broadcast
Networks
First White Spaces Broadband Trial Spreads Wi-Fi Via Broadcast TV
12:40PM Chris Jacob | The NAB has been battling white spaces networks for years, but the technology that repurposes unused TV spectrum as a Wi-Fi signal is finally getting a trial period in Claudville, Virginia. More »
Vehicles
1:34PM Nick Broughall | From the outside, it looks like a regular truck: Your typical Isuzu chassis with a van on the back. If you drove past it on the road, you’d barely notice it. But when you step inside, it’s a wonderland of dials, knobs, screens and buttons – a technological nerdgasm – and it’s what makes your coverage of live sports events so entertaining. And yesterday at SMPTE09, I got to take a look inside two custom trucks built especially for Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP). More »
How Live HD TV Is Made: A Look Inside Sony’s Outside Broadcast Vans
1:34PM Nick Broughall | From the outside, it looks like a regular truck: Your typical Isuzu chassis with a van on the back. If you drove past it on the road, you’d barely notice it. But when you step inside, it’s a wonderland of dials, knobs, screens and buttons – a technological nerdgasm – and it’s what makes your coverage of live sports events so entertaining. And yesterday at SMPTE09, I got to take a look inside two custom trucks built especially for Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP). More »
Science
The Aliens Of Star Iota Horologii Are Just Watching Captain Kangaroo
12:30AM Adam Frucci | When our broadcasts leave Earth, they slowly travel into space. There is, however, a sizable delay between what we watch and what distant aliens watch. This convenient chart shows us what TV various stars are receiving today. [AbstruseGoose via TDW] More »
Entertainment
Advertising During The Simpsons More Expensive On Hulu Than TV
12:30AM Mark Wilson | We’ll laugh at this headline in the not so distant future, but for the first time, buying a 30-second ad during a Fox broadcast of The Simpsons costs less than buying the same ad on Hulu. More »
Entertainment
Digital TV Transition Starts Today in Wilmington, NC: Let’s See Who Freaks Out
2:45AM Sean Fallon | As most of you know, commercial analogue TV in this country will become all but extinct on February 17th 2009. However, the digital revolution begins today in Wilmington NC. Basically, the town and its 197,760 TV-watching households will serve as guinea pigs for the nationwide rollout. The town has been bombarded with information about the switch, but the powers that be will be watching closely to see what unfolds. Will throngs of old people run screaming into the streets when Wheel of Fortune goes black? We will just have to wait and find out. [TVWeek] More »
Home
TiVo Auto-Delete Flag Returns (Thank God It Was Only Star Trek)
9:30AM Matt Buchanan | In case you didn’t already know, broadcasters can slip “flags” into TV shows telling your DVR to not record it or to delete it when it hits an expiration date. TiVo users last had a run-in with the auto-delete flag a couple years ago (Media Centre users had a more recent taste), but it looks like it’s back and haunting Star Trek fans. More »
Software
Flixwagon Broadcasts Video from Any iPhone
3:52AM Gizmodo US Edition | Steve Jobs didn’t mention video features for the iPhone 3G or the new iPhone OS 2.0 but, thankfully, developers are working hard on it. Flixwagon has now created the first-ever video broadcast client for any iPhone. Just open the application, point the camera, and start transmitting video over the web. More »
Entertainment
Microsoft and Windows Media Center Love Broadcasters More Than You
1:40AM Matt Buchanan | Last week, courtesy of NBC, people with a Windows Media Centre DVR setup got a rude reminder that broadcasters can flip a switch (called a broadcast flag) to tell DVRs not to record a show. Here’s the thing: Honouring the flag is actually optional for software and hardware makers, after courts smacked down the FCC proposal to make them mandatory. But Microsoft has confirmed that they do whatever the broadcaster tells them, again, even though they don’t have to. NBC hasn’t confirmed yet whether or not the American Gladiatorsflag was intentional, but their history doesn’t give me a fuzzy feeling. More »
Software
Media Center’s Do Not Record Broadcast Flag Is Still Alive
5:00AM Jason Chen | Recently, some Windows Media Center owners were blocked from recording American Gladiators and Medium because of an incorrectly set broadcast flag from NBC. What’s the deal here? The broadcasters (NBC, ABC, HBO) can turn on a flag in their data stream that tells whatever DVR machine on your end that it’s NOT alright to record a show, protecting Pay-Per-View or premium channel content from being archived. This has actually been around for years. More »
Cameras
