The #1 rule of live broadcasting is that things tend to fail at the worst possible time. The greater the ratings, the more likely something highly unlikely but mission-critical will fail, broadcast RF and wireless communication systems included. Count on it.
IP networks provide us with untold flexibility, but this flexibility presents us with interesting challenges of control. Developments in SDN (software defined networks) are leading the way through the separation of the control and data plane. And as we discover more of what SDN means, we soon realize that broadcasters are closer than they may think in achieving its operation.
When CBS Sports broadcasts images of the players taking the field on February 7th for Super Bowl LV to millions of viewers around the world, it will be the culmination of the most challenging season for live football sports production in the U.S.
The requirement for a wide dynamic range to be provided economically is usually met by what is loosely called gamma, which is a non-linear transfer function having numerous drawbacks. However, there is an alternative form of what might loosely be called gamma, which is floating point.
In modern consumer electronics history, every new year begins with an early January Consumer Electronics Show, followed by the April NAB Show, both in Las Vegas. Significant new home and broadcast video and audio technologies are often rolled out at both shows, targeted for near-opposite markets wanting to enjoy or produce lots of TV. With no physical exhibits since CES 2020, manufacturers are struggling to impress virtual visitors and reporters with better and larger images with what they can see on their local computer screens.
Timing accuracy has been a fundamental component of broadcast infrastructures for as long as we’ve transmitted television pictures and sound. The time invariant nature of frame sampling still requires us to provide timing references with sub microsecond accuracy.
Lockdowns have accelerated some societal or technological trends that were already happening, such as remote production and home working in general.
For content providers (studios, content owners, content aggregators, or other content licensors) and their licensees (affiliates) operating in a multiplatform world - and pirates looking to obtain illegal access to the most popular content - it’s an unrelenting game of cat and mouse. While the internet has provided a cost-effective and easy way to deliver content to consumers, it also opens up new vulnerabilities that content pirates are eager to expose.
