Studio
Studio Group is working with its colleagues
in BBC Production Departments to discover how new
technology
can help them. The work is a mixture of new facilities
to make the BBC programmes more innovative and
new systems to bring the efficiency of new technology
into the production environment.
Recent innovations include:
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the extension of virtual production
techniques into interactivity and story telling,
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applications of speech recognition to automate
the production of subtitles and to facilitate
new search facilities on the web and in production
activities,
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bringing the efficiencies
of IT to programme-making hardware and
studio infrastructures,
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tackling the fundamentals of digital programme
exchange, together with its supportive production
data (metadata).
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System
Design
System Design Group is the technical
authority guiding the introduction of digital techniques
into
the BBC, in the transition to the digital dream.
Amongst the major features that have
been delivered by System Design Group are:
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digital television
on all major platforms,
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digital text,
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access services such as audio description,
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interactive services on digital,
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the scheduling system, SID, used for control
of many processes in digital television.
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Digital
Media
Digital Media Group is a new group looking at the
impact of the new digital technologies on people
at home.
The group embraces research on new internet delivery
techniques, the creative uses of digital video recording,
and the development of compression and streaming
formats for the BBC's content. Recently the group
has also taken on responsibility for the work on
high definition television and new displays.
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Spectrum
Planning
We provide expert advice to other parts
of the BBC on all matters of:
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obtaining access
to suitable spectrum for terrestrial broadcasting,
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specification of transmitters
and transmitter networks to fulfil the BBC’s
requirements, and checking that the specifications
have been met,
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protecting our use of the
radio spectrum against interference from
other transmissions and the effects of developments
of large buildings .
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Our
principal client is Distribution, the part of
the BBC that manages contracts with the transmission
providers, but we also carry out work for Radio & Music
Interactive, Nations & Regions, Resources,
and some other divisions.
We carry out research
and planning work for all
the BBC’s domestic terrestrial services,
analogue and digital, radio and television. We
also conduct
research into new systems, yet to be exploited,
including DVB-H and DRM, and we provide advice
on spectrum
use for radio microphones and radio cameras.
Our advice is founded on a wealth of practical
experience,
having witnessed the implementation of our plans
countless times. We use a combination of computer
prediction, based on software tools we have created
and optimised for terrestrial broadcasting in
the UK, and field surveys using vehicle adaptations
designed to meet our needs.
In the course of our
work we interface with and
assist many other organisations including Ofcom,
SwitchCo,
DTG, DRDB, ITU, CEPT, EBU and the transmission
providers, Crown Castle and Arqiva (the new
name for NTL Broadcast).
Often, our work brings benefit to the whole
UK broadcasting industry.
Presently, in our biggest
project, we are working with industry to plan
digital television switch
over. This will require the specification
of more than
4000 new DTT transmissions.
BBC Reception Advice provides information
about reception of BBC services, if you have a
query about
reception, please visit their website www.bbc.co.uk/reception.
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