[Q] NASA TV quality

[lemit]

I have been waching NASA TV quite a bit lately. I am amazed at the visual quality of both the video and the live coverage.

 

Does anybody know why NASA TV's quality is so good? Does anybody know why the rest of television doesn't try to copy what they do?

 

I worked with Stanley Kubrick some on "The Shining." He told me the technique he had used in "2001" and "Clockwork Orange" to sharpen the image was to dub down from 70 or 105 mm to 35 mm. I don't think he ever used video. I know, from working with TV stations, that they used to use 2-inch video for newsroom video, but that was 30 years ago. I've been out of the business for a long time and would love to know how they do what they do now.

 

I hope somebody can answer the question and can give me an update. I love film and video and miss them a lot.

 

--lemit

[lemit]

This is TV on television. Comcast has it on the local education channel. Now, with school out, Comcast has kind of given the channel to Florida Education Network, which is interesting since this is definitely not Florida.

 

So anyway, I get NASA TV on the Florida Education Network.

 

--lemit

[enorbet2]

Hello

I'll have to check for certain but even though I too have a soft spot for tape, film, even vacuum tubes (valves) and all things analogue, I am also fortunately very aware of the power and benefits of digital and I would be willing to bet even now that NASA is all digital since it lends itself to lower power requirements and bandwidth regulation in a way analogue cannot.

Once a signal is digitized all manner of corrections are possible far beyond the old analogue caveat that subsequent generations degrade. I have some audio/video editing software that I have used considerably and I'm still learning amazing things that can be done, often non-destructively so many passes can be made with no losses, to maximize any parameter one desires. It probably also doesn't hurt that NASA enjoys mil-spec and better lenses. Some earthbound TV stations obviously until just recently had to still employ A/D converters and have some old analogue equipment in the loop.

 

While there are some downsides, the benefit of digital are very compelling and now that stations no longer have to broadcast analogue and everything is going Hi-Def we will see more and more quality images online and on TV.