MW
No BBC Regional prog that I know of is 14:9 (bar analogue).
I'm sure BBC Brum's Down the Line is 16:9.
Is any BBC / Itv regional news still transmitting output in 14:9, or is everyone now 16:9?
Also which regional 'down the line' cameras are still in 14:9?
I know BBC Manchester still uses theirs on the BBC News Channel.
Also which regional 'down the line' cameras are still in 14:9?
I know BBC Manchester still uses theirs on the BBC News Channel.
No BBC Regional prog that I know of is 14:9 (bar analogue).
I'm sure BBC Brum's Down the Line is 16:9.
DE
There are a few 4:3 Newsroom Cameras left, notably Norwich and Bristol (which are commonly ARCd to 14:9). Birmingham and Manchester both have down the line studios now and they're both 16:9 AFAIK. Newcastle did have a 4:3 newsroom camera but again they've equipped a studio set up in 16:9. I think Cardiff may still have a 4:3 set up too...
Most of the Newsroom Cameras were set up when the News Channel launched as a way of getting guests onto the channel with little production effort required by the region concerned. News 24 gave the main centres a pre-built bay of kit with a camera and a light on top of it. The bay could work as a playout point into TVC too as they had a VTR in them as well. They could handle telephone and four-wire reverse sound. All in all rather good until you got to the camera: for some reason (probably cost!) they were all equipped with pretty ropey 4:3 cameras and the light was a non-dimmable flourescent softlight that gave skin a very odd colour cast. To add to the lighting woes, they were square on to the contributor resulting in a very flat look. (Incidentally, a series of single camera studios were built during the Newsroom South East era to allow guests from across the huge South East region to get on air. They had better cameras, adjustable back-drops, decent 3-point lighting and remote control over the camera. Some of these survived into the News Channel era and post- SE review, Oxford's camera was only decomissioned when the space was turned into their now Sub-Regional TV studio.)
After News Channel launched the regional centres started using the NRCs between them to get more guests onto their programmes and they also equipped sub-regional and local radio stations with cameras and/or inject points. There are now live camera positions all over the BBC and sometimes some rather obscure DTL points make it to air: places like Taunton, Northampton, Liverpool... None of these locations got the original News24 bay, some have rather cobbled together bits of kit...!
Most of the Newsroom Cameras were set up when the News Channel launched as a way of getting guests onto the channel with little production effort required by the region concerned. News 24 gave the main centres a pre-built bay of kit with a camera and a light on top of it. The bay could work as a playout point into TVC too as they had a VTR in them as well. They could handle telephone and four-wire reverse sound. All in all rather good until you got to the camera: for some reason (probably cost!) they were all equipped with pretty ropey 4:3 cameras and the light was a non-dimmable flourescent softlight that gave skin a very odd colour cast. To add to the lighting woes, they were square on to the contributor resulting in a very flat look. (Incidentally, a series of single camera studios were built during the Newsroom South East era to allow guests from across the huge South East region to get on air. They had better cameras, adjustable back-drops, decent 3-point lighting and remote control over the camera. Some of these survived into the News Channel era and post- SE review, Oxford's camera was only decomissioned when the space was turned into their now Sub-Regional TV studio.)
After News Channel launched the regional centres started using the NRCs between them to get more guests onto their programmes and they also equipped sub-regional and local radio stations with cameras and/or inject points. There are now live camera positions all over the BBC and sometimes some rather obscure DTL points make it to air: places like Taunton, Northampton, Liverpool... None of these locations got the original News24 bay, some have rather cobbled together bits of kit...!
GS
Any particular reason why suitably tech-minded members of BBC staff didn't come along and improve the set up in each of the centres?
Was it an "owenrship" issue with the equipment, or a "someone else's problem" issue?
Just seems peculiar for staff in those centres to shrug off something that looked pretty poxy on-screen.
Gavin Scott
Founding member
All in all rather good
until
you got to the camera: for some reason (probably cost!) they were all equipped with pretty ropey 4:3 cameras and the light was a non-dimmable flourescent softlight that gave skin a very odd colour cast. To add to the lighting woes, they were square on to the contributor resulting in a very flat look.
Any particular reason why suitably tech-minded members of BBC staff didn't come along and improve the set up in each of the centres?
Was it an "owenrship" issue with the equipment, or a "someone else's problem" issue?
Just seems peculiar for staff in those centres to shrug off something that looked pretty poxy on-screen.
NG
Any particular reason why suitably tech-minded members of BBC staff didn't come along and improve the set up in each of the centres?
Was it an "owenrship" issue with the equipment, or a "someone else's problem" issue?
Just seems peculiar for staff in those centres to shrug off something that looked pretty poxy on-screen.
In some regional centres - they did. It usually happened if the local programme also used the N24-provided facility on their own shows.
