# HDTV Too Sharp for Human Imperfections?



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

*HD's Wide Angle, Unforgiving Detail Challenge TV Producers*

With its disarmingly clear picture, high-definition television is showing up in a growing number of U.S. homes. Falling prices and wider consumer awareness made 2005 a banner year for HDTV sales. Now, as programming expands to meet demand, networks, stars and production companies are encountering an array of challenges from the new technology. The transition to HDTV -- considered by some as momentous as the move from black and white to color -- is requiring new attention to sets, lighting, makeup, camera angles and the syncing of sound and pictures.

From the earliest days of HD, broadcasters have worried that the sharpness of the picture would magnify acne, wrinkles and subtle production defects. Sets could no longer be made of cheap materials and tape slathered with paint. So, too, celebrities would have to take extra care over their appearance...

Full story @ WashingtonPost.com (site may require registration)


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## Fifty Caliber (Jan 4, 2006)

The porn studios are taking note no doubt.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

Fifty Caliber said:


> The porn studios are taking note no doubt.


Yea we will get barbie doll porn:hurah:


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Interesting article. I worked for NBC's Chicago outlet (studios and Master Control were in the Merchandise Mart) when it became the first station in the country to go with color for local programming. The RCA color cameras at the time were huge and heavy, and required lengthy setup before airtime. They had three 5820 Image Orthicon pickup tubes, which had to be aligned precisely in order to minimize fringing and have the three color images registered. Studio lighting had to be increased substantially, compared to black & white. Color film was a similar pain -- there, we used a 3 vidicon camera system, and alignment took quite a bit of time.
Since color was relatively new at the time, we had a closed circuit film program feed to the 20th floor RCA color showroom during those times of day when color programming wasn't available from the network or our own studio.

Times sure have changed. I don't know how much a HD camera costs, but today's high end amateur analog cameras produce far better pictures than the equipment we used back then.


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

Future Super Bowl halftime shows will be significantly longer, so the players and refs can have more time to get their makeup retouched.


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## dsanbo (Nov 25, 2005)

Cholly said:


> Interesting article. I worked for NBC's Chicago outlet (studios and Master Control were in the Merchandise Mart) when it became the first station in the country to go with color for local programming. The RCA color cameras at the time were huge and heavy, and required lengthy setup before airtime. They had three 5820 Image Orthicon pickup tubes, which had to be aligned precisely in order to minimize fringing and have the three color images registered. Studio lighting had to be increased substantially, compared to black & white. Color film was a similar pain -- there, we used a 3 vidicon camera system, and alignment took quite a bit of time.
> Since color was relatively new at the time, we had a closed circuit film program feed to the 20th floor RCA color showroom during those times of day when color programming wasn't available from the network or our own studio.
> 
> Times sure have changed. I don't know how much a HD camera costs, but today's high end amateur analog cameras produce far better pictures than the equipment we used back then.


Cholly.....
It does my heart good when I see another poster that actually remembers - let alone WORKED with - some of the legendary pioneer equipment.
My first - and only - stint in local TV was back in the 80's...but these guys were still running TK-44s and had b&w preview monitors in MCR....!! I worked as a transmitter supervisor, and things were equally "vintage"....Only difference, I dare say, between where you were and I was....my station had dust an inch thick on most of the stuff (some say even the on-air hosts...!) and it was a permanent chore to keep the stuff clean (I came on board during a major corporate shakeup; the prior engineering staff cared squat about good housekeeping..... )
Bottom line...I learned a lot from using that old equipment...if nothing else, it sure kept us all on our (engineering) toes!!
Show a kid an IO tube today.....and he'd likely think it was a telescope....!


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Dsanbo: When I worked as an engineer at WNBQ (Chicago -- now WMAQ-TV), we had RCA TK30's as B&W cameras, which were retired in April '56 when we went all color. We then used TK41's, which were godawful big monsters compared to the 30's. The viewfinders were B&W. It took a good half hour to converge the cameras once they were powered up, and we had to touch them up again 15 minutes before airtime. When the Democratic National Convention was held that August, we had to take the 30's out of storage to use for live commercial breaks at the studio.


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## dsanbo (Nov 25, 2005)

And. of course....you were always careful to LOCK THAT PEDESTAL, so the camera wouldn't "creep" out of a shot.....Right...?! (We could swap war stories here, I'm sure!! )


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

For those who don't know what we're talking about:

http://www.pharis-video.com/


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## Grampaw (Feb 6, 2006)

kenglish said:


> For those who don't know what we're talking about:
> 
> http://www.pharis-video.com/


Those photos bring back fond(?) memories. I worked at an Educational Station, and our equipment was hand-me-downs from the local Commercial stations, so we were always a generation behind.

First video switcher was a completely mechanical unit, like pushbutton car radios.

TK-11's, TK-15's, with complement lenses that focused by moving the IO tube, not the lens elements.

Those were the fun days...

Walt


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## Fifty Caliber (Jan 4, 2006)

You must have had a good collection of 8-tracks.


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## dsanbo (Nov 25, 2005)

Fifty Caliber said:


> You must have had a good collection of 8-tracks.


I actually still have a 4-TRACK (!!) cartridge player..No, it doesn't work anymore....But I still have a Connie Francis and a Beach Boys cartridge that I got with it...Still good for some interesting conversation when the "right" people drop by.....
(And....YES, this thing didn't sound all that bad...considering the mechanics of the head alignment and the way the tracks were laid down on the cart itself.....).


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