Inside CCTV the New Home of China’S CCTV Is an Impressive Sight, but the Technology Within Is Even More Striking

FEATURES: BROADCAST

One of the ﬁ ve control rooms Inside CCTV The new home of China’s CCTV is an impressive sight, but the technology within is even more striking. Richard Lawn takes a tour

WITH THE SWITCH FROM ANALOGUE the Advanced Television Systems to digital, broadcast television Committee have been adopted systems encoding or formatting as the standard in North America, standards for the transmission and Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial reception of terrestrial television (DVB-T) has been adopted by the rest signals are required to combine of the world. This system transmits NTSC, PAL and SECAM systems compressed digital audio, digital within a single transmission system. video and other data in an MPEG By integrating a set of technical transport stream, using coded parameters for the broadcasting orthogonal frequency-division signal, an encoder system for multiplexing (COFDM) modulation. encoding colour and a system for Rather than carrying the data on encoding multichannel television a single radio frequency carrier, sound (MTS), a heterogeneous OFDM splits the digital data stream In the CCTV control room – Tao Lin, Jolly Yang, Song Xuan and Sony Ein network has thus been created. into a large number of slower digital Whilst this has proved to be a huge streams, each of which digitally which is done by syncing information technological challenge for systems modulate a set of closely spaced in the stream and timing at each integrators and engineers carrying adjacent carrier frequencies. transmitter referenced to GPS. out the conversions, the situation DVB-T was designed for format Coinciding its own switch from with worldwide digital television is compatibility with existing direct analogue to digital transmission with simpler by comparison. broadcast satellite services in a relocation to new headquarters in Most current digital television Europe, although Japan uses a Beijing, state TV broadcaster China systems are based on the MPEG closely related third system called Central Television (CCTV) was able to transport stream standard, and use ISDB-T. The People’s Republic design its new transmission system the H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 video of China has developed a fourth on a blank canvas. FRGHF7KH\GLIIHUVLJQLÀFDQWO\ system named DMB-T/H. This fusion Founded in 1958, CCTV has a however, in the details of how the system is in essence a compromise network of 22 channels broadcasting transport stream is converted into of different competing proposing a mixture of documentary, comedy, a broadcast signal both in the video standards designed by different entertainment and drama to format prior to encoding and in the Chinese Universities, incorporating more than one billion viewers. On audio format. This has not prevented elements from DVB-T, ADTB-T and September 2nd 2008 the new the creation of an international TiMi 3. Within a geographical area, CCTV headquarters was opened, standard that includes both major the format allows single-frequency marking the organisation’s 50th systems, even though they are network (SFN) operation, where two anniversary. The new building is incompatible in virtually every or more transmitters carrying the an iconic anti-skyscraper that was respect. same data operate on the same delivered in time for the 2008 Beijing There are two principal digital frequency. In such cases the signals One of the ﬁ ve racked rooms for Olympics, changing the architectural broadcasting systems. Whilst the from each transmitter in the SFN each of the control rooms used for image of China’s capital city. The two ATSC standards developed by needs to be accurately time-aligned, CCTV’s transmissions L-shaped, glazed 234m towers link at

112 PRO AUDIO ASIA March–April 2013 FEATURES: BROADCAST

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Dolphins have sonar. Humans have ASL Intercom! 1/4 Horizontal (brilliant communication)

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