CIE Sept09 P22-23:Layout 1 09/09/2009 14:21 Page 23
Broadcasting Technology
that works with existing computer but with the higher data rate this was manager at Analog Devices. “And one of broadcasting are converging. Watching
platforms and uses algorithms to avoid halved to 100m though modern the big areas is noise cancellation and Coronation Street may never be the
bottlenecks in the transfer of large components are improving this to 120 or reduction to get rid of background noise same again. n
amounts of data. He claims speed 140m. when people call in from the field.”
improvements of 20 to 100 times over “The most critical components here This includes cleaning up the sound
Analog Devices | www.analog.com
FTP for what is a fairly new technology are cable drivers, cable equalisers and the when people call in on a telephone or
Ant | www.antlimited.com
but has already made gains in the USA reclocker,” said Thomas Wirschem, mobile phone to make it sound like they
Aspera | www.asperasoft.com
film industry. product marketing manager at National are speaking from the studio.
“We are a quasi standard in Hollywood Semiconductor. “These really define how “To do this in real time is pretty
National Semiconductor
these days,” he said. “All Hollywood far you can transmit the signal in a TV or challenging,” said Labrecque. “You have
| www.national.com
studios use our software. We have also film studio.” distinguish between what is noise and
VPype | www.vpype.com
made significant inroads into the The cable driver improves the what is someone talking. When you do
broadcasting sector in the USA.” cleanliness of the signal going into the this after the fact in a studio you can
The firm is now trying to extend its cable with low jitter and phase noise. The define what is what and select the noise
presence in other territories and opened longer the cable, the more attenuation to remove multiple instances of it. But it
a European office about a year ago. It and interference it attracts. The equaliser is hard in real time, yet there are a
also has an Asian office. However, the at the other end tries to correct for that. number of people who do it well.”
company intends to keep the technology The reclocker does a second stage of An additional technique being looked
proprietary at least for the near future. cleaning to try to bring the signal back to at now is putting harmonics back into a
“We are not really heading in the what it was. signal to replace what has been removed
direction of making it an open standard,” But Wirschem does not believe that during the compression processes during
said Quereuil. “But we will look to do technology will improve to give the a phone call. Similar techniques are being
that before bigger companies come in studios the 200m that they want. used to improve the quality of MP3
with something similar.” “To do this, they will have to go music files to replace what was lost
optical rather than copper,” he said. during compression.
Higher definition “This is much more costly. People are This has become even more important
This is becoming more important as doing it optically but only for niche as consumers splash out for DAB radios
studios move to even higher definitions. applications.” and thus expect a higher quality as a
The standard HD is moving more from High definition video also needed a result. However, already some countries
the 1080 interlaced lines in which half companion in high definition audio and are moving to DAB+, which has even
the information is updated each pass to surround sound, and this is not just for better quality.
1080 progressive where it all updated high quality music. Broadcasters of “They will phase out DAB over a
Denis Labrecque:
each pass. This doubles the data rate gridiron football in the USA, for example, period of time,” said Subrahmanyam.
from just under 1.5Gbit/s to nearly are using surround sound with “DAB audio quality is much lower than
“There are
3Gbit/s. This will help avoid motion blur microphones around the field. DAB+. But there is still the question of
that can happen with programmes such This has put a lot of pressure on the how they are going to phase in DAB+.”
demands for more
as live sports. makers of mixer desks and other sound What all in the industry seem certain
This is causing difficulties in studios equipment in studios. about is that all this is just a new
channels and more
where the interlaced version had a data “There are demands for more channels beginning. Modern techniques are
rate that allowed cameras to be 200m and more processing,” said Denis changing the face of broadcasting for
processing.”
from the router or production switches Labrecque, marketing programmes ever and the different mediums of
With
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www.cieonline.co.uk Components in Electronics September 2009 23
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