE fiber-optic cable andtriax cable on a signal gen-erated by an HD cameraaimed at the 800TVUPH por-

chart (left) and the 700TVUPH portion (right). Figure4a shows the signal carriedby fiber-optic cable, Figure4b shows the signal carriedby 150 feet of triax cable,and Figure 4c shows the sig-nal carried by 600 feet oftriax cable,

arenas. CBSThe

camera cabling alsomeans a return tothe added cost ofsupplying and re-moving fiber atvenues where it isnot permanentlyinstalled. But thereis reason to hopethis annoyance istemporary. Thetriax cable infra-structure currentlyin stadiums andarenas didn't getthere by accident. Itwas the result of thecooperative effortsof an earlier gen-eration of execu-tives from broad-casting, sportsleagues and teams,and stadiums.

Initial discus-sions are under-way for a similarcollaboration tomeet the needs ofHD broadcasting.The aim is to in-stall permanent fi-ber infrastructurein stadiums and

supports these efforts.network believes that perma-

nent fiber installation is in the in-terest of all the stakeholders: leagues,teams, stadium owners, broadcast -

Collaboration to meet industry requirements

worked well in the era of SD. It will work again inthe era of HD.

mance, but only by sacrificing others.It had reduced ringing, but had also re-duced frequency response. The resultswere still unacceptable, and CBS Sportscrews have returned to using SMPTEfiber for HD camera cabling.

Stadium cabling: The futureThe return of CBS Sports to fiber

ers, cable companies and satelliteproviders. Collaboration to meet in-dustry requirements worked well inthe era of SD. It will work again inthe era of HD. BE

Robert P Seidel is vice president ofengineering and technology for the CBStelevision network.

AUGUST 2003

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over digitalReaching a larger audienceBY BILL ZOU

Why should broadcast-ers concern them-selves with having

cable operators carry their DTV sig-nals? Well, consider these numbers.Right now, more than 75 percent ofU.S. households receive television bycable, and roughly 20 million of thesehouseholds subscribe to digital cable.Over 91 cable markets now receiveHDTV service and the number isgrowing rapidly. The installed base ofATSC (8-VSB) receivers in the UnitedStates is tiny by comparison, currentlymeasured in hundreds of thousands.

It takes more than a new antenna andtransmitter to reach U.S. audienceswith DTV. Cable carriage of broadcastDTV signals is critically important tobroadcasters and station group own-ers who want to extend their reach tocable viewers.

Digital cablesystem overview

In the United States, digital cable net-works are based on quadrature ampli-tude modulation (QAM) in 6MHzchannels. There are two standardQAM implementations for cable: 64QAM and 256 QAM. HDTV -capablecable set -top boxes are rather new andoperate with 256 QAM. This modula-tion yields approximately 38.8Mb/s ina 6MHz channel. Many older set -topboxes work with 64 QAM at 26.94Mb/s, but these boxes rarely supportHDTV decoding.

Cable headend processingFigure 1 shows how a typical digi-

tal cable system processes incomingsignals and remultiplexes them for

cabledigital cable distribution. The cableheadend accepts signals from severalsources including satellite feeds, ana-log local cable programming, off -the -air DTV broadcasts, and direct feedsfrom broadcast stations over fiber,microwave and WAN. Receivers andencoders process the incoming signalsand convert them to asynchronousserial interface (ASI) MPEG-2 trans-port streams. From there, the streamsundergo several processes, includinggrooming, rate shaping, metadata pro-cessing (e.g., PSIP data), remultiplexingand encryption. After processing, thecable system modulates the

dropping programs and/or servicesand re -mapping packet identifiers(PIDs) and tables to prevent poten-tial conflicts with existing PIDs andtables. In addition, the groomingequipment must create a new cablevirtual channel table (VCT). And, topreserve program -guide informationfrom the incoming PSIP, the equip-ment modifies the PSIP to referencethe new PID numbers. Since this ad-ditional processing adds to the cost ofthe grooming equipment, some cableoperators might opt to drop PSIP al-together.

Stations that add new services after

Local cableprogramming

Satellitefeeds

Localbroadcast

feeds

NTS

NTSC

QPSK

8-VSB

Microwave

IP

Encoder

Encoder

Receiver

Receiver

Receiver

WAN

MUX

Rateshaping

QAM

Figure 1. A typical digital cable system processes content from satelliteand local broadcast and remultiplexes it for digital cable distribution.

datastream (using 64 or 256 QAM)and distributes it to its customersover hybrid fiber/coax (HFC).

GroomingFrom the MPEG-2 transport streams,

the digital cable system selects the spe-cific programs and services it wants tocarry and groups them into differentlevels of service for its customers. Thisprocess is called grooming. It involves

the cable system equipment has beenconfigured may find that their new ser-vices are not automatically passed tocable viewers unless the cable operatorhas provisioned them in advance.

Rate shapingA cable operator often must change

the bit rate of incoming datastreams tofit its own bandwidth requirements. Toavoid the detrimental effects of fully


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decoding and re -encoding thesestreams, not to mention the added ex-pense of decoders and encoders, cableoperators often use a process called rateshaping. it converts one bit rate (usu-ally relatively high) into another (rela-tively low) by processing the signal inthe compressed domain. Rate shapingmay also transform video streams fromconstant bit rate (CBR) to variable bitrate (VBR) or it may reduce VBR tolower rates. But rate shaping also hasits limitations.

The rate -shaping process first in-volves removing any null packets,which reduces the bit rate without de-grading video quality. It then analyzesthe MPEG-2 transform coefficients -the mathematical information thatMPEG-2 uses to describe the video -and rounds them off in a process calledrequantization. This process achievesfurther bit -rate reductions. Butrequantization is a lossy process and,under stressful conditions, it may re-sult in artifacts. Requantization is rela-tively harmless to MPEG-2's B frames,but it must be applied very judiciouslyto I and P frames because they containthe reference information that the pro-cess uses to reconstruct the predictedP and B frames.

Removing null packets and perform-ing requantization are the only tools

reduction is relatively large (for ex-ample, from 3- to 2MB/s), rate shap-ing yields poorer results than MPEGdecoding/re-encoding. Rate -shapingsystems perform best when reducingrates by less than 25 percent.

Statistical multiplexingVideo complexity is a function of both

motion and detail. Highly complex pic-tures (such as basketball game in HD)combine intense motion with high de-tail. Program material complexity var-ies over time. Even programs that weassociate with high complexity have in-terludes of little or no motion. Likewise,simple programs have transitions andcamera movements that create intensemotion for short periods. Statisticalmultiplexing takes advantage of un-evenly distributed peaks and dips in in-dividual streams by dynamically allocat-ing more bits to the programs with themost complexity, statistically averagingthe complexity across several channels.A disadvantage of this process is that thecoincidence of high motion and highdetail in two or more program streamscan adversely affect the picture qualityof a third, low -motion, low -detail pro-gram. The best way to avoid this is toavoid grouping complex channels (suchas HD sports channels) together and,instead, group each complex channel

Rate -shaping systems perform best when

reducing rates by less than 25 percent

that rate shaping can use to reduce bitrate. By contrast, modern MPEG en-coding implements complex strategiessuch as motion estimation, codingmode selection, GOP structure andother compression tools. Good encod-ers constantly evaluate video complex-ity, varying their encoding strategy tomaintain optimal performance.

When the amount of bit -rate reduc-tion is small compared with the incom-ing bit rate - for example, when reduc-ing the bit rate from 10- to 8Mb/s -the rate -shaping process typicallyyields good video quality. But when the

with a relatively simple one (such as anSD news channel).

How cable handlesbroadcast TV

Multiplexing two ATSC channels,each with a payload of 19.39Mb/s, intoa single 38.8Mb/s 256 QAM cablechannel is a straightforward process.Of course, the cable operator wouldhave to remap any conflicts in PIDs.It may also have to drop broadcastPSIP tables and create program -asso-ciation tables (PATs) and program -

map tables (PMTs). Cable set -top

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Bit rate (Mb/s)

19.4

HD videoPID=11

VBRMin = 6Mb/sMax =15Mb/sAverage = 12Mb/s

PSIP and MPEG tables

Figure 2a. Station X transmits one HD program,one SD program and broadcast data, and en-codes all three services at a variable bit rate.

