JOHN LUFF
Latest articles by JOHN LUFF
HDTV equipment
By JOHN LUFF published
A decade ago, would any of us have guessed that today we would see a rapidly expanding market for HDTV programming and a demand for HDTV hardware? Perhaps
Video storage
By JOHN LUFF published
A look at the past, present and future of video storage. Which storage strategy fits your needs?
MPEG encoding systems
By JOHN LUFF published
There are plenty of misconceptions about compressed video. If you look back in the recent history of our industry much misinformation exists. Twenty years
Building IT systems
By JOHN LUFF published
What should we, the non-cognoscenti, be doing to prepare ourselves
Virtual sets: Imagining we were there
By JOHN LUFF published
Controlling reality is always expensive, and creating illusions is sometimes nearly as expensive. Entire motion pictures are being created in computers,
Streaming media products: Moving from software to hardware
By JOHN LUFF published
It is clear from the compression ratios that must be achieved that every opportunity to make the job easier ought to be taken. In the early 1970s I remember
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
Camera mounting equipment: In a supporting role
By JOHN LUFF published
The broadcast engineer of today spends his time worrying about software, video servers, DTV and the continual upgrade of the facilities he manages. His
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
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
Technology in Transition: Data archive systems
By JOHN LUFF published
In the second installment of four related to automation and asset management, this month we consider data archive systems.
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: MPEG encoders and multiplexers
By JOHN LUFF published
Compressed video has enabled businesses that were only dreams at one time.
CENTRALCASTING: No Benefit Without Risk
By JOHN LUFF published
Broadcast stations used to be largely autonomous. Some still are.
Automation software
By JOHN LUFF published
For the next four months this column will focus on four interrelated and interdependent areas of television technology: automation software, data archive
MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and JPEG 2000 encoding
By JOHN LUFF published
JPEG 2000 offers advantages, but at high bit rates.
Master control systems
By JOHN LUFF published
Master control is undergoing dramatic changes. How will they affect you
TV sync and timing
By JOHN LUFF published
Today’s sync system is nearly the same as it was 72 years ago when television was in its infancy.