JOHN LUFF
Latest articles by JOHN LUFF

Production switchers
By JOHN LUFF published
The coolest-looking item in any broadcast or large video facility is the production switcher. John Luff reviews the technology under the panels of these 100-button behemoths

Playout automation
By JOHN LUFF published
In a perfect world, everyone could have his or her way. Unfortunately with playout automation, that is never the case

Backup and UPS power
By JOHN LUFF published
A few years ago, I visited a satellite transmission facility in a remote location that was designed to operate off grid if necessary for a considerable
Satellite services and systems, part 2
By JOHN LUFF published
Last month's column began with a short reference to the first transatlantic satellite transmission over Telstar (1965). Of course, the more interesting

Production switching
By JOHN LUFF published
Product categories evolve over time, not unlike the natural world. Things that make a product distinct and useful tend to show up in similar ways in other

Centralized broadcasting
By JOHN LUFF published
Modern technology has facilitated the possibility in many potential models for centralized broadcasting, including remote control, distributed broadcasting and centralized business operations.
CENTRALCASTING: No Benefit Without Risk
By JOHN LUFF published
Broadcast stations used to be largely autonomous. Some still are.
Studio lighting systems
By JOHN LUFF published
My fascination with science, and physics in particular, made playing with light even more interesting.
Routing switchers: POTS, routers and switches
By JOHN LUFF published
As the number of inputs and outputs grows the total count of crosspoints grows. Though complexity is high with virtual crosspoints, the relative cost
Wireless microphones
By JOHN LUFF published
Just when everything is going well in a production, the audio operator often becomes the center of unwanted attention. One moment the singer on stage
Portable lighting
By JOHN LUFF published
Television engineers tend to think of the world as entirely digital these days. CCDs for image acquisition (digital capture), digital video recorders,
HD conversion products: The big picture on small pixels
By JOHN LUFF published
The picture is not improved by upconverting a 525 signal to HDTV for DTV transmission. For many years consultants, equipment designers, production professionals
Video servers: Serving from a daunting menu
By JOHN LUFF published
Since the invention of the hard disk there have been predictions that linear media, including video tape, will eventually disappear. Not even a decade
Technology in Transition: Media asset management systems
By JOHN LUFF published
This issue we complete a four-part series on station automation. We have looked at station automation, newsroom automation, data archive systems and, in this issue, media asset management systems.
Technology in Transition: Newsroom automation systems
By JOHN LUFF published
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.
Technology in Transition: Video storage
By JOHN LUFF published
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
By JOHN LUFF published
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.

Format conversion
By JOHN LUFF published
Increasingly, production personnel expect that any format can be converted to any other
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