The Masked Engineer: Mario Orazio

Mario Orazio is the pseudonym of a well-known television engineer who wishes to remain anonymous. E-mail him at Mario_Orazio@imaspub.com.

Never Mind 1920x1080: Let’s Repeal July 1776!

by Mario Orazio, 6.11.2008

I ain’t got any defense for the way Brits spell defence, and I know they drive on the wrong side of the road, print the spines of their books upside down, drink warm beer, and think 9/11 means Nov. 9. But, when it comes to TV, they’ve always done a better job than us. more

The Smaller the Screen, The Higher the Bit-Rate

by Mario Orazio, 4.14.2008

This ain’t (exactly) about the transition to DTV. more

Concatenation Needs Much More Elucidation

by Mario Orazio, 4.02.2008

When HDCAM came out, you could count the number of TV stations transmitting HDTV on the fingers of one hand. more

Next Generation TV? We Ain’t Ready Yet

by Mario Orazio, 2.20.2008

It’s pretty serious, all right, but you need to take another look at the calendar. There ain’t one single broadcaster required to start transmitting digitally next February. Every full-power U.S. broadcaster was required to be transmitting digitally as of May 2003, most of them a year before that, and a few as long ago as May 1999. more

Two Words On HDTV for Producers: ‘Up Yours!’

by Mario Orazio, 12.19.2007

You might not have noticed that HDTV has gotten cheap. more

NTSC’s Problems Were Fixed in Just 54 Years

by Mario Orazio, 11.21.2007

You might not have noticed that no one complains about excessive blanking anymore. more

HD Oh My: Aim Carefully At Foot and Pull Trigger

by Mario Orazio, 10.17.2007

You might not have noticed that there’s a simple way to completely eliminate aviation terrorism. You might also not have noticed any cessation of HDTV programming on CBS. Yes, I’m ranting once again about content protection. more

Upconversion: It’s More Than Meets the Aieeee!!

by Mario Orazio, 8.22.2007

You might not have noticed that it’s no longer 1996. more

TV Is Pictures and Sound; 'Taint Numbers and Specs

by Mario Orazio, 6.27.2007

You might not have noticed that all television control rooms have monitors of both the picture and sound variety. more

Mario Awards 2007: A 'Revolutionary' NAB

by Mario Orazio, 5.30.2007

You might not have noticed that half of 2.2 Mbps is 557 kbps. That’s what folks who looked into the new MPH DTV transmission system at NAB 2007 were told anyhow. Learning new stuff like that makes the world’s biggest TV-technology show great. more

This TV Tuner Cable Box 'Tis a Gift: Is It Sinful?

by Mario Orazio, 4.16.2007

You might not have noticed it's a good idea to beware of geeks making gifts. This ain't about that ancient wooden horse named for a condom. more

A-1 Broadcast Quality? Here Comes Trickle Up

by Mario Orazio, 1.24.2007

You might not have noticed that we don't all keep our personal helicopters in our garages. more

'Yes, It's Still Coming,' The Two Firms SED Again

by Mario Orazio, 11.15.2006

You might not have noticed that not everything that can be imagined always happens. Yes, I'm ranting this month about new display technologies. more

Protecting Pretty Pix, Keeping Consumers Cool

by Mario Orazio, 10.18.2006

"Time flies." "You can't stop progress." "If you snooze, you lose." Yes, of course I'm ranting this month about the war on piracy. more

Mobile TV Might Suck, But It Could Earn You $$

by Mario Orazio, 8.23.2006

You might not have noticed that Snell & Wilcox doesn't yet sell television directors. Yes, this will be another rant-and-rave about mobile TV. more

Getting to Home Base With A Cast of Multi

by Mario Orazio, 7.26.2006

You might not have noticed that the term HDTV doesn't necessarily guarantee quality. more

Next-Gen Monitoring: You Just Late And See

by Mario Orazio, 6.28.2006

You might not have noticed that the first part of Sherlock Holmes's explanation to Dr. Watson gets ignored. more

The 2006 Mario Awards

by Mario Orazio, 5.31.2006

Ah, Las Vegas. Where else would you find a woman's near-naked derriere blown up to about two stories high on the side of a hotel in what's now promoting itself as a family-friendly city? more

Aspects of Loveliness: Fix It? Heck, No!

by Mario Orazio, 4.24.2006

You might not have noticed that not everyone on TV is fat. Yes, this month's rant is about image shapes. Here's what I mean. more

Break Out the Lawyers, It's Congress, Again!

by Mario Orazio, 3.24.2006

You might not have noticed that NAB stands for National Association of Broadcasters, and it's pronounced N. A. B. These days, folks go to Las Vegas to attend a "nab" show on account of they want to nab a deal on a mobile-phone modem or a satellite set-top box or maybe a massage chair. Oh, yeah, and somewhere amid the vast acreage of camcorders, cable channels, and CD burners, if you look really hard you might find a TV transmitter or two. more