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.

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

Compression Is Easy

by Mario Orazio, 2.10.2006

You might not have noticed that objective measurements have gone the way of NTC-7. I ain’t sure if that’s good or bad, but it surely does leave a big hole in equipment specs. more

Hi-D! Hi-D! Hi-D! No?

by Mario Orazio, 1.16.2006

You might not have noticed that all numbers are zero. There’s a good reason you might not have noticed that, but I’ll get back to that in a few shakes of an image stabilizer. First, I wanted to mention the purpose of this month’s rant: proving that HDTV ain’t color. more

Widescreen HD Gets Toasted by Cell Phones

by Mario Orazio, 11.23.2005

You might not have noticed that Steve Jobs changed his mind. Let me put that another way: You might not have noticed that the most important thing about HDTV is NTSC more

It's Not the Frequencies, Stupid

by Mario Orazio, 10.19.2005

You might not have noticed that leeches and maggots have been in federal government news recently. Yes, this month's rant is about Hurricane Katrina and DTV. more

It's High Time to Make DTV Work

by Mario Orazio, 9.21.2005

You might not have noticed that summer's over. Congress is back in session, and it's time to knuckle down and complete the DTV transition. more

Let's Talk About Optics Downticks

by Mario Orazio, 8.17.2005

You might not have noticed that neutral-density filters are our friends. But first, you also might not have noticed that OConnor introduced some HDTV camera mounts at April's NAB show. I am not making this up. more

What About the Tiny TVs?

by Mario Orazio, 7.20.2005

You might not have noticed that there are numbers smaller than 13. I point this out because the FCC, Our Beloved Commish, seems to have just made the discovery. more

Blind Faith at NAB2005

by Mario Orazio, 6.22.2005

You might not have noticed that it's tough to rate the image quality of a block of wood. The same applies to Panasonic's new AG-HVX200 camcorder. Okay, what I'm really talking about here is religious faith. more

High Definition Has Its Place--In Cameras

by Mario Orazio, 4.18.2005

You might not have noticed that a meal of a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake with a Cheerio is about as heart-healthy as one without. Yes, I'm making a plea here for everyone to shoot HDTV. more

Which Transition is Which?

by Mario Orazio, 3.28.2005

You might not have noticed that HDTV can be analog. more

Numbers, Fingers, Toes and Quality

by Mario Orazio, 2.16.2005

Have you noticed that there are really only two definitions of the word digital? One means related to fingers or toes. The other means numerical. That's all. So, unless you happen to be a finger, toe or number fetishist, there ain't any definition of digital that happens to mean good. more

Survey Says: We Don't Care About HDTV

by Mario Orazio, 1.19.2005

You might not have noticed that sometimes a purchase has more than you wanted. more

Labels, Cables and Other Assorted Rantings

by Mario Orazio, 11.24.2004

You might not have noticed, but my last blather was about a lack of labels on TVs. So on account of inertia being my favorite state, I decided to stay with the label theme in this here column. more

Analog Obsolescence Looms

by Mario Orazio, 10.20.2004

You might not have noticed that it's been seven-and-a-half years since the U.S. digital television rules came out. Here are some of the reasons why you might not have noticed: more

Scaling Mount Ed Display

by Mario Orazio, 9.22.2004

You might not have noticed that there is still a production aperture and a viewing aperture. Let me put that another way: Safe-action and safe-title areas exist even in the age of plasma panels and LCDs. And that's a problem. more

Surprise! HDTV Has Higher Definition

by Mario Orazio, 8.18.2004

You might not have noticed that HDTV has higher definition than standard-definition television. I am not making this up. more

So Everyone Is Wrong...Now What?

by Mario Orazio, 7.21.2004

You might not have noticed that not everything that everyone agrees on is correct. more

The 'F' in FCC Stands for Fun!

by Mario Orazio, 6.23.2004

You might not have noticed that your laptop doesn't have an 802.11a connection. Let me put that another way: you might not have noticed that Our Beloved Commish, aka the FCC, has a great sense of humor. more