Application of Network Technologies in Low-Budget Television Production

Abstract

The article considers the classical scheme of the broadcast news studio and the principle of operation of the television broadcasting system on the example of the standard of the international digital television system, which is the reference model of terrestrial digital television transmission. The structural scheme of the broadcast news studio is given, the functions of each block of the studio and the principle of their work are described. The diagram of the digital television system shows how the signal from the studio passes through the stages of encoding and modulation to the broadcasting antenna, and then the demodulated and decoded TV signal appears in the digital television application on the viewer's side. The interactive communication channel is also discussed in more detail. The diagram of the interactive communication channel presented in this article shows how the communication between the broadcasting company and the viewer of digital television takes place. However, given the current tendency of TV channels to move from broadcasting on digital television to online broadcasting on streaming platforms, the article considers an example of organizing an online broadcast on the YouTube platform. Using the example of equipment from the classical scheme of the broadcast studio, the selection of similar low-budget equipment for organizing a studio for online broadcasts was carried out. The list of low-budget equipment includes a video mixer, video cameras, lighting equipment and two types of microphones. The advantages and disadvantages of low-budget equipment are indicated, from which it can be concluded that low-budget equipment is not of poor quality, but is designed for a smaller number of connected equipment, so it is suitable for use in small television studios. The functions and possibilities of using the selected Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro video mixer are considered. A scheme for organizing a live broadcast on the YouTube streaming platform using the selected equipment is presented. The low budget of the studio is substantiated by estimates and comparison with the budget of a similar educational television studio. The possibilities of remote access organizing to the workplace via VPN (Virtual Private Network) and RDC (Remote Desktop Connection) are also considered. These features allow employees to work from a remote location, not directly in the studio. The purpose of the article was to determine how does remote access delay the work of the studio and complicate the process of launching online broadcasts. Measurements of connection delay and broadcasting were carried out. According to the results of the measurements, it was concluded that both VPN and RDC insignificantly affects the connection speed of the equipment, so remote work can be equally comfortable as working directly in the studio. The difference between remote work and direct work in the studio consists of in the preliminary configuration of devices for remote connection and also remote work depends on the Internet connection entirely and light availability in the studio.