Latest articles by JOHN LUFF
TV sync and timing
Today’s sync system is nearly the same as it was 72 years ago when television was in its infancy.
Facility monitoring
ABC Television sets a high bar with its new central routing and switching system.
Content repurposing
We often have to remind ourselves that the purpose of broadcast engineering is to create compelling content that informs and entertains viewers in ways
Camera optics
The sweep of technology fascinates me. In the 45 years I have spent in the business, I've seen incredible change in almost every aspect of the industry.
A recording conundrum
The history of video recording has a remarkably short timeline, at least in the commercial sense. The first generally available solution was the Ampex
Monitor from your sofa
In an ideal world, the master control operator in a TV station could sit anywhere on the planet. He or she would be able to see images in essentially
Can you hear me now?
This is supposed to be a communications business. We build visual and audio communications with our viewers. Everything behind the scenes is done to get
Streaming video
Streams and files are two key concepts that are inextricably intertwined with the technology we use in production and delivery of content. Files are defined
Satellite services and systems, part 1
Satellites first were used in television for short-duration transatlantic interconnection. Short could mean a few minutes, but at the time it was a technological
Satellite services and systems, part 2
Last month's column began with a short reference to the first transatlantic satellite transmission over Telstar (1965). Of course, the more interesting
Video processing
As in many areas of technology, we are entering a time of particularly strong change in how video is processed. It is transparent that analog processing
Technology in Transition: Video storage
Television is a medium of considerable immediacy, but it is steeped in technology that often shapes how the media is used.
BIG screen values come to the small screen
HD broadcasts over DTV channels hold the promise of delivering vastly improved pictures and sound, along with data that can augment the linear video medium in an age of hypermedia.
Production switchers
Digital production switchers have been on the market for many years now.
Routing switchers: POTS, routers and switches
As the number of inputs and outputs grows the total count of crosspoints grows. Though complexity is high with virtual crosspoints, the relative cost
Audio consoles
Always include extra inputs. Eventually new consoles will be old and dead inputs will happen. Just wait till the news anchor hears his own voice four
Video tape recorders
Videotape still stores the intellectual assets of several generations of television production. Commercial videotape recording began in the late 1950s.
HD conversion products: The big picture on small pixels
The picture is not improved by upconverting a 525 signal to HDTV for DTV transmission. For many years consultants, equipment designers, production professionals
Virtual sets: Imagining we were there
Controlling reality is always expensive, and creating illusions is sometimes nearly as expensive. Entire motion pictures are being created in computers,
Editing systems
With disk space as cheap as paperclips, load time is considerably less of an issue. It is clear that we have indeed come a long way from razor blades
Video storage and networking for centralcasting
The motivation to consider centralized operations is simple. Costs are rising, ad sales are slumping, and cash flow from operations is hurting.
Technology in Transition: Newsroom automation systems
When college students attend classes in broadcast journalism today they are pretty unlikely to be exposed to manual typewriters, paper roll teleprompters and news distributed on teletype machines.
