KitPlus | Articles

Dance hall days are over for professional lighting

Photon Beard has made lights since before the days of electric power. "What\'s that, you say"? Well, it\'s true. Photon Beard started in 1882 when the founder, R.R. Beard, invented the automatic gas regulator. Yes, the thing that allows you to barbeque that steak in summer sunshine, or any time of year that you fancy grilled food. In the days befor...

Submitted by Peter Daffarn

Published 24 August 2016

Bring up the bodies

by Dick Hobbs Issue 98 - February 2015 If you have even once turned on BBC television in the last couple of months, you could not fail to learn that the big blockbuster drama this winter is Wolf Hall, a television adaptation of Hilary Mantel\'s two-thirds complete trilogy about the Tudors, and Thomas Cromwell in particular. I subscribe to what seem...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2015

Expanding Arqiva into HD playout

ATG Broadcast recently completed a major SD to HD upgrade for Arqiva broadcast transmission centre at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The expanded system enables Arqiva to process and transmit four fully-operational 1080i HD channels as well as six new SD channels. It includes the installation and equipping of a server-based ingest suite, playout...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

Heavy duty LCD Transportation

Over the last few years we have seen the release of hundreds of new plasma LCDs LEDs and now 3D LED with new models from new manufactures being released with what seems like every day. The huge growth in the sector has driven down the cost of production allowing companies to be very creative in how and which way to use the screens. For example we n...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

Supporting the transition to 4K

by David AckroydIssue 84 - December 2013 Plasma, LCD and LED screen technologies brought broadcasters HD audiences that justified their investment in HDTV. Recent computer monitors, tablets, mobile phones, digital cinema and 3D have driven an explosion in viewing formats. Together they have created an appetite for continued change and development i...

Submitted by David Ackroyd

Published 01 January 2014

The joy of field editing

In the world of remote working, cloud storage and instant news, the ability to edit on location at a shoot has become a pre-requisite. Only a few years ago, field editing used to be merely about the quick rough cut, the assembly of proxy files or simply the ingest of media in an edit-friendly format. These days, however, energy efficient, high perf...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 February 2013

Robin Palmer and why flashy programmes are not so good?

by Robin PalmerEver since the 1997 Pokmon phenomenon when hundreds of Japanese children were struck with epileptic fits provoked by a series bright red flashes in a TV cartoon programme broadcasters have become only too aware of PSE. Photo-Sensitive Epilepsy is a rare condition affecting perhaps only 1 in 4,000 people where flashing lights or image...

Submitted by Robin Palmer

Published 01 February 2013

Why does my project look different on every screen I watc...

By Thomas UrbyeThe age old question, asked by so many people who’ve come through my suite: “I’ve downloaded it to my laptop and it looks different?”Then there is the inevitable panic:“Thomas, how can we make sure that everyone who watches it, watches it ‘properly’?”This issue recently came to light with a campaign backed by moviemakers launched to...

Submitted by Thomas Urbye

Published 01 February 2013

Legacy and The Olympics

Legacy And The OlympicsLove sport or hate sport, the Olympics have arrived. What will they mean for you, me and the broadcast sector, asks Peter SavageThe days might still be counting down but there is no doubt: the Olympics have arrived. The Olympic torch is being carried round the country, test events have taken place in Olympic arenas, and the f...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

Ask the Experts with Dolby

Q: Dolby has recently been making waves in imaging with its PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor, but isn’t Dolby an audio company?Dolby has been involved with imaging technology for years, beginning with Dolby® Digital Cinema in 2005, then launching Dolby 3D for the cinema in 2007, and then in 2010 we introduced the Dolby PRM-4200 Professional...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

Active or Passive? Its a walk-over!

With the forthcoming Olympics being broadcast in 3D free-to-air, there is sure to be a surge in new TV purchases. Given so many 3D capable models to choose from, which is best?Until the manufacturers come out with autostereoscopic designs that work properly in high definition, we have to view 3D though some sort of glasses to separate the left and...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Quality is the best policy

Despite all the changes in our industry at the moment – and maybe because of them – quality is more important than ever. HD has become the production standard norm. Why have audiences embraced HD so enthusiastically? Because it looks and sounds great. If you have a 42” or bigger screen in your home then the difference between SD and HD is obvious t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Do you think 3D Broadcasting in its current format is lik...

There are two issues that affect the potential growth of 3D in broadcasting: they are the widespread availability of 3D enabled devices, and the cost of producing and broadcasting 3D content. All HD TV sets from major manufacturers over 40 inches that are sold today include 3D capability, so the end-user market of 3D capable viewers is growing by d...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Eye-to-eye: 2011 highlights

“Broadcasters must climb up the ladder into high definition or they’ll get their ankles chewed by the computer industry”. Memorable quote from a manufacturer of video standards converters nearly 30 years ago when NHK was trying to establish its original 1125-line (1080-active) 5:3 aspect-ratio ‘Hi-Vision’. Well it happened. 2011 was the year ‘high-...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Innovation is the Key to Digital Signage Success

In a recent survey conducted and published by POPAI UK & Ireland, the trade association for companies involved in point-of-purchase and retail communications, there are nearly four times as many shops and business incorporating digital signage into their retail sales operations as there were only four years ago, which essentially equates to a nearl...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011