Basic TV Technology is the essential basic guide to the fundamentals underlying all television and video systems, written for students and nontechnical professionals. You don't need to have a math or science background in order to understand this explanation of how the principal pieces of equipment work, what their functions are, and how they are integrated to form a complex video system. An understanding of this material will be necessary for you to succeed in the real world, where one person often has to perform many different roles and functions within a production. Armed with some basic technical background information, you'll be more effective at figuring out new applications and at problem-solving.
The fourth edition of Basic TV Technology has been updated to reflect the industry shift to digital video and includes new information on compression, television standards, LCD displays, HD, and equipment.
This book features the accessible Media Manual format, in which every topic is covered in two pages: one of explanatory text and one of figures.
Need more information on TV technologies, go to: http://www.insightmedia.info/newsletters.php
Introduction
Acknowledgements
The Atom & Electricity
The parts of the atom
The flow of electrons through metals
Basic Circuits
Direct current (DC)
Alternating current (AC)
Units of Measurement (1)
Voltage
Current
Power
Resistance and impedance
Mathematical symbols and formulas
Units of Measurement (2)
Frequency
AC frequency
Capacitance
Fields (Induction) and Noise
Induction
Noise
Signal-to-noise ratio
Abbreviations
Kilo
Mega
Giga
milli
micro
nano
Conversions
Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs)
Interlace Scanning
Progressive Scanning
Need for interlace scanning
Blanking
Horizontal blanking
Vertical blanking
Waveform Display
Charge Coupled Devices
CCD layout and operation
Broadcast-quality requirements
An Introduction to Digital (1)
What is digital?
What Computers do
An Introduction to Digital (2)
Bits & Bytes (binary numbering system)
Analog and Digital
A to D conversion
Sampling and quantizing
D to A conversion
Color system
Color verses black and white
Additive and subtractive colors
Complementary colors
How the Eye Sees Light (1)
Color temperature
How the Eye Sees Light (2)
Filters
Black Balance
White balance
Digital Encoding Ratios
From black and white to color
Digital responses to this situation
CODECs
Composite Encoding
Home video cameras
Color CRTs
Convergence
Plasma Display Screens
How it works
LCD Screens
Analog Sync Generators
Analog Sync Generator Signals (1)
Drive pulses
Blanking pulses
Sync pulses
Color burst
Analog Sync Generator Signals (2)
Combining sync with video
Vectorscope
Reading the vectorscope
Color bar display
PAL
Analog Sync Flow Diagrams (1)
Distribution amplifiers
Camera Flow Diagram
Combining Sync and Camera Flow Diagrams
Out-of-phase cameras
Timing the system
Video Switchers
Vertical interval switchers
Component switchers
Digital Switchers
Special effects
Switcher Applications
Production and editing switchers
On-air switchers
Routing switchers
Production Switcher Flow Diagram
Switcher buses
Switcher outputs
Switcher Transitions and Special Effects
Wipes
Special Effects Keys--Luminance Keys
Linear or transparent keys
Special Effects Keys--Chroma Keys
Composite Versus Component Video
Problems of composite video
Component video
Y/C
Color Difference Component Video
Digital Special Effects
Compressions
Pushes
Flips
Rotations
Other special effects
Digital Interpolation
Manipulation
Interpolation
Analog Videotape Recording Technology
Recorders
Videotape
Recording heads
Analog Video Recording Standards & Formats
Audio versus video recording
Helical video recording
Other Tracks and Lockup (1)
Sound and control tracks
VTR Lockup
Capstan lock
Other Tracks and Lockup (2)
Vertical lock
Frame lock
Horizontal lock
Time Base Error
External Causes of Time Base Error
Gyroscopic time base error
Time Base Error Correction
Time Base Correctors (1)
What a time base corrector does
How a TBC works
Horizontal sync as a clock
Time Base Correctors (2)
D-to-A conversion
Video proc amp
Window of correction
Larger Analog Sync Problems & Solutions
Nonsynchronous sources
Frame synchronizer
Other Advantages of TBCs & Frame Synchronizers
Dynamic tracking heads
Freeze frames
TBCs, VTRs, and production
Digital Videotape Recorders
DV video
Digital Video Servers
Problems of videotape
Video servers
Disc Based Recorders
Editing Analog Videotape
Physical cutting and splicing
Electronic editing
The Editing Process (1)
The Editing Process (2)
Types of Edits 117
Assemble edits
Insert edits
Editing Methods-Manual editing
Editing Methods-Control track counters
SMPTE Time Code Editing
Off-Line and On-Line Editing
Off-line editing
On-line editing
Editing by Computers
Drop frame/non-drop frame editing
Problems of Traditional Editing
Non Linear Editing
Video Compression
Spatial Compression
Entrophy reduction
Entrophy encoding
Temporal Compression
MPEG Compression Standard
Computer Graphics for Video
Originating computer graphics
Interface between people and machines
Character Generators
Creating Imagery & Effects
Computer-generated imagery (CGI)
Digital Video effects
The Digital Studio
Open Architecture vs. Dedicated Equipment
Drawbacks of Open Architecture Equipment
High-Definition TV
Production HDTV standards versus broadcast HDTV standards
ATSC High Definition Broadcast Standard
Standard Definition Digital Television (SDTV)
Audio For Video
The early years
Mono and stereo
Surround Sound
5.1 Stereo
Professional and Consumer Audio
Impedance
Balanced and unbalanced audio
Combining Audio Components
Line and mic levels
Analog and digital
Professional and consumer equipment
Microphones, Mixers, and Loudspeakers
Microphones
Mixers
Loudspeakers
Sound Recording for Video
DAT
Solid State Recorders
Digital Audio Workstations
Further Reading
Glossary
Biography
Robert Lee Hartwig was born and raised in a small northern California farming town. At the age of 13, his parents bought an 8mm movie camera. He spent the next couple of years fooling around with animation and teaching himself simple film editing. He spent his teenage summers on the family farm. He attended Chico State University where, quite by accident, he got involved in the college radio station. While involved in college radio, he served as Business Manager of the station and was appointed to be the student manager of the station. At the same time, the school was developing a Mass Communications Degree program, which he transferred to as soon as the program opened. While in school, he worked at both AM and FM radio stations as an on-air announcer. He still worked summers on the farm because the 80 - 100 hour weeks made a lot more money for him. He was a member of the first graduating class in Mass Communications from Chico State where the faculty awarded him the Leadership Merit Award upon graduation.
He went to San Diego State University for his Master's Degree in Radio and Television. Coming from a rural background, living in a city the size of San Diego drove him nuts. The culture shock was the greatest challenge to completing the MA. While working on the MA, he also worked for the San Diego Area Instructional Television Authority, was a Television Specialist for the Adult Division of the San Diego Community College District, worked as a photographer on a special project for the San Diego Community College Association, and taught a night class in TV Production for the Adult Division of the San Diego Community College District. This teaching experience gave him the teaching bug. He was granted his MA in December of 1973.
He moved back to northern California and got a part-time teaching job in the Mass Communications Department at Butte Community College in Oroville, CA. While at Butte he also produced and directed video programs for t
"I read this book to refresh my basic grasp of television technology concepts, and for that purpose it worked perfectly. Organized into small sections which build slowly from simple ideas (electricity basics) to complex tools (video servers). The book also includes a useful list of further reading material and a reference glossary." -- An Amazon Reviewer