Bit rate (Mb/s)

19.4

HD videoPID = 11

CBRBit rate = 18.5Mb/s

HD audio PID = 14

PSIP and MPEG tables Time

Figure 2b. Station Y operatesvice at a constant bit rate.

a single HD ser-

boxes do not use PSIP, although thismay become important when cable -ready DTV sets become available. Be-cause PSIP processing adds to thecable companies' cost, the companiesare unlikely to implement it in the ab-sence of cable -ready DTVs.

Figures 2a and 2b show examples of

two DTV transportstreams prior to process-ing at the cable headend.Station X transmits oneHD program, one SDprogram and broadcastdata. It encodes all threeservices at a variable bitrate for efficient use of the19.4Mb/s ATSC transportstream. Station Y operatesa single HD service at aconstant bit rate of18.5Mb/s for HD video.Both stations use an iden-tical PID for their HDvideo streams.The cable operator

combines the streamsfrom Station X and Sta-tion Y, modulates thecombined transportstream in 256 QAM andtransmits it through adigital tier in a 6MHzchannel. Figure 3 showsthe new combined trans-port stream for digitalcable. The cable operator

has changed the Station -Y PID for theHD service from 11 to 111 and the au-dio PID from 14 to 114. The operatorhas also decided to drop this station'sPSIP tables to conserve bandwidth. Forthe Station -X transport stream, the op-erator has dropped the broadcast PSIPtables but retains the same PIDs.

MSOs will have to do more thangrooming to carry the increasing num-ber of higher -bit -rate HD programsavailable. Combining three DTV/HDTV signals in a 256 QAM transportis an option. But transmitting threebroadcast DTV/HDTV signals in6MHz requires rate shaping to get thetotal of 54Mb/s (an average of 18Mb/sper signal) down to 38.8Mb/s for a 256QAM channel.

Opportunities andchallenges

Clearly, broadcasters prefer that cableoperators retransmit their DTV sig-nals without rate shaping or reducingoriginal content. But, to conservebandwidth, cable operators must of-ten do one or the other - or both. Thequestion for broadcasters then be-comes: What are the alternatives?

Rate shaping works well when thecable company requires only a smallpercentage of bit -rate reduction - typi-cally, less than 25 percent. For the ex-ample of three HD programs in a 256QAM cable channel, the average bit rateper HD program is approximately12.5Mb/s. Therefore, the ideal input toa rate shaper ranges from 12.5 to 16Mb/s. Cable operators could obtain opti-mal results by operating the encoder atthe lowest bit rate that achieves high -quality pictures prior to rate shaping.

VBR encoding of the original broad-cast DTV signal may provide a more

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HD audio PID =14

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HD videoPID=h

VBRMin = 6Mb/sMax = 15Mb/sAverage = 12Mb/s

SD audio PID - 24P IP and MPE tables New tables

much of the time. Ahigh -efficiency VBRDTV signal is likely tooptimize the rate shap-ing process.

Broadcasters could im-prove and thus controlpicture quality by coop-eratively encoding a sta-tistical multiplex poolwith a direct feed to thecable company. For ex-ample, three local sta-tions could avoid rateshaping by the cable op-erators if they were towork together usingclosed -loop statistical -multiplexing encodingto form their own38.8Mb/s cable feed (seeFigure 4). This approachprovides better qualitythan the alternative of

optimal input to the rate shaper than three stations independently encodingCBR. It is difficult to select the optimal and distributing their programmingCBR encoding rate.If the encoding rateis too low, the pro-gram or pictureshows artifacts. If itis set too high, therate shaper operatesoutside the optimalreduction range

Figure 3.The combined streams from Station Xand Station Y

to the cable operator. Of course, thelocal stations would have to cooper-ate closely and provide dedicated en-coding for cable carriage.

Another concern is that rate shapingwill worsen artifacts generated by theencoding process. If the original en-coder is stressed enough to produceeven slightly visible artifacts, these ar-tifacts are likely to become more pro-nounced after rate shaping. Therefore,it is always a good idea to use efficient,high -quality encoders for the emissionand last -mile -delivery processes.As with carrying NTSC program-

ming, broadcasters know that carry-ing their DTV signals over cable is vi-tal to reach a majority of their view-ers. Now that many DTV transmittersare up and running, the time is rightfor broadcasters to contemplate DTVcarriage over cable.

Acknowledgement: The author wouldlike to thank Michael Guthrie at Har-monic for his contribution in writing

this article.

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CMOSimage sen

Making HDTV cameras affordableBY LES KOZLOWSK ANDMARKUS LOOSE

Today's broadcasters are con-fronting challenges that ar-guably are the most daunt-

ing they have ever faced. On the onehand, tight budgets and shrinking re-sources are forcing deepening cut-backs. Yet, there has never been asmuch competition in our shrinkingworld, nor as strong a need to do morewith less. To top it off, there is thepending mandate to shift from good

This photo shows the ProCamHD3530 CMOS image sensor in a stan-dard 65 -pin PGA package.Three suchsensors are incorporated into thenew HD cameras being developed byJVC and Ikegami.

old NTSC to HDTV. In essence, thechoice is to have lunch or to be lunch.Fortunately, the semiconductor indus-try - the engineer's equivalent of theUS 7th Cavalry - has been winningsimilar battles for several decades.

The tireless march of Moore's law

has transformed consumer electron-ics, and will transform broadcast andENG cameras in much the same way.Broadcast professionals have alreadybenefited from complementary metal -oxide -semiconductor (CMOS) appli-cation -specific integrated circuits(ASICs). Now, CMOS image sensorspermit creative and affordable HDTVproduction. Ultimately, they will yieldprogrammable electronic film withunprecedented video sensitivity.

Keep the noise downCMOS-based image sensors, like the

ubiquitous charge -coupled devices(CCDs), are made with silicon and usephotodiodes to detect light. But thesimilarities end there. They differ radi-cally in the way they handle the result-ing electric charges.

CCDs noiselessly shift the photo -generated charge from one charge -handling bucket to the next until thepacket reaches the output structure.Unfortunately, this structure generatesnoise in the electronic bandwidth ofthe ensuing video signal. The support-ing video ICs remove some of thenoise - specifically, the reset noisefrom the "sense" capacitance that con-verts the charge into a voltage - usingcorrelated double sampling. The sup-porting ICs then digitize the videostream. The noise not removed bythese ICs remains in the video stream.This noise rises with frequency at

about 3dB per octave and restricts thecamera's signal-to-noise ratio (S/N).

By contrast, CMOS sensors canhandle the signal in a way that signifi-cantly reduces noise. In the lowest -noise CMOS sensors, the photo -gen-erated current is immediately con-verted to a voltage at a relatively nar-row electronic bandwidth. Successivestages of analog and digital process-ing in the CMOS imaging system onchip (iSoC) suppress the temporal andspatial noise to the level allowed by theunderlying CMOS technology.

Size mattersThe photolithography process that

semiconductor manufacturers used inthe early '90s to "print" the pixels andsupporting circuits in nascent CMOSimage sensors was crude by today'sstandards. The size of the smalleststructures on these sensors was aboutone micron. And each CMOS chipheld no more than about one milliontransistors. Nevertheless, these devicesstill look modern compared to thetransistor -based metal -oxide -semi-conductor (MOS) sensors that origi-nally competed with CCDs in the '70sand '80s in the "luggable" camcordersof the time. During that era, MOS-sensor pioneers struggled to producelow -quality video using only tens ofthousands of transistors.

In stark contrast to those MOS-based ancestors that used transistors

Above: JVC and Ikegami are the first camera makers to take advantage ofRockwell Scientific's CMOS image sensor in their new HD cameras. Pic-tured above is JVC's prototype CMOS HD camera.


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of only one polarity or the other, thelatest MOS-based sensors use CMOStechnology and deep-submicron pho-tolithography for structures no largerthan 0.25 micron. The same technol-ogy that produces ever -faster, ever -cheaper, multi-GHz microprocessorsalso produces CMOS iSoCs imagesensors with ever-increasing perfor-mance and sophistication. CMOStechnology offers both n -type and p -type transistors and, consequently,provides ultra -low -power operationof the self-contained subsystems. Andeach CMOS iSoC can contain over 100million transistors.

