Anyone out there recall a common early meme about software? It went something like this, “Software is like prostitution. After you sell it, you’ve still got it.” The phrase was meant to denigrate the whole software business and things have not changed for the better.

I need a new TV

Okay, I want a new TV, but my old Sony projection TV, circa 1995, just won't quit. The second receiver built into the set did stop working, but I don’t need it because I’m watching via cable.  Even though the TV set is not even ATSC compliant, I refuse to replace it until it dies.

The Ultra HD Forum will expand on priorities for the next “Phase B” of UHD technologies at IBC 2017 in response to a detailed survey of 50 TV operators from around the world.

As the IOC prepares the largest 8K UHD production yet, from the Winter Olympics in South Korea, it’s worth asking if this ultra-high resolution format will ever be broadcast wider than the shores of Japan. In short, the answer is negative, but that won’t stop vendors developing a full production chain, just in case.

We shooters, and the broadcasters that hire us, have long had a noble and worthy goal: that what we see with our naked eye should match what we see on our TV at home. This goal may have seemed elusive or impossible in the past but today, given the advances in technology, especially HDR, the dream of 1:1 capture and display is not only realistic but is already here.

The fires started by lithium batteries in Samsung mobile phones have been making the news lately, causing the company to pull the entire line of its Note 7 phones off the market. Does this mean that all lithium batteries, including the kind used by video crews, are susceptible to the same fate?

Broadcasters are spending millions of dollars getting ready to roll out ATSC 3.0 technology. Yet, an elephant remains in the room. Will all of the required techno-puzzle pieces properly mesh to create an HDR, 4K, mobile, two-way, viewer-identification-capable service?

Of all the newer delivery technologies, 5G is likely to offer the strongest competition to the world’s free, over-the-air (OTA) broadcast model. Planned 5G services may offer multiple content streams, 4K, support for new video standards, mobile reception and on multiple devices. Here is how I think the new ATSC 3.0 standard stacks up against this competitor.

As TV screens have gotten larger, the role of design and aesthetics has grown and reached beyond the CE (Consumer Electronics) makers to broadcasters and content producers. This is evident at recent trade shows such as CES 2018 earlier this year where focus on picture quality has been mirrored by efforts to make screens blend more harmoniously in the background.

OTT video consumption via smartphones is escalating in Sub Saharan Africa as premium satellite TV services decline, although the two trends are only partly connected.