On many occassions, I hear about something being “broadcast quality”, but what does this mean?
In what ways do tapes used by broadcasters to store programmes differ from consumer VHS tapes?
With DVD-Video taking over, what are the advantages of broadcasters using digital tape over DVD?
What tape format is used - DVCPRO or Betacam SP?
Isn’t one of the Teeming Millions going to answer this question?
I do know that there are video tape machines that use 3/4 (and I think 1) inch tape, rather than the 1/2 inch tapes used by consumers.
but thats about the extent of my knowledge.
Brian
One of the important elements of a videotape is the backing material. Broadcast quality tape will have much stronger backing material than retail due to the amount of use and abuse it has to endure.
I have bought broadcast quality VHS tapes in the past. The tape is thicker and they are only 80 minutes instead of 120. I used them to record my wedding and the birth of my grand daughters. Because I did not use broadcast quality VCR, I did not notice and real difference in the quality when watching the tapes though.
I used to work in a radio station, during the days when reel-to-reel recording was the audiophile’s ultimate ambition. I once asked the Technical Director if we bought special “broadcast quality” tapes for the station. His reply was something to the effect of “Bushwah. We buy [Scotch?] brand-name tape, whatever’s cheap. The quality of the tape is far above the quality of our [AM] broadcast.”
I suspect that most “broadcast quality” claims are marketing hype.
“Broadcast quality” is not a written-down set of objective standards. What it means is using equipment and recording media good enough so the program would look acceptably good and “professional” and the bottom end of the broadcast chain, i.e., a home receiver.
Analog signal quality, both audio and video, deteriorates fairly rapidly over “generations”. Generations might be copies of the original master tape, or transmissions through phone lines, or through the air, or all of the above. To get a recorded program into a home takes several generations. The orginal program tape (which in itself, unless it’s a recording of a live real-time event, is a recording of portions of other tapes mixed together) is recorded onto “sub-master” copies. The submasters are used for various functions depending on the distribution scheme. They were sometimes used to make mass numbers of additional copies that were shipped by mail to broadcast stations. They might be transmitted over specialized high quality phone lines to broadcasters, which would in turn record that signal for delayed broadcast. Nowadays, this happens by satellite, but by and large the signal is still analog, and there is still degradation. The broadcast and reception in the home would in turn further degrade the signal.
That’s why it was, and is, especially important to get the hightest possible quality original recording, and re-recording, throughtout this chains. Flaws do nothing but get worse through each transmssion or recording.
It’s true that in these digital days, the distinction between broadcast quality and consumer quality is blurring as the best consumer level gear gets better. But pretty much anybody can tell the difference between amateur and professional recording, and that’s likely to remain the case for some time.
When I was recording public radio, the generally accepted broadcast standard tape for voice recording was Ampex 406 or Scotch 206 open-reel tape. For music it was Ampex 456 (there was a corresponding Scotch number that I can’t remember), which could take higher levels and greater dynamic range without distortion.
Down at the station level, it’s true that many bought cheap crappy tape. At the producer level, you bought the best you could afford. Broadcast quality is not marketing hype, except when it is applied to products undeserving of the name.