Latest articles by JOHN LUFF
Wireless microphones
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
Television engineers tend to think of the world as entirely digital these days. CCDs for image acquisition (digital capture), digital video recorders,
Video servers: Serving from a daunting menu
Since the invention of the hard disk there have been predictions that linear media, including video tape, will eventually disappear. Not even a decade
Monitoring in a flat world
Fundamental to any control room is a method of monitoring the audio and video that is being assembled in production or air operations. Though the requirements
Portable lighting
The broadcast business is about capturing images and using them to create content that informs, enlightens and entertains. All of that starts with replicating
Backup and UPS power
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
Production switching
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
Monitoring video in new ways
In the grand scheme of technology, how we monitor television in professional facilities seems like a rather trivial, obvious matter, but it's actually
Facility monitoring
ABC Television sets a high bar with its new central routing and switching system.
Fiber-optic solutions
Today’s HD, 3-D and 3G environments require wide bandwidth connectivity, and using fiber is a good solution.
TV sync and timing
Today’s sync system is nearly the same as it was 72 years ago when television was in its infancy.
Multiviewer displays
The time is approaching when all displays will process images, with many displaying more than one input at a time. In fact, like it or not, essentially
Production switchers
Adding 3G and 3-D capability today is a smart investment for the future
File-based workflows
Change is good in life. It is what encourages new thoughts and approaches to many things. The broadcast industry has seen three distinct eras in technology
File-based workflow
In this second installment on aspects of file-based workflow, the topic turns to the human factors affecting implementation and how to implement software
TV synchronization
In 1939, when General Sarnoff broadcast the first live television show at the World's Fair in New York, synchronization was critical to the ability to
Master control rooms
Rather than switching to lights out, unmanned operations, broadcast stations still require an engineer
Video encoders
It is often assumed that when someone is speaking of encoders, they're referring to MPEG-2. But with the expansion of encoding platforms and video compression
Video encoders
In the July column, A switcher's life cycle, I spoke about product life cycle and product maturity. Nowhere is this a more appropriate concept than when
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
Monitoring video
It's not hard to monitor video. What could be simpler? Plug a BNC video cable and RCA audio cable into a monitor, and glory be it works! There was a time
