[QuadList] Quad Vs Type C

[DCFWTX at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/1/2010 5:48:19 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
james at oldtvgear.com writes:

> on the topic of  "fogged looks"...
>   
> over here in australia, just about all NTSC originated material had a 
> "fogged" look to it in the 80's and sometimes still does even now
>   
> Saw they were re-airing ALF on 7two digital channel here at 6pm in the 
> evenings...and i thought "ahh" i will be able to see it in as a latest NTSC to 
> PAL digital conversion....but its still as blurry foggy looking and 
> shimmery on movements as when it was aired back in the 80's, i dare say they are 
> sourcing from old conversions...such a shame as some NTSC content can look 
> almost "PAL like" when its converted well
>   
> James
> 

James,

Two "fogged up" comments.

In the late 70's and into the 80's there was an FCC crackdown on horizontal 
blanking width enforcement. Many shows had what was considered to be 
excessively wide (and technically illegal) horizontal blanking. And in some cases, 
excessive vertical blanking (more prone to helical scan news sources). But 
the post-production community was cranking out some problematic tapes that 
some broadcasters would not air in it's wide blanking form. I recall working 
with my boss at the time in Dallas in attempting to meet PBS specs for 
deliverables in 1974. We had to play tricks with front and back porch setup 
levels to get many masters to pass. A few years later, along came the DVE (as in 
Sqeezezoom, NEC DVE, and later ADO, to name a few). For many, it was a gift 
from heaven. Now all of these problematic and vintage masters could be 
resized (blown up) to meet blanking specs. The problem was that, due to their 
rather crude electronics at the time, the picture was softened, and in some 
cases, additional artifacts were introduced. But many program content owners 
went with it just to get their show on the air. "All In The Family" was one 
such show I recall seeing later in years that suffered from this procedure. 
Although I am not sure what you are seeing (could be a combination of things), 
the old style DVE blowup could be one of those. International delivery 
specs. were even tougher to meet, hence 525 NTSC masters may have been subjected 
to even more DVE abuse.

When I worked on Rescue 911 here in the U.S. in the nineties, they were 
using Betacam Oxide exclusively. When I asked why not Betacam SP, they said "we 
like the look (the softer look)". That "look" helped them with their story 
telling.


David Crosthwait

DC Video 
Archived Media Transfer & Re-mastering Services
177 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA. 91502
818-563-1073
818-563-1177 (fax)
818-285-9942 (cell)
DCFWTX at AOL.COM     
DAVID at DCVIDEO.COM
WWW.DCVIDEO.COM
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