The new digital television (DTV) world into which we've been legislatedis already making tremendous demands on broadcasters. Hard disks are quicklybeing integrated into program storage and playback. A major player in thefield of "mass storage" is Philips BTS with their Media PoolVideo Server. What you learn about Media Pool and KGO's implementationof it will help you understand the near future of digital storage and playbackin both broadcasting and production applications.
John Reuter, a broadcast television engineer who is now the PhilipsVideo Server Product Manager, will show us the Media Pool's unique architectureand the design criteria that led to its development. He'll explain thetrade-offs Philips made between uncompressed and compressed storage inMedia Pool applications and how "future proof" the design is.John will help us understand what we should be aware of--and beware of--inthis transitional period between NTSC and DTV. He'll discuss how serverswill fit into the broadcast facility of tomorrow--and today.
In an all-digital world, magnetic tape will still play an importantrole. Media Pool uses tape drives to back up its hard disks, as well asfor cost-effective "deep" archiving. Mike Wilke of StorageTechwill be on hand to answer questions about the role of data tape in theprocess.
KGO-TV will soon be on the air with DTV. Jim Casabella, KGO's Directorof Engineering, will share some "war stories" about his workon the cutting edge of digital TV. (During the presentation, you mighthear why one Bay Area engineering wit commented, "Never go out tolunch with Reed Hundt while he's still the chairman of the FCC!")We'll wrap up the evening with a tour of the KGO engineering plant.
KGO-TV
900 Front Street
San Francisco (There's ample, on-street parking at this time of the evening.)
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