BBC Technical Standards for Network Television Programme Delivery

[BJ_M]

This is a very good document for general knowledge of broadcast standards

1 Scope of Document
This document defines the technical standards for programmes that have been commissioned by BBC Television for London delivery, either directly (eg studio or OB contributions) or on tape (e.g. Digital Betacam). While the document deals primarily with material for transmission, there are other factors to take into account and these will be reflected in the commission, such as for re-versioning.

Although this document is titled “Technical Standards” it also contains certain elements from “The Production Guide” and “BBC Delivery Requirements” in order that it can be used as a more compact reference for operational staff charged with delivering programme material.

Programme delivery to BBC Worldwide, BBC Regions and BBC Nations may have differing requirements. For more in depth information on international delivery please see BBC WorldWide Technical requirements via http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/delivery/

This document does not cover programme delivery for other co-producers. Whatever the requirements of the co-producer, these standards must be met for material delivered to BBC Television.

2 Introduction
It is not intended to frustrate producers’ ambition to make their programme in the manner of their choosing. The purpose of this document, and associated material, is to set out the technical requirements to ensure that material delivered is of a satisfactory standard. This document also draws attention to areas that may impact upon technical parameters and quality of programmes.

Particular types of delivery, such as via tape, have their own requirements for technical standards, quality and delivery issues. Each type has to meet the General standards but then can be modified and added to by issues laid out in their own section within this document.

As noted in section 1, this document also contains relevant requirements that are not strictly technical standards but combine together to form a useful reference for operational staff. The content will be found within 3 types of section:

Technical Requirements These sections describe the technical standards required to deliver material to the BBC in such a way that the programme is fit to perform the purpose(s) for which it was commissioned and will pass flawlessly through the broadcasters systems. These are broadly pass / fail objective measurements.

Quality Requirements
Quality requirements deal with broadly subjective quality issues with the pictures and sound. Careless shooting, inappropriate production methods and faulty or substandard equipment can cause avoidable impairment to sound or vision. The ITU / CCIR 5 point grading scale is often used to assess programmes broadcast for quality and the commissioner should indicate what level of standards are required.

Operational Requirements
All material delivered must be to the correct standard, be accompanied by the correct line-up sequences and accompanied with the correct information for the “Ingest” or delivery process. These requirements are specific to the delivery method e.g. via Digital Betacam.
The full requirements to be met when delivering programmes to be broadcast are defined on the Delivery website, www.bbc.co.uk/delivery

tvstandardslondon.pdf

[edDV]

Great to see everyone on the same page for HD 16:9 square pixel.

This may be the final nail for composite D3. Sony's Digital Betacam is the minimum BBC production standard from now on.

Digital Betacam can be more easily upscaled. Current digital Betacam decks have built in upscaling to 720p or 1080i and look ok if not true HD.

I see PBS is still claiming upscaled D3 is HD for "Austin City Limits". It is not*. They do have nice donated Hitachi HD cameras. Somebody please donate a HD switcher and a HDCAM or DVCProHD recorder. Austin City Limits is creating history.

* remember "DAD" for CD recordings?

http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/tt_spr03_acl.html