[QuadList] Jan. 21, 1959 Kraft Music Hall--In Color on N-B-C

[Dennis Degan]

>              On Mar 24, 2011, at 11:57 AM, sgw1009 wrote:
>
>> In 1959, AT&T did not have the capability of transmitting full  
>> bandwidth (20KHz) audio across the country.  Their audio bandwidth  
>> was limited to only 5KHz, and in fact would a separate path from  
>> the video. So the recording had to be made at the studio in  
>> Burbank, and not New York, judging by the high audio quality.
>
>              I add:
>
>      This audio system was in place until 1977!
>      BTW, the 5KHz audio was pretty good.  Though band-limited,  
> there was  not a lot of noise present.  True, it wasn't high  
> fidelity as we know  it, but you'd be surprised at how good it  
> sounded.  I'm pretty certain  now that, based on what I know, the  
> recording was made in New York or  somewhere along the network line.

		On Mar 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Tony Quinn wrote:

 > I'm not familiar with your US network distribution system, but it's  
obvious that with the *RIGHT* male voice a well equalised 5 kc/s  
circuit (and the right people) could produce a very acceptable outcome.
 > I may be an engineer, but I don't always need metering to tell me  
good from bad!

		I expand:

	Tony, in the US, television networks used the national telephone  
company AT&T almost exclusively to distribute their programming into  
the early 1980's when satellite distribution was introduced.  Until  
1977, the old 'Telco' distribution system maintained audio and video  
as separate parallel feeds.  This required constant monitoring along  
the various paths to ensure that audio and video remained in sync with  
each other.  In 1977, AT&T improved the video service so that it was  
capable of carrying a wider bandwidth than before.  Wider bandwidth  
systems allowed for audio subcarriers to be transmitted along with the  
video, thereby providing for the first time a single system for both  
video and audio.  This advance provided several new improvements in  
addition to its simple 'one line' concept:  Audio quality was  
dramatically improved to high-fidelity levels.  25-15KHz bandwidth  
became possible as well as stereo transmission, both of which were not  
available to network affiliates before.  System noise levels were  
lowered as well, and the elimination of the need to synchronize audio  
to video was a tremendous advantage over the older separate system.
	This new multiplex transmission system lasted only until satellite  
distribution became common.  NBC started satellite distribution of its  
programming around 1982 using the Ku band, the only network at the  
time go with Ku.
	Now of course, everything is digital and high definition.  Audio is  
so much better than what was available just a few years ago, it's hard  
to imagine what it was like back then.

			Dennis Degan, Video Editor-Consultant-Knowledge Bank
	  					NBC Today Show, New York