From: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite,rec.arts.tv,rec.video,rec.video.production,comp.compression
Subject: Re: NBC Artifacts: it's not compression!
Date: 29 Jul 92 01:50:58 GMT
Reply-To: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout

In article <1961@gvgspd.GVG.TEK.COM> dlh@gvgdsd.GVG.TEK.COM (David L. Hershberger) writes:   [originally posted to rec.video.satellite]
<It's not compression that's causing the artifacts on NBC - it is, as
<several in this newsgroup have speculated, due to the standards
<conversion. All of the origination and production is being done in 625
<line 50 Hz video. NBC is using two very good standards converters, and
<the artifacts produced are much more subtle than your run of the mill
<PAL to NTSC conversion.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

In today's mail was the July issue of Television Broadcasting.  There was an
article about some of the equipment that NBC is using.

First off there is more than 1200 people and 15,000 video tapes.  There are
more than 44,000 connections linked to 170 miles of cable, centered around a
Pesa System 5 routing switcher that has more than 225,000 cross points.  The
NBC master grid in New York only has 65,000 cross points.

The facility includes two studios, two control rooms, a graphics editing
facility, nine edit rooms and a graphics production area.  They can deal
with 62 incoming feeds at any given time.

Outside the facility, NBC will have 14 mobile units in operation to more than
34 venues.  Track and field & gymnastics will have the largest setups.  Each
of them will have a production truck and two edit rooms.  There will be 14
cameras at the track and field site, along with the 40 world feed cameras.

The world feed is controlled by the Olympics Radio and Television Organization.

According to Charles Jablonski, managing director if engineering, NBC Olympics,
NBC was pushed into going PAL because of the world feed.  "CBS was able to work
in NTSC at the Winter Games because the whole operation is smaller.  At the
Summer Olympics, there are many more venues and feeds to deal with than at the
Winter Olympics," explained Jablonski.  "We have mobile units at 16 venues, and
we also have to take splits from the hosts' cameras, which are shooting PAL.
And with 150 splits, it isn't too practical or effective to buy 150 standards
converters.  Instead, we only need eight standards converters."

Another major difference between NBC's coverage and CBS's is the use of the
much-publicized Panasonic D3 format.  NBC and the other broadcasters will
put more than 1200 D3 VTRs into use, with NBC accounting for 236 of that number.
"The D3 machines are working well," said Jablonksi.  "The D3 format is similar
to D2 in that it's digital, but because it uses half-inch tape, the cost is
lower.  And there's also a one-piece camcorder, which is a great advantage."

D3 cameras are also being used, with the AQ-225 camera making its worldwide
debut at the games.  Stphen Mahrer, Panasonic Olympics project manager, sad
that Panasonic will supply 100 technicians to help the broadcasters with any
problems or questions.

Other equipment that NBC is using include: three Grass Valley 300 production
switchers along with 11 channels of Grass Valley Kaleidoscope digital video
effects, and one Grass Valley Kadenza component switcher will be used  to help
in the editing process.  Graphics will be completed using a variety of
equipment which will be connected to a Grass Valley serial digital Series 7000
router.  Six Chyron Infinits will be used along with eight Quantel Picturebox
systems, four Quantel Paintbox graphics systems, one Quantel Harry, one
Wavefront, and one Abekas digital disk recorder.

Also in this issue was an ad from the company making one of the two models
of standards converters.  The Vistek Vector converter is actually made up
of two pieces, the V4401 4:2:2 converter and the V4501 Motion Estimator.
What caught my eye was the following text in the ad:

	Combined with the V4401, the V4501 is the world's finest
	motion estimator.  Vector Motion Compensation assures smooth
	motion for all moving objects with no blurring or loss of
	picture detail in the area of motion.

If what I am seeing is "smooth motion for all moving objects with no blurring
or loss of picture detail in the area of motion," then I'd hate to see it
when it isn't working.  Personally I think the units need work, either the
Vistek or the Thomson (probably both).

Sorry, but I prefer the old 4-field converters (which the V4401 is).
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