More support, free logicAt the 2003 NAB show, Rockwell

Scientific (Camarillo, CA) an-nounced the commercial availabilityof its CMOS iSoC image sensor, theProCamHD 3530. Ikegami and JVCare now incorporating this chip into

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Figure 1.This simplified block diagram of CMOS iSoC image sensor showsthe functional blocks that perform signal detection, analog -to -digital con-version and signal processing.

professional HD cameras. Figure 1shows a block diagram of the chip,which converts the photons collectedat each pixel into 12 digital bits.About one dozen functional blocksperform signal detection, analog -to -

digital conversion and signal process-ing. By contrast, the support circuitryin a CCD sensor includes only the

unity -gain analog amplifier(s) neces-sary to pipe the analog video throughone or more video taps. To facilitatehigher composite video rates, thetrend in CCD design is to simply in-clude more video taps that must beelectronically stitched together andequalized by the camera.

In sensor design, adding features

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is attractive only to the point atwhich their accessibility and the re-sulting camera operation becomeoverly complicated. In this respect,CMOS technology has a further ad-vantage over CCDs because the digi-tal logic that simplifies multimodeoperation essentially comes free -except, of course, for the non -recur-ring design cost. Thus, Moore's Lawcontinually affects CMOS image -sensor development through ongo-ing performance improvements, re-lentless cost reductions, rapidgrowth of embedded functionality,and expansion of operating modeswith easier operation.

Mixed signals, higherresolution

Some CCD camera designers andmarketing teams are currently push-ing interlace -mode imaging to reachflO sensitivity at 2000 lux. To do this,

they use two-line mixing (co -addingtwo adjacent lines) to double the sig-nal strength. (Keep in mind that pro-gressive -mode line mixing is not pos-sible with CCDs.) But interlacing cre-ates irreparable defects in the video.The outcome is much like buying abeautiful home that overlooks the lo-cal landfill. CMOS technology, on theother hand, allows analog, digital and

resolution of CCD-based HDTVcameras is impressive considering thepixel size and video frequency, broad-cast engineers nevertheless lamenttheir sensitivity loss (one to two f-stops) compared to NTSC cameras.But CMOS provides a clear path forprogressing beyond the current S/Nbenchmark of 54dB (f8 at 2000 lux)for interlaced HDTV cameras.

CMOS cameras promise high -quality images

even under adverse illumination.analog -with -digital (i.e., mixed -sig-nal) processing. This promises to de-liver sensors with programmablemulti -line mixing for both interlacedand progressive imaging later this year.

Perhaps even more importantly,CMOS cameras promise high -qual-ity images even under adverse illu-mination. While the effective nine -bit

CMOS' smaller noise bandwidthsand diverse signal processing optionsenable progressive -scan imaging withincreasingly higher S/Ns - corre-sponding to 10- to 14 -bit resolution- as the technology matures.

The plot thickensFigure 2 plots the read noise and the

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Figure 2. This graph shows the read noise and thecorresponding theoretical S/Ns for two sensors thatdon't use line mixing.

corresponding theoretical S/Ns fortwo sensors that don't use line mix-ing. (Line mixing can improve S/Nby 3dB to 6dB beyond those shownin the graph.) One plot assumes thatthe detector's quantum efficiency(QE) - its ability to intercept incom-ing photons of light and convert themto electrical charges - is 65 percent.

Pixel -limited

For comparison, theother plot is for anideal chip with atheoretical QE of100 percent. Thegraph also shows the3530 sensor's S/Ns at0-, 6- and 18dB gain.The total iSoC noisefor this studio -gradesensor limits its SINto 52dB at 0dB gain.Increasing sensorgain to 6dB booststhe S/N to 57.5dB.

sensor noise of threeelectrons at a gain of 18dB yields anS/N of 69dB and an ISO speed greaterthan 1600.

Looking aheadConsidering the incremental HD

CCD advances over the last decade, it isnow clear that to similarly improve

CCD-based cameras would require add-ing many output taps to each CCD atthe expense of more camera complex-ity, higher power dissipation, shorterbattery life and higher cost. In the mean-time, the CMOS iSoC will further ma-ture by advancing existing microlenstechnology (tiny lenses that sit atopeach pixel), lowering the system -on -chip noise to the pixel -limited noise ofthree electrons, and applying line mix-ing (if not objectionable due to the as-sociated degradation in vertical defini-tion). This will clear the path to thefirst -ever, end -to -end 12 -bit HDTV. Interms of electronic film speed, the ISOspeed with CMOS-based HD cameraswill improve from today's 200 ISO to1600 and beyond. BE

Les Kozlowski is chief technology officerand Markus Loose is manager of CMOSsensor design for the CIS Business Groupat Rockwell Scientific.

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manage the headend equipment.Increased complexity - adding

services and users increases the com-plexity of managing the network andcontent flow.

broadband operators need an archi-tecture that is scaleable, manageable,reliable and future -proof. It should of-fer the following features:

Architecture scalability - the ability

Competition among telco, satellite and cable

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Future technology trends - beingprepared for future technologies suchas MPEG-4 part 10, Windows Mediaand other compression formats.

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Scopus'Intelligent Video NetworkBY OVADIA COHEN

Traditional cable infrastruc-ture is changing. Competi-tion among telco, satellite and

cable companies is stimulating this pro-cess and pushing cable operators toquicken deployment of on -demand ser-vices. Infrastructure will need to supportmultiple services and users, and will haveto evolve beyond that employed in ex-isting standard networks.

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riety of systems to deliver video, dataand voice services. With complex net-works leading to higher operationscosts, cable operators are facing chal-lenges in several areas:

Capital expenses - every new

IVN masterheadend

Figure 1.The IVN topology employs video routers, loop design, and an inter-active video gateway to help cable companies manage on -demand services.

service entails increased managementand transmission costs.

Operational expenses -video, voiceand data running on different networksor protocols require highly capablemanpower with the right skill sets to

mind, including Triple Play (video,voice and data), digitization of con-tent, compatibility with customer -pre-mises equipment (CPE) and every-thing on demand (EOD).

To address the above challenges,

to extend the network physically andlogically while maintaining stable andconsistent performance.

Architecture manageability - themeaningfulness of the operational sta-tus information that the system canreport, together with the degree towhich it can be manipulated to sup-port system objectives.

Architecture reliability - the effec-tiveness of network redundancy,monitoring and management tomaintain the infrastructure.

Future -proofing - corporate fi-nancial managers must be convincedthat the initial investment will not besquandered by future requirements.

IVNThe Intelligent Video Network (IVN)

concept represents the next -generationtopology for cable video networking(see Figure 1). The IVN systemwide ar-chitecture supports an end -to -end so-lution from the master headendthrough the backbone and regionalheadend and down to the street cor-ner, the node. It brings the strengthsof routing capabilities into the videoworld to support on -demand servicesto large numbers of subscribers. It alsoenables processing at the headendalongside "edge" processing capabilitiesto optimize the access network.


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service providers, 1VN's comprehen-sive architecture uses the entire net-work infrastructure and enables two-dimensional control over bandwidth tosupport end -to -end solutions.

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point-to-point or point-to-multipointdesign. Any site can add content androute it within the system. The opera-tor works in a loop circuit so that con-tent distribution to the customer orthe various headends comes fromvideo servers around the network orfrom a central station. While it doesn'teliminate existing headends, the sys-tem acts as an addition and enablesfaster and more precise answers foron -demand applications.

IVGA fundamental element of the sys-

tem is the interactive video gateway(IVG). The IVG provides the ability toroute the video across the network. Itperforms digital -to -digital processingstatistical remultiplexing, rate reduc-tion, grooming and conditional access,and supports different types of back-bones - asynchronous -transmissionmode (ATM) or Internet Protocol (IP)controlled - as well as quadrature am-plitude modulation (QAM) outputs forthe hybrid fiber/cable (HFC) networks.Embedded in the IVG is a management"entity" that works at the service levelto yield additional advantages, espe-cially when the network supports manyservices along the transmission chain.

A path to the futureIVN represents a natural migration

path from the traditional broadcastworld to the on -demand world. It en-ables full digital -to -digital processingin scalable deployments to providecable operators with a competitive ad-vantage over telco and satellite play-ers to meet future challenges.

Cable operators now have the chanceto become the leaders in providing en-hanced video, voice and data services. But,

to reach this goal, they need a new para-digm for the cable -access infrastructure.Operators will need highly integrated,well -standardized systems with scalabffity,

high performance, and distributed andefficient network management. BE

Ovadia Cohen is co-founder and vicepresident of marketing at Scopus NetworkTechnologies.


