CRAIG BIRKMAIER

Acronyms are a form of compression. They are the staple of standards organizations, video manufacturers and industry trade publications like Broadcast

The world of digital media seemed to materialize before our eyes in 1994. Personal computers were moving from the office into the home. Microsoft bet

The future of digital television is changing, along with the climate, the global economy and global politics. According to Douglas Adams, the author of

In his book, Defining Vision: The Battle for the Future of Television, reporter Joel Brinkley tells how the drive for advanced television has its roots

I spend a fair amount of time interacting with industry experts on e-mail forums. Recently, one forum, the DVDList, has been abuzz about what most members

The DTV transition is now 10 years old. In the first half of 1997, the FCC adopted the ATSC standard for DTV broadcasting and established the rules for

As the era of analog NTSC broadcasting inches closer to an end, the percentage of U.S. homes with widescreen, HD-capable displays is growing rapidly.

Do you know who watches the programming delivered by your station? If you are reaching for the latest ratings book so you can cite the number of viewers

Does anyone out there still have a dot matrix printer? It seems they have gone the way of the horse-and-buggy and round tube TVs, a term that the consumer

A true studio in a box is now possible, thanks to the convergence of traditional video production tools with IT systems

It seems like broadcasters are being squeezed at every turn these days. The networks are putting the squeeze on compensation for affiliates. In many cases,

It is still unclear whether consumer piracy is a real problem, especially for television programs

TVs and PCs are looking more and more similar as the component technologies from which they are built rapidly converge.

More than 25 companies demonstrated products in support of H.264 at NAB. Many of these products also support the VC-1 codec from Microsoft. These products

There have been a series of promotional announcements on the radio lately they sound more like ads to me talking about the advantages of free radio. The

Broadcasters are fighting to keep their entire spectrum to themselves, but they may need a new battle cry

With DVDs, NVOD, VOD and Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), the viewers are becoming the program directors, watching what they want, when they want, with no regard for continuity

Is data the big fish that got away?