Thursday, October 20, 2016

Formal Television Studio Broadcasting and Outside Broadcasting

You would usually think of a production set as a hub that is quite busy and filled with people with their own expertise who are working together to pull off a live broadcasting of an event or news. Some of these people in your imagination would include a director that directs everything, plus those staff like cameramen and other production personnel. In fact, if you are going to give a free rein to your imagination, your imagination would likewise visualize various equipment included in a production set that make possible the broadcasting of an event. These equipment may include tons of cables, microphones, cameras, and other broadcasting equipment that make possible such broadcasting. These would surely be the nitty-gritties of the scenario in your imaginative exercise. 

Well, in actuality, these are indeed the typical scenario that you would see in a broadcasting studio.
But things are changing in most sets of broadcasting networks. Since the onset of the World Wide Web and the use of internet as a means of transferring data, broadcasting, whether remotely or not, has radically changed. Since the introduction of third generation GPRS to the internet technology, the methods of transmitting information data has greatly changed. Moreover, with the greater use streaming videos, the transfers of data from any remote broadcasting set to the end points have become quite easy. 

Previously, it would be easy to broadcast something if you were broadcasting from a formal television studio. However, it was definitely troublesome and meticulously burdensome to make a video production outside of a formal studio.

A video production that is done outside of a formal studio is called electronic field production (EFP). Some examples of EFP include productions like concerts, interviews, and sporting events. EFP usually requires outside broadcast transmission, and EFP usually requires the use of production trucks for the covering of outside productions.


Streaming Media Makes Outside Broadcasting Easy

A decade or two ago, it is quite difficult to imagine how the technology involved in network production would evolve. However, nowadays, it is easy to see that the use of streaming technology is the way to go for outside productions. There are companies and developers that are pioneering in the production and manufacturing of tools and equipment that could further simplify outdoor broadcasting. The solutions provided by these companies allow broadcasting even from remote locations without the use of elaborate outdoor network setups that were once indispensable to an electronic field production.


These companies provide roaming solutions that allow broadcasters to make hassle-free coverage from almost all locations around the world. Moreover, these pioneering companies provide great solutions to scenarios that were once problematic to broadcasters. Using both satellite as well as cellular networks together with the solutions provided by these companies, broadcasters nowadays can readily relay video feeds to the expectant public from around the world. These companies likewise provide hybrid ENG vehicles that usually replace the use of traditional satellite trucks. Additionally, broadcasters can now easily make live broadcast even if they are highly mobile or even if they are in the middle of a harsh condition. Lastly, the works of broadcasters have been greatly enhanced and facilitated sans the cumbersome traditional cables and other broadcasting equipment which were once indispensable to outdoor network broadcasting.
For more information about outside broadcasting, visit: http://www.liveu.tv/lu500.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Onset of Mobile Transmission

Less than a decade ago, outdoor or remote broadcasting used to be a massive undertaking. The broadcast network would usually field several people—the technical director, cameramen, anchors, technicians, production personnel, electricians, cable pullers, and utility men—in order to pull off a successful outdoor or remote broadcasting. Aside from these needed manpower, there were also those necessary equipment consisting of a number of cameras and microphones along with the kilometers of cablings and wirings, communications gear, lightings. Moreover, production and SNG or satellite trucks were needed to ensure that the broadcast of an event would be readily accomplished.

The satellite with its array of satellite dishes would then transmit the event to the network station via satellite for broadcast, and these outdoor or remote broadcast transmissions were done by means of satellite transmission using C-band and/or Ku-band radio frequencies. Another means of transmission before was by way of microwave transmission, and this was the most commonly employed means of transmission in the past. The third, but least common, was the transmission via fiber optic lines that employed the use of a prepared fiber optic line from the remote location to the studio. Although the third method of transmitting had the best quality of transmission, it wasn’t popular before because of the high cost of laying a dedicated fiber optics cabling.


The Radical Changes Brought about by the Onset of Internet

The advent of broadband internet has revolutionized, not only the means of communication, but also the transfer of information media to the appreciating public. The introduction of 3G or third generation GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to the wireless network technology for public consumption has brought more opportunities for the expansion of broadcasting by means of the internet. During the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, the transmission using video streaming via UTMS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (3G) was first introduced.

Using the cellphone signal like GSM’s HSDPA or CDMA’s 3G in the transmission, or specifically, in the streaming, streaming has eliminated the need for cumbersome cables and wires that run between camera units and the production vehicle. GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) have increasingly become the specifications and the standards for mobile communication. Transmission by media streaming only requires the acquisition of stable signal to be able to transmit to its home studio, dispensing the need for satellite trucks or microwave transmission that need to stay in the line of sight (LOS) of the receiving or relay antennas.

Mobile uplink via the 3G (or alike) wireless cellular transmission has likewise greatly innovated remote broadcasting. At 2008 Beijing Olympics, for example, the average uplink speed of 1Mbps with live standard definition videos was already good. At present, the bitrate is at about 20Mbs and the file transfer rate is at 80Mbps.


Today, people worldwide use their portable mobile devices like Smartphones and tablets, not only to call or text a friend or anybody, but also to watch the news and other TV programs. Mobile devices, like the Smartphones, have already supplanted the older systems like the portable satellite tv for good reasons. Smartphones, for example, combine the different functions of a cell phone, media player, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer, calculator, digital camera with video, and television into one. Lastly, anyone can watch a movie, news, or any TV program on a portable mobile device like the Smartphone anytime and anywhere. 
For more information about mobile transmission, visit: http://www.liveu.tv/the-liveu-advantage.