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The Masked Engineer: Mario Orazio
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Mario Orazio is the pseudonym of a well-known television engineer who wishes to remain anonymous. E-mail him at Mario_Orazio@imaspub.com.
Until our new data system is fully integrated, please
click here for earlier articles.
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Hi-D! Hi-D! Hi-D! No?
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by Mario Orazio, 1.16.2006
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You might not have noticed that all numbers are zero. There’s a good reason you might not have noticed that, but I’ll get back to that in a few shakes of an image stabilizer. First, I wanted to mention the purpose of this month’s rant: proving that HDTV ain’t color.
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Widescreen HD Gets Toasted by Cell Phones
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by Mario Orazio, 11.23.2005
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You might not have noticed that Steve Jobs changed his mind. Let me put that another way: You might not have noticed that the most important thing about HDTV is NTSC
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It's Not the Frequencies, Stupid
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by Mario Orazio, 10.19.2005
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You might not have noticed that leeches and maggots have been in federal government news recently. Yes, this month's rant is about Hurricane Katrina and DTV.
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It's High Time to Make DTV Work
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by Mario Orazio, 9.21.2005
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You might not have noticed that summer's over. Congress is back in session, and it's time to knuckle down and complete the DTV transition.
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Let's Talk About Optics Downticks
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by Mario Orazio, 8.17.2005
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You might not have noticed that neutral-density filters are our friends. But first, you also might not have noticed that OConnor introduced some HDTV camera mounts at April's NAB show. I am not making this up.
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What About the Tiny TVs?
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by Mario Orazio, 7.20.2005
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You might not have noticed that there are numbers smaller than 13. I point this out because the FCC, Our Beloved Commish, seems to have just made the discovery.
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Blind Faith at NAB2005
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by Mario Orazio, 6.22.2005
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You might not have noticed that it's tough to rate the image quality of a block of wood. The same applies to Panasonic's new AG-HVX200 camcorder. Okay, what I'm really talking about here is religious faith.
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High Definition Has Its Place--In Cameras
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by Mario Orazio, 4.18.2005
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You might not have noticed that a meal of a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake with a Cheerio is about as heart-healthy as one without. Yes, I'm making a plea here for everyone to shoot HDTV.
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Which Transition is Which?
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by Mario Orazio, 3.28.2005
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You might not have noticed that HDTV can be analog.
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Numbers, Fingers, Toes and Quality
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by Mario Orazio, 2.16.2005
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Have you noticed that there are really only two definitions of the word digital? One means related to fingers or toes. The other means numerical. That's all. So, unless you happen to be a finger, toe or number fetishist, there ain't any definition of digital that happens to mean good.
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Survey Says: We Don't Care About HDTV
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by Mario Orazio, 1.19.2005
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You might not have noticed that sometimes a purchase has more than you wanted.
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Labels, Cables and Other Assorted Rantings
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by Mario Orazio, 11.24.2004
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You might not have noticed, but my last blather was about a lack of labels on TVs. So on account of inertia being my favorite state, I decided to stay with the label theme in this here column.
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Analog Obsolescence Looms
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by Mario Orazio, 10.20.2004
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You might not have noticed that it's been seven-and-a-half years since the U.S. digital television rules came out. Here are some of the reasons why you might not have noticed:
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Scaling Mount Ed Display
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by Mario Orazio, 9.22.2004
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You might not have noticed that there is still a production aperture and a viewing aperture. Let me put that another way: Safe-action and safe-title areas exist even in the age of plasma panels and LCDs. And that's a problem.
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Surprise! HDTV Has Higher Definition
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by Mario Orazio, 8.18.2004
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You might not have noticed that HDTV has higher definition than standard-definition television. I am not making this up.
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So Everyone Is Wrong...Now What?
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by Mario Orazio, 7.21.2004
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You might not have noticed that not everything that everyone agrees on is correct.
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The 'F' in FCC Stands for Fun!
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by Mario Orazio, 6.23.2004
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You might not have noticed that your laptop doesn't have an 802.11a connection. Let me put that another way: you might not have noticed that Our Beloved Commish, aka the FCC, has a great sense of humor.
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The 2004 Mario Award Winners ...
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by Mario Orazio, 5.24.2004
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Yeesh! It's tough enough covering 100 square miles of exhibits in four days and wading through 100,000 Applets hogging the Apple booth without having to deal with NAB's booth numbers.
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The Meaning of HDTV Ain't Very Clear
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by Mario Orazio, 4.21.2004
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What I really want to rant about this month is good old high definition. The problem is defining definition and figuring out how high is high -- that and some other stuff.
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MPEG-2 Is Alive and Well And Living in China
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by Mario Orazio, 3.26.2004
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Good old analog NTSC is supposed to die one second after 11:59:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2006 (and, if the FCC had its way, it would be a year earlier than that). Will it?
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