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DoyleTechnology'sVMC control systemBY JOHN E. HARTWELL

The transition to digital tele-vision and the emergence ofhigh -definition television

(HDTV) has created a new and in-creasingly difficult landscape forbroadcasters to navigate. Changingproduction requirements and chal-lenges have necessitated a new way ofapproaching traditional broadcast -re-lated tasks. Further, facilities must finda way to bridge the gap between tra-ditional broadcast operations and newrevenue -generating models within theDTV environment.

This is especially critical for small -to medium -market facilities, whichmust make significant investments inorder to comply with the digital man-date being imposed upon them, whilesimultaneously staving off competi-tion from cable and direct satellitetechnologies. One solution for stationsin these markets is to implement anaggregation solution that allows themto continue their digital transition, aswell as reducing operating costs by in-creasing the efficiency in the master

business of DTV. By making their op-erating environments more effi-cient and ultimately more productive,it is essentially an enabling tool thatfacilities can use to examine new anddifferent ways of operating throughthe transition to a DTV multi -servicesbusiness model.

The software essentially functions asan extension of the roles that systemintegrators have traditionally played ina broadcast facility, designing signalsystems through the managing of con-nections between individual pieces ofequipment, with the goal of makingan environment operator -friendly. InVMC's development, computer net-working technology is used in placeof dedicated cable connections to en-hance the system's operation and con-form to a client's business model. Assuch, the system can be viewed as acollection, display and control pointof parameters in the signal manage-ment chain.

The technology components of thesolution, introduced at this year's

VMC gives operations the tools that allowthem to be creative in how they run

their businesses.

control environment. An example ofthis type of solution is the VisualMonitoring and Control (VMC) sys-tem, developed by Doyle TechnologyConsultants in cooperation withNVISION, Sundance Digital andDolby Laboratories.

The system uses software to integratethe monitoring and control of cross -vendor and functional hardware sys-tems, and targets broadcasters thathave been trying to figure out what todo in both the transition and eventual

NAB, include an integrated signalmanagement and master control en-gine built around NVISION's Pick Hitaward -winning NV5128-MC mastercontrol/multiformat routing switcher,which features 128 system inputs, aswell as mixing, keying and voice-overcapabilities; built-in squeezeback; anda logo store.

Sundance Digital's Titan automationsystem, which is designed for multi-channel, server -based broadcast facili-ties, can support several business

models including datacasting, timeshifting and cooperative plants suchas duopolies, as well as those needingto centrally automate operationsacross widely dispersed locations.

Finally, a comprehensive visual

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monitor and control system allows op-erators to fully monitor the entire op-eration on a single screen. The system,which is fully server -based, allows op-erators to visually monitor brandingoperations while simultaneouslymaintaining override control, moni-toring upcoming automated events,monitoring and managing AC3 audioencoder settings, and displaying pro-gram service information in humanreadable form.

In other words, it gives operationsthe tools that allow them to be creativein how they run their businesses.

As the broadcaster moves closer to-ward a DTV multi -services operation,master control environments will berequired to monitor and control a di-verse collection of automated systems.Traditionally, this has meant a dedi-cated data display for each system: onedisplay for an automation channel, a


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control panel for master control, onefor error monitoring and so on. In thiscase, operators find themselves divid-ing their attention between displays,and acting more as a "firefighter"when a system sounds an alarm. Toreduce the clutter for the control op-erator, KVM switches have been usedby some solutions to bring each sys-tem to a single display one at a time.Instead of trying to use KVM

switches, which potentially can causeoperators to get confused as to whichscreen they're on, the control andmonitoring system actually aggregatesall the data and information onto onescreen. It interfaces to each piece of op-erational equipment and converts in-formation into a format that then canbe passed to clients. They can then logon and access information from anyplace in the facility, or even remotely.

VMC, as a system, allows the con-trol room environment to be more

operator -friendly, in that operatorsnow only have to go to one point toget their information, rather than viewseveral screens to find out what's hap-pening. It enhances the ability of asingle operator to manage several ser-vice streams.

Each system server can also servicemultiple clients. The software -basedclient stations can be networkedthroughout a facility, allowing a clientto actively monitor and control the on -air channel it logs onto. Each channelhas its own server, supporting up tosix concurrent clients, and a client canconnect with up to six servers at anyone time. (See Figure 1 on page 76.)

It's as much a way to delegate infor-mation as it is a client -server configu-ration. It also helps distribute theworkload among several people andaids a facility in managing its person-nel. For example, if a master controloperator calls in sick for a day, another

operator or the chief engineer can eas-ily fill in by connecting to the systemthrough a LAN, logging on as a client,and monitoring operations from theirdesk or even from home.

The business and operations ofbroadcasting are changing, from thepresent simple management of signalflow, to the management of informa-tion delivery in data formats. The tried-and-true methods employed in moni-toring an NTSC transmission, mainlypercent of modulation, will need to beaugmented with the monitoring of theused and available data space in theATSC transmission. The VMC system,with its software architecture, providesthe means for the broadcast facility toevolve as required to meet monitoringand control needs for the new businessmodels of DTV. BE

John E. Hartwell is chief technology officerat Doyle Technology Consultants.

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OmniBus'HeadLine Media Editor seriesBY DAVE POLYARD

Until now, nonlinear newsediting systems designedfor broadcast applications

have been proprietary systems avail-able only at a high cost. Althoughsome of these systems are extremelypowerful and feature -rich, they maycommand a six -figure price tag that'slikely out of reach for mostnews operations. The low-cost systems that havebeen available are gener-ally pieced together ratherthan being purpose-builtfor the special require-ments of news editing. So,while the price may beright, these systems havenot proved themselves upto the task.

Signficant customer inputhas led to the conclusionthat there is a keen demandfor reasonably priced sys-tems that address specificaspects of news editing.News editing should nolonger be considered oneapplication - it should ac-tually be broken down intoa number of applications, with smaller,well-defined products designed to ad-dress each area. OmniBus realizes thatthe idea of creating one all -encom-passing news editing system that cando everything for everyone is a ratherarchaic notion, and has determinedthat a better approach would be to cre-ate individual, application -specificproducts that address particular re-quirements within news editing.

This new approach is reinforced byjournalists' increasing demand forediting capability in the field, a de-mand that necessitates the implemen-tation of portable systems that arecompatible with in -studio systems.

The OmniBus HeadLine Media Edi-tor series is designed to fill the gap inthe market and address the changingrequirements of news editing, all at afraction of the cost of proprietary sys-tems. To help meet the right price/per-formance balance, the product featuresa scaleable design incorporating three

it incorporates Windows Media tech-nology, the system allows users towork with multiple video formatswithin a single project timeline.

The series' three models share a com-mon interface and core functionality,with variations to suit the specificneeds of a particular news application.

Figure 1. OmniBus Systems developed three news ed-iting systems to meet broadcasters' specific editingneeds at a reasonable price point. For instance, Head-line Edit 3000 (shown above) is a stand-alone systemdesigned primarily for journalists in the field.

models, each of which addresses a par-ticular workflow or application withinthe broadcast news environment. Break-ing the product into three separate func-tional blocks enables users to purchase

The new scaleablesystem

The series features a userinterface and A/V editing ca-pabilities that allow editorsand journalists of any expe-rience level to compile pol-ished news packages quicklyand easily.

HeadLine Edit 1000 is aprofessional desktop editorfor the fast -paced news-room in which on -air dead-lines often demand that ed-iting begins even before re-cording is complete. Edit-ing of browse -quality me-dia can begin within fiveseconds of the start of a re-cording -a feature ideal forcutting highlights packages

for live events. In addition to sourceand program windows, users are pro-vided with one stereo audio track andtrim functionality, so they are able tocarry out split A/V edits.

There is a keen demand for reasonably

priced systems that address specific

aspects of news editing.

only the functionality they need.The strategy behind the development

of the series was to create timeline -based editing products specifically fornews and sports production. Because

When used with the OmniBus news-room automation system, completedEDLs are published to the OmniBussystem for playout direct from thebroadcast server, minimizing time to


air. Alternatively, versions of the editcan be saved either locally and re-loaded at a later stage, or centrally, al-lowing a different journalist to pickup the timeline and modify it. TheEdit 1000 is MOS-compatible. It runsas an ActiveX plug-in inside all lead-ing newsroom production systemsand is integrated with OmniBus'media asset management solution,giving full access to all clips that havebeen registered with the asset man-agement system.

