SCANNING THE NAB

This may be the first overview of a National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention to appear in Audio--at least in recent decades. There is much to report, and it all has implications for readers of this magazine.

The NAB is primarily a trade organization that promotes the business, legal, technical, and regulatory interests of the radio and television industries in the United States. In recent years, the exhibits at the convention have expanded to such a degree that they now cover just about every aspect of radio/TV production, syndication, trouble-shooting, facilities design, and construction. Away from the exhibition floor are seminars which, over four days, cover emerging technologies as well as business opportunities and problems. What we see on TV and hear on radio is largely shaped by events and opportunities fostered by these conventions.

Consider the scope of the exhibits themselves. At one end of this spectrum are manufacturers of heavy transmitting equipment; at the other end you will find the latest in digital work stations for editing music and video. Be tween these extremes falls an interesting array of services and equipment.

For example, assume that you want to build a broadcast facility. Some exhibitors at the NAB convention specialize in designing from the ground up, and then they simply give you the key to the front door on completion. Such matters as allocation of work space, equipment choice and interface, utility requirements, layout of the production area, and the like are all part of the service these companies provide.

Suppose you are already on the air and have what appears to be a cover age problem, possibly due to terrain.

There are engineering companies that provide surveys of signal strength, indicating the magnitude of the problems and possible solutions to some of them. And have you ever wondered about the high-tech graphics used in TV weather reports? These services can be bought and tailored to a local station's needs.

In the competitive world of radio, it has always been felt that the louder station has an advantage over the softer one, so in-line signal compression and limiting have always played an important part in program processing.

The latest in dynamic-range processing was displayed at this show, much of it tailored specifically to the modulation processes involved.

Satellite communications are an important part of today's broadcast signal distribution, so it was no surprise to see that technology represented as well. As a corollary to this, a number of data-reduction systems were exhibited--appropriate, since satellite-channel capacity will at some future point be limited. Some form of this technology will become the basis of future digital broadcast transmission.

The largest exhibitors at NAB were Sony, Ampex, Panasonic, and Philips. The three foreign-based companies are noted for their wide range of video cameras, monitors, and processing equipment. Ampex, which perfected video recording in the '50s, is primarily known for its tape and for video re cording and editing gear. This company may be the world's leader in digital-effects generation for video. Those of you over 40 will likely remember when Ampex audio recorders were just about the only game in town. This is now a memory, and today, open-reel analog recording is largely in the hands of Studer and Otari.

The NAB takes a great interest in the development of high-definition television (HDTV), and a special exhibition area was set up for that purpose. What we think of as HDTV is not just a single standard but a broad array of both analog and digital technologies con verging on a common goal. The big questions have always involved compatibility with existing transmission and reception methods, channel allocation, and, of course, commercial interests.

Suffice it to say that whatever solutions may be acceptable in Japan or Europe may not be suitable in the United States because of vast geographical and business differences.

While the exhibits were underway, many seminars and update sessions were offered to attendees. These al ways fall basically into two areas, business and technology. The subject matter ranged far and wide, and I will comment on only a few of the topics which were discussed.

On the business side, the sessions covered competition with newer media (such as cable) for advertising dollars, the partnership between networks and affiliates, programming and advertising for special-interest and demo graphic markets, and problems of le gal liability.

On the technical side, primary emphasis was on digital audio and television broadcasting. Other sessions dealt with improving AM and FM and reducing station operating costs. Interactive television and pay-per-view were also discussed.

In keeping with the special emphasis on HDTV, a large number of presentations were made on behalf of the various proposed systems as well as on general aspects of HDTV programming and production. HDTV is about 10 years old, and the Japanese MUSE system is the one that has been demonstrated most frequently at trade shows. This system is now available to a limited extent in Japan but at great expense to the consumer. It requires a very large transmission bandwidth and thus is not a likely candidate for application here. One proposed HDTV sys tem, DigiCipher, jointly developed by MIT and General Instrument Corp., was actually broadcast at the NAB via a standard TV channel, demonstrating that normal terrestrial broadcast technology and channel capacity are compatible with HDTV requirements. I did not see the demonstration, but I under stand that all worked well.

HDTV is some years away, and costs are going to be high. The interim step of improved NTSC (standard TV) performance remains very attractive, even though it may increase the cost of TV sets by as much as $200. The ultimate performance of these enhanced sets is dependent on line doubling (see "Currents," April 1992), and the cost of that technology is still rather high. By the time HDTV comes to pass, there will likely be a version of the LaserDisc that operates at a shorter laser wavelength and that can accommodate the necessary wider bandwidth signal for HDTV. This will make motion pictures available for wide-screen home HDTV playback, long before there's much wide-screen HDTV programming available on broadcast or cable television. I believe that we are looking at mid-decade, at the earliest, for the first consumer products in this exciting field.

(adapted from Audio magazine, Jul. 1992)

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