HOLLYWOOD: Engineers and members of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers came together recently to discuss the latest technology and developments in the broadcast and film industries. Yours truly was able to attend a few of the presentations and herewith attempts to boil down her takeaway...
Developing a Machine-Learned Video QC Algorithm
It’s darn near impossible for someone to sit at a monitor and spot every video and audio error in a given program. Automated tools fare no better, because they’re difficult to configure, according to Nick Vercammen, a master of applied informatics at Ghent University in Belgium. However, Vercammen and his colleagues are using machine-learning techniques to develop an algorithm that reliably identifies audio and video errors. (Continued...)
Points to Consider With Multiple Formats in a File-Based Workflow
The chief complaint about file-based workflows is how to handle all the source formats. Pick one, said John King of BitCentral. King recommends identifying an acquisition format and driving the organization and newsroom toward it. For everything else, he laid out steps to create a methodology. (Continued...)
Take a Unique Material Identifier, Please
UMIDs take metadata to a whole new level. UMID stands for “Unique Material Identifier,” a core component in MXF and AAF. UMIDs are also part of a SMPTE spec and intended for linking audio/video material to metadata. Such deployments are rare, according to Yoshiaki Shibata of MetaFrontier, yet material is more easily trackable via UMIDs than metadata alone. (Continued...)
Broadcast, Mobile and Streaming Headends, Oh My Indeed
Multiplatform distribution is more than just demuxing a signal. With linear broadcasting, there’s a common transport standard, a typical reception device and well-established content rights. Multiplatform streaming often requires adaptive transport measures for multiple receiver types, and content rights are “contentious, if not right down hostile sometimes,” said J. Patrick Waddell of Harmonic. (Continued...)
Adding Mobile DTV at the Station
Mobile DTV will eventually need a differentiated programming stream, but it probably won’t start out that way. That was the assessment of Triveni Digital’sDr. Rich Chernock, possibly the only nuclear physicist working in TV. He provided an overview. (Continued...)
Adding Mobile DTV at a Venue
Common wisdom suggests mobile DTV should be made as widely available as possible at launch. Yet past attempts at mobile television service haven’t gone so well, Gustavo Marraof ATEME USA said. However, Marra says there’s an opportunity within sports stadiums, because fans want commentary and information in addition to just watching the game. (Continued...)
TV Tomorrow: Married to LTE
Instead of fighting over spectrum, the broadcast and wireless industries could work together to deliver video, according to Mark Aitken of Sinclair. Aitken said the next-generation ATSC standard could be married to 3GPP, the global standard of the wireless industry. That way, ATSC would be compatible with LTE-Advanced capabilities, allowing carrier aggregation, heterogeneous networks, an all-IP core network and network-sharing possibilities. (Continued...)
Remote and Mobile Monitoring of On-Air Signals For Centralcasters
NBC wanted remote monitoring of 10 TV stations and multicasts with discrete, full-resolution channels, and multiviewers for each channel group, distributed across multiple platforms. “And they wanted to do it with minimum financial outlay,” said Michael Wright of TI Broadcast Solutions Group. (Continued...)
IP-Based Monitoring In A Broadcast Environment
Martin Jolicoeur of Miranda Technologies examined monitoring at two levels: Transport and content. (Continued...)
Monitoring Data Integrity in SMPTE 310M and DVB-ASI Transport Streams
Monitoring signal integrity within a facility is one thing. Catching a glimpse of it in the air is another. David Wood of Ensemble Designs considered monitoring a signal from the studio to the transmitter relay sites. He used KJLA-TV in Los Angeles as an example. Its studio is 29 miles from the Mt. Wilson transmitter site. (Continued...)