HeadLine Edit 2000 offers the sameediting features and core functional-ity as Edit 1000, but it works with pre-recorded media in any format that is

A

supported by the PC and offers ad-vanced audio facilities including twostereo audio tracks and one stereovoice-over track. These can either berun in stereo or to the left- or right-hand side alone. This is particularlyuseful when re -cutting a news feedwith effects on one side and a voice-over on the other. Audio pan controlsare also provided, and a "duck" fea-ture drops the audio to a preset levelfor quick and easy dipping of sectionsof the audio track.

HeadLine Edit 3000 is a stand-alonesystem designed primarily for journal-ists in the field. (See Figure 1.) It fea-tures a DV capture card, an ingest tool

and simple vision effects. Ingestedmedia is presented as a series of scenechanges with keyframes marking thestart of each sequence. Completedpackages, saved as DV files, can be sentback to base via FTP.

The approach OmniBus has takenwith the development of the HeadLineMedia Editor series enables deliveryof competitively priced technologiesthat give broadcasters a fair price forthe functionality they require - nomore, and no less. BE

Dave Polyard is vice president of sales andmarketing, North America, for OmniBusSystems.

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WXYZ-TVautomatesCrispinBY RAYTHURBER

Each year engineering depart-ments set out to addresstechnical issues and set

goals for their facilities, targeted atnews, programming and other de-partments. In the last two years, onechallenge has touched virtually everydepartment at WXYZ-TV: automa-tion. After an in-depth review ofproducts in the marketplace, wechose Crispin software to change theway we work.

An automated digital master con-trol eventually tied the facility to-gether, but it was news automationthat started the process. The DNANewsroom system is now second na-ture. Using 4x speed PanasonicNewsbyte editors and SGI Origin 200servers the station plays 3000 clips toair a week. It relies on Crispin newsautomation to control the SGI forplayout and interface to the facility'sNewstar newsroom system.

With news automation accom-plished, a total station solution wasneeded, so we invited Crispin to

Crispin's System 2000 automation provides a com-mon control point for news and programming, lead-ing to greater efficiency. Upgrades to the system alsoprovided the ability to balance two daily news shows.

with

demo its new System 2000 at the sta-tion. Crispin installed its automationsystem and allowed the staff to runthe system for a week of evaluation.This was enough time to prove sys-tem stability and give us the neededconfidence to make a software pur-chase. There were several criteria thestaff was looking for in an automa-tion system. The system needed toprovide device control of the SGI andProfile servers to tie news and pro-gramming together through com-mon control point. It also needed tocontrol an M2100 switcher and anSMS7000 router from Thomson GrassValley. Other requirements included

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Automating with Crispin has helpedWXYZ-TV balance greater efficiencywith "cleaner air:'

has led to greater efficiency and"cleaner air" - two things that aresometimes hard to balance.

WXYZ also produces a daily one -

In the last two years, one challenge has

touched virtually every department atWXYZ-W: automation.

database control of news feed andsyndicated recordings, and over pro-gram and newsroom deletion. A sys-

tem was needed thatwould handlebreaking newsevents eloquently.

Our master con-trol has been run-ning System 2000for over a year now.The database con-trols all record anddelete processes inthe facility. Closed

t loop recon with thetraffic system has re-duced man-hours inaccounting. Auto-mation in mastercontrol and news

hour news show for WKBD-TV, theDetroit UPN/CBS-Viacom station.The time frame was tight to get "Ac-tion News at Ten" up and running.The challenge faced was providing si-multaneous news and master controloperations every night without jeop-ardizing our 11:00 "Action News"franchise. Upgrades to the System2000 automation were added viaemail, and in one week, we had thetechnical capability to meet this ex-citing challenge. "Action News at Ten"is now second nature. The station willlikely look to Crispin for a MOS in-terface for newer newsroom softwareand a possible archiving solution inthe near future. BE

Ray Thurber is chief engineer for WXYZ-TV, Detroit.


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c 2003 Harmonic Inc. All rights reserved.

NewsroomautomationBY JOHN LUFF

Newsroom processes havealways been carefullythought-out. The need

to hit deadlines requires attentionto a set of work assignments and pri-orities that have been set to ensure thefinal success of a group effort.

Before computers, multipart formswere used, and wire copy was some-times cut with a pair of scissors andtaped together to "edit" the text.Teleprompter copy ran on a conveyorbelt under a camera to get the text infront of the journalist on camera. Theorchestration of all of this without er-rors was fun to watch and quite achallenge to do while managing thecraft of journalism. It was sometimeshard to spot the sneaker net deliveryof the next story, or the deft editingof the rundown by shuffling storieson the control room desk.

The salient underlying workflow isstill the stuff of media news-rooms. Words and pictures stillmust be collected, collated, ed-ited and presented. A well -crafted newsroom automationsystem is less "automation"than it is the embodiment ofthe workflow required toachieve a well thought-out andproduced newscast. The com-puter software does not cut thepictures or edit the text. It sim-plifies the mechanical tasksand manages the flow of infor-mation within the newsroom.

For newsroom software tosucceed, it must allow profes-sionals the freedom to do their jobs.Modern systems can be customized toachieve personalization for each sta-tion. Before workflow can be auto-mated, however, the software firmmust help you set goals that are realis-tic and achieveable with their product.

For the most part, modern newsroomautomation systems are broadly appli-cable and extensible to include futureupgrades to control devices, integratedesktop editing and browsing, and as-set management and archive services.The Associated Press, Avid Technology,Dalet and EZNews provide suchsystems.

A major part of newsroom automa-tion today is integrating the controlof character generators, video serversand robotic camera systems into theseamless whole they can be. If the goalis to save costs by implementing a soft-ware solution, then one most logicallywould try to find a solution that man-ages hardware without additional la-bor cost involved.

Many systems do this using MediaObject Server (MOS) technology.The MOS protocol allows developersto abstract hardware from the actions

MEWS, Avid's newsroomusers to access scripts,the newsroom or in theconnectivity.

computer system, allowswires and databases infield via LAN and WAN

desired so that you don't need to knowthe lingua of the character generator,only that a lower third with specifictext needs to be inserted at a specificpoint in the rundown. MOS is aboutmuch more than device control. It canalso be the basis of communication

with asset management, ingest andbrowse services, Web publishing, andother interfaces.

The goal of newsroom automation isto create a seamless whole from thepieces of the newsroom environment,where changes in one area propagate tothe appropriate interface points with-out thinking. One might conceive ofa system that allows a single individualto control the entire production from atechnical script. Such systems exist andtie into newsroom automation systems,although there is considerable work tocreate the production script from therundown imported into the system.

One could make the argument thatthe cost savings in labor are so per-suasive that the potential risk with alleggs in one basket is moot. Many sta-tions have implemented just such asystem. A related wrinkle is to havemiddleware control the devices as a

separate engine, communicat-ing with the main rundown asneeded.

Finally, when news is central-ized, one might have segmentsof a program originating froma central site, while others con-tinue to be produced at the lo-cal station. In such a case, themaster rundown might haverelated segment rundowns thatfollow with the master pro-gram quite completely. Sinclairhas made much news withNewsCentral, and the ability touse one newsroom automationsystem in a seamless whole

would make such an initiative muchmore powerful. BE

John Luff is senior vice president ofbusiness development forAZCAR. Toreach him, visit www.azcarcom.

m

0C

R3


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NONLINEAR EDITORLeitch NEWSFIash-II: an integrated, DV -based nonlinear editor to the Leitch VR-400MPEG-2 video server series; residing on theFibre Channel Arbitrated Loop, theNEWSFlash-II is designed with high timingand content -critical editing applications inmind; support for industry -standard third -party plug -insand graphic import and export is also provided.

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VIDEO ANDAUDIO PROCESSORSMiranda Technologies UVP-101i and VAP-7121: UVP-101i features composite and SDI (with embedded AES)allowing a single module to be used with either analog ordigital incoming; analog input's super -adaptive decodercan be used to lock remote feeds to a local reference or todelay video signals by up to four frames; integrated procamp provides a wide range of video level adjustments.

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PORTABLE DV DISKRECORDERFOCUS FireStore FS -3: Mountsdirectly to professional DVcamcorders and weighs approxi-mately two pounds; it features a DVvideo input/output port and either anAnton/Bauer, V -mount or NP stylebattery system.

