Digital switchover, technical training and IP technology were some of the items of interest to radio people at this year’s SMPTE conference in Sydney.
Broadcast industry staff are vitally concerned with the switch over of the population to digital tv as quickly as possible to allow the freeing up of the old analog tv spectrum for other purposes, including digital radio.
Digital Radio is well ahead of tv because the radio industry has learnt lessons from television on how to test, promote and implement new digital technology. While a government body called Digital Australia will support the television transition to digital, an industry owned radio body, Digital Radio Australia will drive the progress towards digital radio’s coming in January 2009.
The latest work on Digital Radio was described in several conference sessions and high power DAB+ broadcasts were launched (see other story).
On the training front, SMPTE launched a new initiative for certification of industry technicians called Media Industry Technology Certification (MITC). The new qualification replaces the now obsolete Broadcast and Television Operators Certificates of Proficiency (BOCP & TOCP). The certification process allows media techs to “gain recognition for having skills and abilities that an employer would find useful,” according to SMPTE Chairman John Maizels.
ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman also backed the MITC initiative, saying ACMA technicians would be using the new certification and training initiative.
The first phase of MITC certification was launched at the conference and information is available at www.mitc.tv.
At the exhibition one of the interesting new developments for radio broadcasters was the growth of Internet Protocol (IP) audio networking, and IP powered broadcast desks, driven by routing switchers, which allow audio networking across wide area networks at a significantly lower cost than typical ‘synchronous’ broadcast links. Greater flexibility and scalability across wide networks are some of the advantages of the new technology. For info on IP audio networking see www.aptx.com.
Bridge Networks also demonstrated a new range of digital radio transmission equipment, including new Factum DAB+ encoders and new Harris DAB and DMG transmitters, at the SMPTE exhibition. See www.the-bridge.com.au for more information.
More details on the SMPTE conference can be found at the link below.