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ISSN 1067-490X IEEE Volume 19, Number 3, Fall 2011 The technologies to deliver information and entertainment to audiences worldwide, at home and on the go. From the President William Meintel, BTS Newsletter Editor As you may recall that may lead to the development of from my last col- common strategies for the future of umn, I talked about terrestrial broadcasting, and to ex- Inside The Future of change technical advances in the Future of Television Summit Broadcast Televi- rapidly converging areas of terrestrial Focuses on Global Standard . 3 sion (FoBTV) Sum- broadcasting, consumer electronics mit taking place in and networking technologies. Indus- Annual BTS Symposium . 10 Shanghai, China in try technology leaders were invited to IBC2011 Draws Record Crowd. 12 Nov. 10–11, 2011. work together to share their visions of BTS is one of the founding organiza- the future of broadcasting. This bring- London Callingp . 14 tions of the FoBTV Summit along with ing together of the collective perspec- 10 other organizations representing tives of experts worldwide should ben- Student Impressions North and South America, Europe and efit industry leaders as they identify of IBC 2011 . 14 Asia. As one of the founders, BTS has their optimum national path for terres- NAB 3DTV Tutorial Report . 17 been very much involved, as BTS vice trial broadcasting. president Bill Hayes and I both were I can now report that the FoBTV Chapter Reports . 18 on the program. In addition, BTS Summit was a huge success culminat- Transactions editor Yiyan Wu served ing in a joint declaration signed by Television in Los Angeles: as co-chair of the FoBTV program technical executives from 13 broad- W6XAO, the Don Lee System, committee as well as being one of the cast organizations from around the and Harry Lubcke . 22 presenters. world. The full text of the Declaration Nominate a Colleague for The purpose of the FoBTV Sum- IEEE Fellow, Class of 2013 . 26 mit was to foster global collaboration continued on page 2 Letters to the Editor . 28 From the Editor James E. O’Neal, BTS Newsletter Editor It’s been a very Thanks to Mike Bennett and Paul busy fall season for Shulins, we have some good wrap- many of us who up coverage of IBC2011 and the BTS work in the field of Symposium in this issue. I’d like to broadcasting. commend them both for taking time There’s the annual away from their busy schedules to BTS Symposium, roll up their sleeves and crank out of course, and also these articles for the Newsletter. the AES Conven- This is my second issue of the pub- tions, and the SMPTE Technical Con- lication to go to the printer and I ference. Throw in a regional or local am getting a much better feeling for broadcast-related equipment exhibition the importance of contributions of or two and you find that you’ve got a BTS members who take the trouble very full plate. (And some of us are to prepare news stories and reports still recovering from the IBC Show for the magazine. It would be thin held back in September.) continued on page 2 From the President continued from page 1 can be found in this edition of the erywhere. Although television had I remember my parents watching newsletter. actually been around since the late the political conventions of 1952 and Two key factors led to the success of 1920’s, it did not really take off until the coronation of Queen Elizabeth at this Summit. The first was the willing- after World War II. My first recollec- Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. ness of the proponents of the various tion of broadcasting was via the radio, Later on I witnessed the historic 1960 differing television systems from around but that changed shortly thereafter, presidential debates, and sadly, the the word to come together and actually with the arrival of our first TV set in 1963 assassination of President Kenne- discuss global collaboration. The second 1952. Although initially we could only dy, and not long after that, the gunning was the tremendous effort by the host receive one channel, the TV quickly down of his brother, Bobby, and also organization the National Engineering became a necessity. It provided video Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Center of Digital Television, in the home with news and entertain- About the time I graduated from China along with the other founding ment with well know talent. It gave ac- college with my engineering degree, partners who on short notice were able cess, many cases in real time, to ma- television delivered real-time video of to put together an excellent program terial that had previously only been man’s first visit to the moon in 1969, and a very well managed conference available as pictures in newspapers or and in the 1970’s there was Sesame with many highly respected experts. magazine, or delayed newsreel footage Although this is just the first step, in a movie theater. continued on page 27 and probably the easiest one, it is a very promising start to preserv- ing a future for terrestrial television From the Editor continued from page 1 broadcasting. Most of you know from reading my indeed without such contributions. I’m itself, or maybe just a pat on the back editor’s columns during the past sev- keenly aware that most of us have “day to one of our contributing authors for a eral years that in my “day job” I have jobs” for funding such niceties as food, job well done. been heavily involved in the transition- housing, and clothing and I appreciate I’d like to move along now to an- ing of terrestrial television in the Unit- very much the time taken away from other topic, one that member Charlie ed States to digital. As I prepared for evening and weekend activities to pre- Rhodes has written about rather exten- my talk at FoBTV on “Broadcast Spec- pare the articles that fuel this publica- sively, and this is man-made interfer- trum Issues in North America,” I got tion. Please keep up the good work! ence to digital television signals. I’m to thinking about why I believe that And remember too, that even if you one of those 15 percent or so who terrestrial broadcast television is worth don’t have an article that you’d like rely solely on off-air TV reception at saving. to submit for publication, “letters to both my D.C. Beltway weekday home Today’s young adults and the com- the editor” are always welcomed too. and my country “getaway” place some puter industry have grown up togeth- Reader/member feedback is important 45 miles from the D.C. TV transmitter er. On the other hand, my life started in letting me know if I’m doing a good cluster. As the Beltway house is only about the time television was begin- job or not, or perhaps for flagging im- ning to make its way into homes ev- provements/changes in the Newsletter continued on page 20 Newsletter Deadlines The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Newsletter (ISSN 1067-490X) is published quarterly by the Broadcast Technology Society of the Institute of Electrical and Elec- The BTS Newsletter welcomes contribu- tronics Engineers, Inc. Headquarters address: 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor New York, tions from every member. Please for- NY 10016-5997. It is sent at a cost of $1.00 per year to each member of the Broadcast Technology Society and printed in USA. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY ward materials you would like included and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: IEEE Broad- to the editor at [email protected] Here cast Technology Society Newsletter, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854. are our deadlines for upcoming issues: © 2011 IEEE. Permission to copy without fee all or part of any material without a Issue Due Date copyright notice is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage and the title for publication and its date appear in Spring, 2012 20 Jan. 2012 each copy. To copy a material with a copyright notice requires special permission. Summer, 2012 04 May 2012 Please direct all inquires or requests to the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Mana- Fall, 2012 20 July 2012 ger, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854 Tel: 732 562 3966, Winter, 2012 07 Nov. 2012 Fax: 732 921 8062, EMAIL: [email protected]. 2 IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Newsletter Fall 2011 Future of Television Summit Focuses on Global Standard by Bill Hayes BTS Vice President SHANGHAI, CHINA During the past few years, the BTS, along with 10 other international organizations, has been working to develop a cooperative venture that we have named the Future of Broad- cast Television. The organization’s ori- gins come from the founding members who have recognized that terrestrial broadcasting can plan an important role in a globally connected society. However, in order to insure the participation of terrestrial broad- casting, there must be cooperation and harmonization within the core elements, so that connection to the consumer is maintained regardless of location. This is a daunting task when Bill Meintel, BTS president, spoke on broadcasting issues in North America. we consider that terrestrial broadcast- ing has developed in different ways using different standards throughout device useless outside of a particular South America, Asia, and the rest of the the world. As communications have location. developing world. The second session globally transition to digital, many of It was this vision that lead to the in- focused on the attributes of the next- the old analog standards have fallen augural Future of Broadcast Television generation terrestrial broadcast system.
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