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+441635 44991; www.omnitek.tv

DIGITAL VIDEORECORDERFast Forward Video DigiDeck: Records to IDE harddrives; available with composite and Y/C input/output, twochannels of unbalanced audio, genlock, time code I/O andRS -422; can record up to nine hours on a single drive.

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PORTABLE CAMERASony HDC 930: Multiformat, multi -frame rate portablestudio/EFP camera; captures 1080 50/60 interlaceimages; uses a 2.2 million "square" pixel CCD imager, 12 -bit AD and a two million gate VLSI.

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ONLINE NLE GUIDESYPHA NLE Buyers Guide: Provides unbiased informa-tion on more than 200 different hardware and softwareproducts for professional nonlinear video editing; providesa basic listing of costs and URL for each product.

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SPORTSCONTROLLERDNF Controls DMAT-0: Offers slow-motion instantreplay and highlight list creation/playback for Odeticsprotocol -based video servers; allows users to generateslow-motion instant replays; users can build, manageand play out highlight lists.

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MULTI-RATEDIGITALROUTERPESA SwitchingSystems Ocelot HD -MR:Switchers available in 8x8 and 16x16

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VIDEO TRANSPORT SYSTEMStreambox ACT -L3 Transport: End -to -end analog -to -digital system delivering full -motion, full -frame interlacedbroadcast or DVD quality video and audio.

206-956-0544; www.streambox.com

RACK MOUNTABLE VIDEOMONITORMarshall Electronics V-R82P-SDI: Two 8.4 -inch activematrix LCD panels with 800 x 600 pixels; compositevideo, SDI, S -video and VGA input with active loopthrough feature, and auto recognition for NTSC or PAL;independent three -color tally system is provided; front -mounted selector buttons with color, tint, brightness andcontrast controls.

800-800-6608; www.mars-cam.com

UPDATED NPBATTERYFORMATAspen Electronics Nexus:New battery format basedon an all new on -camera holder designed to acceptstandard format NP batteries and the new 50Wh Nexus -50

battery; provides up to 15 minutes of backup power; weighs1.1 pounds; features a four -LED fuel gauge; can be charged

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LOW-PROFILE CONSOLESWinsted J8401: Features viewing angles and eye levelheights optimized to eliminate user fatigue and increaseefficiency; based upon accepted ergonomics ideals;welded, all -steel construction.

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NONLINEAR EDITINGAND COMPOSITING SOLUTIONSPinnacle Liquid editing application: Enhanced network-ing support for increased workflow and smooth direct -to -

disc integration; also supports MXF enabling native filesharing with MediaStream servers; also exchanges audioprojects with Steinberg Nuendo, offering a streamlinedworkflow between video and audio post.

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CONTROL PANELRadamec Scenario XR: Enables on -air interaction andreal-time control of lighting, transparency and color, allwithin a 360° ray -traced virtual environment; runs onWindows NT/2000 and is capable of inserting SDI videointo the virtual set environment; enables conventionaloperator control and features a unique and intuitivetouchscreen user interface; color and lighting propertiesof inserted video, and graphical and object elements areadjustable during transmission from the panel.

877-RADAMEC; www.mdamecbroadcast.com

KEYBOARDSBella DV Keyboardseries: Integratedediting technology;includes Sticker Setsfor popular applications;built-in jog/shuttle controller and programmable spe-cialty keys; color and icon -coded keycaps are standard.

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A PRIMEDIA Publication

Editorial Director: Brad Dick, bdicdprimediabusiness.com

International Editor. Jerry Walker, [email protected]

Technical Editor. Donald Keller, [email protected]

Sr. Assoc. Editor. Susan Anderson,[email protected]

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Asst. Editor Chevonn Payton, [email protected]

Editorial Intern: Heidi Hueseman, [email protected]

Sr. Art Director: Michael J. Knust, mknusgprimediabusiness.com

Assoc. Art Director: Robin Morsbach, [email protected]

Technical Consultants: Computers & Networking - Brad Gilmer

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Digital Video-Michael Robin

Transmission Facilities-Donald L. Markley

Legal - Harry C. Martin

New Technology -John tuff

IndusnyWatcher -Paul McGoldrick

New Media-Craig Birkmaier

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Sr. VP Peter L. May, [email protected]

Group Publisher. Dennis Triola, [email protected]

Marketing Dir.: Christina Heil, [email protected]

VP, Production: Thomas Fogarty,[email protected]

VP, Mkg/Comm.: Karen Garrison, kgarrisongtprimediabusiness.com

Sr. Ad Prod. Cooed.: Sonja Shaffer, sshafferigprimediabusiness.com

Sr .Dir. of Production: Curt Pordes, [email protected]

Classified Ad Coord.: Michelle Hooper, [email protected]

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Primedia Business to Business Group - 745 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10151

President/CEO: Charles McCurdy, [email protected]

Creative Director Alan Alpanian,[email protected]

Primedia Inc.

CEO I I nterm): Charles McCurdy, cmccurdygprimedia.com

Vice Chairman & General Counsel: Beverly Chell, [email protected]

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BROADCAST ENGINEERING, ISSN 0001-1994, is published monthly (except

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CABLE VOD EDGEQAM SOLUTIONTandberg Television EQ6800:Designed specifically for VoD;product provides density andflexibility for remote multiplexing,GAM modulation and UHFupconversion in a single, highlyintegrated unit.

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CONTROL CARDAltinex MT112-104: Offers sixrelays, four I/O ports, four IR portsand two RS -232 (send -only) ports;can be used to control lighting,raise and lower projection screens,and control projectors, videotapeplayers and DVD players; usesterminal blocks for all input andoutput connections.

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APPLE FINAL CUT PRO 4ENHANCEMENTPinnacle Systems CineWave 4: Enhances the

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DESKTOP STORAGE SOLUTIONPreSonus Maxrack: A desktop space solution that housesup to six 1/3 rack PreSonus Personal RecordingSeries units; sits on the desktop next to thecomputer monitor; also ships with a six -inputpowerstrip that accommodates all six indi-

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Help Wanted

Entertain Your Brain!Randstad North America, in partnership with Discovery Channel, Miami is currentlyseeking energetic, self -motivated individuals to join our engineering team.

Systems EngineerThis position requires 5 years' systems experience, preferably in a digital environment,hands-on equipment maintenance and support of all broadcast television equipmentincluding master control, non-linear, graphics and postproduction suites as well as coreequipment. Component -level diagnostics and thorough knowledge of test signals andequipment are required.

RF EngineerThis position requires 3 years' RF experience, preferably in a digital environment, hands-on equipment maintenance and support of all broadcast television equipment includingmaster control and satellite uplink systems. Component -level diagnostics and thoroughknowledge of test signals and equipment are required.

Assistant Engineering Manager, SystemsIn addition to staff supervision and training, this position vequires 5 years' hands-onmaintenance and support of all broadcast television equipment including master control,graphics, audio, non-linear and post -production suites as well as core equipment.Component -level diagnostics and thorough knowledge of test signals and equipmentare required.

All positions require excellent oral and written communications skills. Because this isa 24/7 operation, weekend and shift work may be required. Note: These are notrums positions.

Please forward your resume and salary require-ments to: Bobby R. Owens, Randstad HumanResources, 6505 Blue Lagoon Drive, Suite 190,Miami, FL 33126; FAX: (786) 273-4883; email:[email protected]

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

BROADCAST MAINTENANCE ENGI-NEER Individuals should be self -moti-vated team players with a minimum of5 years broadcast television engineer-ing experience with significant experi-ence in a digital environment. Positionrequires hands-on equipment mainte-nance and support of all broadcast tele-vision equipment including MC andNews equipment. Computer and UHFtransmitter knowledge a plus. Send re-sumes to: Personnel WBRE-TV 62 SFranklin Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701EOE

MAINTENANCE ENGINEER: KNXV-TVthe ABC affiliate in Phoenix, AZ hasan opening for an engineer with video/audio systems, VTR and camera main-tenance experience. Work in a digitalfacility and enjoy the great southwestlifestyle. The qualified candidate shouldhave at least a two-year technical degreein electronics or equivalent, and 3 yearsof Broadcast TV maintenance experi-ence. Complete job description atwww.abc15.com. Please send your re-sume to Human Resources/KNXV-TV,515 N. 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008 orfax to (602) 685-3020 or email [email protected]. KNXV-TV is an equalopportunity employer.