ISTR that the "Daleks" as they were known, were installed and paid for by News 24 - then a totally different bit of the BBC to Nations and Regions - and there was lots of disagreements about how funded the maintenance etc.
The Dalek design (rack with camera and lamp on the top) was designed to be as easy to install and operate as possible. I suspect shifting to decent lighting would have required a lot of extra installation work (and cost to install higher lamps off-axis, and a backlight) -which N24 presumably didn't want to pay for in the first place...
noggin
Founding member
All in all rather good
until
you got to the camera: for some reason (probably cost!) they were all equipped with pretty ropey 4:3 cameras and the light was a non-dimmable flourescent softlight that gave skin a very odd colour cast. To add to the lighting woes, they were square on to the contributor resulting in a very flat look.
Any particular reason why suitably tech-minded members of BBC staff didn't come along and improve the set up in each of the centres?
Was it an "owenrship" issue with the equipment, or a "someone else's problem" issue?
Just seems peculiar for staff in those centres to shrug off something that looked pretty poxy on-screen.
In some regional centres - they did. It usually happened if the local programme also used the N24-provided facility on their own shows.
ISTR that the "Daleks" as they were known, were installed and paid for by News 24 - then a totally different bit of the BBC to Nations and Regions - and there was lots of disagreements about how funded the maintenance etc.
The Dalek design (rack with camera and lamp on the top) was designed to be as easy to install and operate as possible. I suspect shifting to decent lighting would have required a lot of extra installation work (and cost to install higher lamps off-axis, and a backlight) -which N24 presumably didn't want to pay for in the first place...
NG
The BBC East region got similar DTL studios (Concept News?) - with high quality lighting, red lights that inhibited air con (though not remote control cameras), sound proofing etc. Cambridge was used incredibly regularly by network - and usually looked very good on-air. There was also a similar studio in Ipswich, though the Norwich equivalent was the self op studio with a different backing. (Which caused problems when there was a DTL in Breakfast from Norwich right before the regional opt...)
noggin
Founding member
(Incidentally, a series of single camera studios were built during the Newsroom South East era to allow guests from across the huge South East region to get on air. They had better cameras, adjustable back-drops, decent 3-point lighting and remote control over the camera. Some of these survived into the News Channel era and post- SE review, Oxford's camera was only decomissioned when the space was turned into their now Sub-Regional TV studio.)
The BBC East region got similar DTL studios (Concept News?) - with high quality lighting, red lights that inhibited air con (though not remote control cameras), sound proofing etc. Cambridge was used incredibly regularly by network - and usually looked very good on-air. There was also a similar studio in Ipswich, though the Norwich equivalent was the self op studio with a different backing. (Which caused problems when there was a DTL in Breakfast from Norwich right before the regional opt...)
CI
Heheh, what is it about BBC News & Doctor Who??? Long before "the dalek", I remember just about every radio operation had their own "tardis". All it was was a phone, under a hood like you see on some public phones in hospitals, with Telephone Balance Unit, headphones and a old-style lip microphone connected to a reel-to-reel machine.
Operation was quite simple. Once you dialed out to your guest, you could then switch them into the TBU, put the headphones on and talk to them through the mic. You could mute the mic as required. Once everything was ready, you started the recording and conducted the interview. Very simple, yet very effective piece of kit.
Operation was quite simple. Once you dialed out to your guest, you could then switch them into the TBU, put the headphones on and talk to them through the mic. You could mute the mic as required. Once everything was ready, you started the recording and conducted the interview. Very simple, yet very effective piece of kit.
DE
The BBC's always loved silly names and acronyms for its tech kit. The NODDY camera is fairly well known among TV Pres fans (there were two: one for BBC One and one for BBC Two. It was a remote controlled camera in front of a selection of clocks, globes and breakdown slides. I think someone has suggested that it was actually called NODD and the letters stood for something but I suspect most people thought then and probably still think now that it was so called because it nodded up and down, left and right). Pres also had a BIGEARS which was a slide scanner with magazines either sides of the camera assembly (the ears). Later in the age of computer graphics Pres had the COW (Computer Originated World) and GNAT (Generator of Network Analogue Time). The obit alarm used in Local Radio is known as RATS (Regional Alert Transmission System) but loads of people refer to it as Royal About to Snuff... I'm sure there are plenty of others ...
DE
What's the context? I'd have a guess that Studio PST means Studio Preset - the 'next' item the vision mixer intends to go to (in other words it's pre-set on the vision mixer). Sometimes this is known as Preview or Mixer PV.
Whilst we are on this subject, does anyone know what 'Studio PST' is?
What's the context? I'd have a guess that Studio PST means Studio Preset - the 'next' item the vision mixer intends to go to (in other words it's pre-set on the vision mixer). Sometimes this is known as Preview or Mixer PV.