Preface
The Broadcast Engineer’s Reference Book has been compiled
at a time of great change in our industry, though as it was 2,500
years ago that Heraclitus observed ‘Nothing endures but
change,’ this perhaps shouldn’t come as too great a surprise.
Just as digital systems encompassing audio and video have
become the standard and staple components of broadcast systems,
so technology has taken another step forward. Now
compressed audio and video systems and IT are making their
mark on the industry as part of the great Convergence. Traditionally,
television and radio broadcast has been a fixed quality
system whether this was 270 Mbits 1, 10 bits, or 6.75MHz
bandwidth in the studio, 525 or 625 lines composite in a 6, 7
or 8MHz broadcast transmission slot, or a fixed AM or FM
channel bandwidth. Now, digital compression has introduced a
whole new choice of variable quality to the engineer, and with
it comes a new challenge in maintaining technical standards
whilst working with marketing and commercial staff who
demand more channels in the same transmission space, all for
the same budget . . . and now Interactive services need to be
fitted in too.
So, today, it is a greater task than ever for any one engineer
to be an expert in all facets of the broadcast industry as the
great scope of technologies and systems seemingly expand
faster than ever. Yet with the reliability and low maintenance
needed by modern hardware, the scope of every engineer’s role
does expand to encompass a broader and broader range of
technologies, hardware and systems. This expansion of roles
is particularly true in the convergence arena where new skills
are needed as equipment becomes networked and programme
transmission becomes data transfer.
Hacene@freebooks
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