www.broadcastengineering.corn


Hel I WantedWITG / Fox 5 & WDCA / UPN 20 Washing-ton DC Director of Engineering OperationsRESPONSIBILITIES: Director of EngineeringWTTG/ WDCA a powerhouse duopoly in theNations Capital has an opening for a ChiefEngineer. We are seeking an experienced,hands-on technical manager who will assistthe VP of Engineering by overseeing the day-to-day technical operations of this fast -paced, news -oriented station. The success-ful candidate will need to have 6 or moreyears experience providing Engineering andIT support to broadcast News and MasterControl/On-Air operations at a major mar-ket television station. This position includesmanagerial responsibilities as well as theneed to understand complex digital video,digital audio, and LAN systems, with aproven ability to diagnose and rectify prob-lems quickly. The need to understand us-ers' workflow requirements and providetraining on new systems requires that thecandidate have excellent communicationsskills and a proven ability to work well withothers under pressure. REQUIREMENTS: Asolid background in video, audio, RF, and ITcomponents and systems, and project man-agement experience, is a must. A college de-gree in an Engineering field is preferred, aswell as prior experience working with laborcontracts in a represented facility. WTTG/Fox 5 & WDCA/UPN 20, Human ResourcesDepartment, 5151 Wisconsin Avenue, NW,Washington DC 20016 www.fox5dc.com [email protected]

KBAK TV Bakersfield, California locatedin the southern San Jouaquin Valley hastwo television engineering positionsopen. Come enjoy California's lowest costof living. Chief Engineer Ready to moveup? Eight years television broadcast en-gineering experience with a minimum ofthree years in responsible engineeringmanagement is required. Must be a teamplayer with strong UHF transmitter main-tenance knowledge. This is a "standalone" station with no corporate engineer-ing backup. Successful applicant willdemonstrate ability to plan for the longterm and implement new technology ona continuing basis. Good interpersonalskills are imperative. Staff TechnicianKBAK's senior staff technician has de-cided to retire after 42 years with KBAKTV! This position requires the ability totrouble -shoot contemporary equipmentto the component level. Travel to the re-mote transmitter site summer and win-ter is required. Five years television main-tenance experience required. This is anIBEW position. Send Resumes with coverletter, no Phone Calls Please KBAK TVAttn. Phil Dunton PO Box 2929 Bakers-field, CA 93309 e-mail: [email protected] FAX: 661 327 5603

BROADCAST OPERATIONS- BROADCASTENGINEER Bloomberg TV has a challeng-ing opportunity within the Broadcast Engi-neering Group. Will be responsible for coor-dinating and performing maintenance ofequipment as needed to support live broad-cast operations. We will look for this engi-neer to be proactive and troubleshoot pro-duction and on -air issues. Will also be re-sponsible for updating transmitter/shiftlogs, conducting tests, diagnostics evalua-tions and executing checklists to discoverequipment and/or system anomalies. Theengineer will also have the opportunity tocoordinate and install new components andsystems, as well as create and update engi-neering documents and diagrams. Require-ments: Qualified candidates will have strongknowledge of technical TV and radio broad-casting equipment ('including cameras, ro-botics, VTRs, routing equipment and pro-duction switchers). Knowledge of broad-cast automation systems and thorough un-derstanding of PC hardware and softwareoperations. Ideal candidate should possesstrong troubleshooting skills and have theability to work independently and quicklyin high-pressure situations. Please applyonline at http://careers.bloomberg.com

WDAY-AM 970, FARGO, NORTH DA-KOTA IS IN SEARCH OF A TOP-NOTCHNEWS/TALK MORNING SHOW TALENTThe legendary, heritage AM News/Talkstation with 80 years of service to theUpper -Midwest, WDAY AM 970 has agreat opportunity for a morning showco -host. This person must have a senseof humor and ability to interact and"play along" with both morning showpartner (Kim Douglas) and WDAY listen-ers. A strong work ethic, an ability toshine delivering information to our tar-get and a "can -do" attitude are all amust. If you believe in strong show prepand know how to have fun on the radio,please submit your materials for thisimmediate opening. Strong candidateswill understand the special nuances ofNews/Talk radio and the hot buttons oftoday's adult listener, who seeks news,sports, weather and information, mixedwith fun and entertainment. Please sendaircheck (scoped & unscoped) and re-sume. WDAY is a locally owned radiostation, that is part of the Forum Com-munications family of newspapers andtelevision stations. Great benefits in-cluding 401k, Profit Share, Group Health,etc. All correspondence will be held instrict confidence. Tapes and resumesASAP to: Scott Hennen WDAY, Box 2466,Fargo, N.D. 58103 mp3 files 4mgs or lessto: [email protected] EOE

BROADCAST OPERATIONS- RADIO ENGI-NEER Bloomberg has an exciting opportu-nity for a motivated radio broadcast engi-neer. You will be directly responsible for thehands-on support and implementation ofbroadcast equipment and systems forWBBR 1130AM and its global radio net-works. You will also design, install andtroubleshoot audio components, wiring andapplications for our reporter workstations,studios and transmitter site; perform pre-ventive maintenance and diagnostics ofhardware and software systems; create dia-grams and document procedures, overseeFCC compliance of Public files, EAS, Annual/Quarterly ownership programming docu-mentation and update transmitter site logsand EEOC reports. Requirements: The idealcandidate should possess strong problemsolving skills and have a hands-on workingknowledge of radio broadcast FCC regula-tions, procedures, components, applica-tions and operating systems. Candidatemust also be capable of performing physi-cal labor, multi -tasking and be available towork a flexible schedule...Please applyonline at http://careers.bloomberg.com

BROADCAST MAINTENANCE TECHNI-CIAN Requires self starter possessing strongcomputer skills with Microsoft NT -4.0 9XWindows and MAC OS and Networking.This position also requires experience withvideo servers such as Profiles, Media Pool,Seachange or HP. Experience with SDI andAES/EBU digital standards, AVID Media Com-poser, Beta SP/SX, News ENG, Vinten Robot-ics, Telex ADAM RTS and other studio main-tenance a plus. Knowledge of troubleshoot-ing to the component level and basic un-derstanding of FCC rules. Send resumes toAngelo Macci, Maintenance Manager,WTNH-TV, 8 Elm Street, New Haven, CT06510. No phone calls please. EOE

MAINTENANCE ENGINEER: Minimumof five years experience in transmittermaintenance, with VHF & UHF transmit-ters. DTV experience preferred. Dutiesinclude repair and maintenance of allbroadcast equipment including Dvc Pro,microwave and satellite. Send resumeto: WPRI/WNAC-TV Human Resources,25 Catamore Blvd. East Providence, RI02914 or e-mail to: [email protected]/M/F No Phone Calls Please

RildloJennifer Shafer1-800-896-9939

Classified Advertising Manager


Ad Ind xBroadcast Engineering is not responsiblefor errors in the Advertisers Index. flic

Adrienne Electronics Corp.

Page

93

Advertiser Web siteHotline Address

US/CANADAWESTChuck Bolkcom

AJAVideo 66 530-274-2048 aja.com (775) 849-8404; Fax: (775) 849-8403Anton -Bauer 35 203-929-1100 antonbauer.com [email protected] 67 845-353-1400 arri.com Rick AyerAvid Technology 23 800 -949 -avid avid.com (949) 366-9089, Fax: (949) 366-9289Axon Digital Design 19 888-919-9379 axon.tv [email protected] Media Systems 93 800-262-4675 benchmarkmedia.com

Bogen Photo Corp. 73 201-818-9500 bogenphoto.comEASTJosh Gordon

Cal rec Audio Ltd. 59 +441422842159 calrec.com (718) 802-0488; Fax: (718) 522-4751Canon USA Broadcast Lens 27,63 800-321-4388 canonbroadcast.com [email protected] rtoni USA 42 800-845-6619 cartoni.com

Ciprico 16 800-727-4669 ciprico.comEAST,MIDWESTJoanne Melton

Computer Modules 93 858-613-1818 computermodules.com CPI/EI (212) 462-3344; Fax: (913) 514-9249CPI/Emac 79 650-592-9988 eimac.com [email protected] 9 800-341-9678 dielectric.comDolby Labs Inc. 29 415-558-0200 dolby.com/tvaudio INTERNATIONALDPA Microphones Inc 15 866-dpa-mics dpamicrophones.comESE 14 310-322-2136 ese-web.com

EUROPERichard Woolley

Evertz Microsystems Ltd. 94 905-335-3700 evertz.com +44-1295-278-407Fujinon Inc. 69 973-633-5600 fujinon.com Fax: +44.1295-278-408Hamlet Video 74 +44 1494 793 763 hamlet.us.com [email protected] 83-86 800-788-1330 harmonic.com/broadcast EUROPEHarris Corp. Broadcast Div. 3 408-990-8200 broadcast.harris.com Tony ChapmanHenry Engineering 94 626-355-3656 henryeng.com +44-1635-578-874Horita 93 949-489-0240 horita.com Fax: +44-1635-578-874

IDX Technologies 89 201-236-2103 [email protected]

Inmarsat 17 inmarsat.com/media ISRAELInscriber 31 800-363-3400 inscriber.com Asa TalbarIntelsat 47 202-944-7100 intelsat.com/videosolutions Talbar MediaKenwood Communications 34 800-950-5005 kenwood.net

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

Kino Flo Inc. 81 818-767-6528 kinoflo.com

Leitch Incorporated 25,BC 800-231-9673 leitch.com JAPANMaxell Corp. of America

Modulation Sciences

7

61

800-533-2836

732-302-3090

maxell.com

modsci.com

Mashy YoshikawaOrient Echo, Inc.+81-3-3235-5961; Fax: +81-3-3235-5852

NSI 78 800-spec-nsi [email protected] Inc 68 908-852-3700 nucomm.com

Nvision Inc. 28 nvision1.com CLASSIFIED ADVERTISINGOVERLAND PARK, KS

Allen Osborne Assoc. 91 805-495-8420 aoa-gps.com/hilomast.htm Jennifer ShaferPanasonic Broadcast 5 800-528-0601 panasonic.com/dvcpro (800) 896-9939; (913) 967-1732Patchamp 90 201-457-1504 patchamp.com Fax: (913) 967-1735PESA Switching Systems 43 631-845-5020 pesa.com [email protected] -Bel 70 +44 1189 866 123 pro-bel.com REPRINTSQuartz USA 62 888-638-8745 quartzus.com Wright's ReprintsRichland Towers 55 800-827-4349 richlandtowers.com (877) 652-5295;Rohde & Schwarz 13 888-837-8772 rohde-schwarz.com

International inquiries, (281) [email protected]

Ross Video Ltd. 46,50,52,54,58 613-652-4886 rossvideo.comSennheiser Electronics Corp. 18 860-434-9190 sennheiserusa.com LIST RENTAL SERVICESSigma Electronics Inc 41 717-569-2681 sigmaelectronics.com Marie Briganti, StatlisticsSolid State Logic Ltd. 51 212-315-1111 solid-state-logic.com

(203) 778-8700 x146; (203) [email protected]

Sony Business Systems 39 800-883-6817 sony.com/professionalCustomer Service:Standard Communications 65 800-745-2445 standardcomm.com

Switchcraft Inc 71 773-792-2700 switchcraft.com 913-967-1707 or 800-441-0294Systems Wireless 53,75 800-542-3332 swl.com

Telecast Fiber Systems Inc 77 508-754-4858 telecast -f iber.com BROADCAST ENGINEERING August 2003, Vol. 45 ,

Telemetrics, Inc.

Thomson Broadcast

32

11

201-848-9818 telemetricsinc.com

thomsongrassvalley.caNnewsproduclions

No.8 (ISSN 0007-1994) is published monthly and mailedfree to qualified persons by Primedia Business, 9800Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212-2216. Periodi-

TMB 89 818-899-8818 tmb.com cals postage paid at Shawnee Mission, KS, and addi-Toshiba America Info Systems 45 949-461-4986 cameras.toshiba.com tional mailing offices. Canada Post International Publi-

Utah Scientific 37 801-575-8801 utahscientific.com cations Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement

Videof ra me

Videotek, Inc.

94

IBC

530-477-2000

800-800-5719

videoframesystems.com

videotek.com

No. 0956295. POSTMASTER: Send address changes toBroadcast Engineering, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60076-

7800 USA. CORRESPONDENCE: Editorial and Advertis-Wheatstone Corporation IFC 252-638-7000 wheatstone.com ing: 9800 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66212-2216 Phone:Wohler Technologies, Inc 40,60 888-5-wohler wohler.com 913-341-1300; Edit. fax: 913-967-1905. Advert. fax: 913-

360 Systems 33 818-991-0360 360systems.com 967-1904. © 2003 by Primedia Business. All rightsreserved.


E I M 111111111111111111M111111.-a s-- a ii

Putting yourmoney where it worksBY PAUL MCGOLDRICK

So it seems as though we arefinally coming out of thelatest downturn in busi-

ness. Companies that I have talked togenerally agree that since the middle of2002 things have been ticking up morepositively, with the notches getting largerin the early months of this summer.

But while we now see more spendingon advertising and promotion of prod-ucts, we need to wake up a good num-ber of suppliers about how businessshould be conducted, even (or espe-cially!) through hard times. I have beenassociated with a venture that started inthe months before Sept. 11 and has per-severed through the worst of times tocome out ahead of the game - cash -flowpositive and growing - simply by stay-ing in there and doing it right. Nearlyeverywhere else I have seen the cutbacks,the layoffs, the plant closings and thehiring freezes which, unfortunately, arepart of the mindset of American busi-ness. Many companies live month tomonth, like minimum wage employeeslive paycheck to paycheck

David Ogilvy, the genius who wasfounder/CEO of Ogilvy and Mather, isnot someone we can all probably agreewith all the time. Some of his rules formarketing are so patently obvious; how-ever, no person who has corporate re-sponsibilities or marketing in his/her jobtitle should be allowed to forget them.The most important and probably themost easily forgotten in businessAmerica is, "Regard advertising as partof the product, to be treated as a pro-duction cost, not a selling cost." Whentimes get tough it is not the moment tocut back on promoting your products,whether it is advertising or the size ofyour NAB booth. That's just a recipe formaking a prediction of doom andgloom an absolute reality. But I wouldchallenge any company in our industry

to show that isn't the direction it hastaken in the last 18 months...

If your product is a success you needto promote that success, reinforce itssuccess, assure your customers that itis a success. Commit long term to yourpromotions. Short-term exposurerarely works; consistency always does

them. As a result it is spinning out alot more new products in a terrificgrowth spurt, at a time when the oth-ers are still wondering how to go aboutsecuring a recovery. Every time I haveseen a corporate statement in the last18 months about "lacking visibility ofthe immediate future," or "the cuts we

Commit long term to your promotions.

Short-term exposure rarely works;

consistency always does.

- with the right creative. If you havelosing products dump them fast. Pro-moting losing products is a muchworse, embarrassing, misuse of funds.Yes, I know that sometimes a productbecomes the boss' baby and getting ridof it is not easy, but you have to do it.

Promoting your products when oth-ers are backing away from commit-ments dramatically increases yourshare of even a declining market.

Use time periods like these - and it'sstill not too late to take advantage ofthe situation, even as we begin toemerge with more confidence in ourbusiness - to find and recruit the ad-ditional designers you're going to needto further push your position. Thesepeople are difficult to recruit duringboom years, and easy to recruit dur-ing down times. A company that laysoff anybody during a downturn auto-matically scares those that remain.There is one semiconductor vendor

that I have been carefully watchingover the last two years. As its competi-tors have been losing really goodpeople - not because their jobs are inimmediate danger, but because the at-mosphere suddenly changes when yousee support staff and customer servicestaff being laid off - it has been gaining

are making today will put us in goodstead when things recover" it makesme cringe, and wonder how someCEOs actually get their jobs.

Company development in difficulttimes is very little different from invest-ing in the stock market: If you take along-term view of the market and con-sistently invest the same amount ofmoney each week/month whetherprices are going up or down, overall youwill be successful. If you try to second-guess forces that are totally out of yourcontrol you will lose. In the corporateequivalent, you have to consistently in-vest in people, designs and promotionsto reap the benefits over time.

Next budget cycle, don't allow any-one to leave the table before you seethe promotional expenses for a newproduct included in the "Cost ofGoods Sold:' If the product is a win-ner you automatically have more bud-get to promote further assurances tothe market; if you have a loser the bud-get disappears with the product's de-mise. It's the right way to think. BE

Paul McGoldrick is an industry consultantbased on the West Coast.

Send questions and comments to:

[email protected]


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LEITCH.02003 Leitch Technology Corporation

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