JAN 2010 newsletter
Welcome to 2010, may your entry into another year be a smooth one and when you one day look back on this year may it give you a warm fuzzy feeling.
Plans are already being worked on for the new ideas and improvements I mentioned last month. Over the next month or two I have discussions lined up with specialists who will be helping me put together these new ideas and concepts. This is a bit like a journey of discovery for me. The journey begins with the first step or, like in The Lord of the Rings, "the road goes ever on and on" and on that journey their are many new things to see. I have already glimpsed new and exiting possibilities and I look forward to being able to offer these as opportunities to you.
As promised I have updated the Aureola website in recent weeks. The main changes are within the Home page and all the pages within the drop down menu list under Products and Services. These pages I have tried very hard to make as straight forward and explanatory as possible. Also, have a look at Samples-Film, Video & Sound where I have added a couple of new clips of the type of thing I can do. There are other little extras scattered throughout the website and if there is anything you do not fully understand please feel free to say so.
May this new year for you be fulfilling - and also enjoyable.
Paul Perry
High definition television part 2
I mentioned last month about the onset of changes to our broadcast television system in Australia. It seems the powers that be are now tending to promote the changeover more vigorously and the hope is that it will be a smooth one for us all. Our own family TV is likely to be up for renewal before too long and will probably be replaced with something more up to date. At least we are being given time to plan for it.
Spare a thought though for the USA and their changeover plans. Their original changeover date to digital transmission was to be in Feb. 2009 and partly because of a messed up voucher system for people to obtain a set top converter box the deadline was extended a number of months. It was also realised that there were 30 million TV sets that had not been converted and only 11 million converter boxes available for purchase. In all of this the elderly and disadvantaged were also going to be the ones most likely to loose their TV viewing access.
The USA has now almost completely changed over to digital TV, but it seems they are still trying to sort out the aftermath.
3d, the next horizon
You may be aware of a time when people watched 3D movies with funny red and green glasses, Apparently the viewing experience for most was a bit funny. More recently you may have been aware that you could see a newer generation of 3D movie at an IMAX theatre, still with glasses but thankfully better.
That is all set to change now with the introduction of better and better 3D movie production and projection equipment rapidly being installed in many existing cinemas. With the release of movies like Avatar, and many more like it to come, newer methods of production and presentation are resulting in a totally new viewing experience. One example being quoted is that instead of the heavy special effects type of movie where everything flys at or even through you, there is more effort being concentrated on better recreation of a realistic scene. Much of the content in Avatar has been computer generated with live actors placed within that very realistic scene.
The next horizon? would you believe 3D TV? Yes it's coming and when the industry can work out the standards it will work to, we will be offered 3D high definition broadcast television. Though it might be a while yet and longer before we will be shooting our home video in 3D!
Apollo 11 history
Recently the inventor of the television camera that brought us those historic images live from the moon passed away. If you would like to read some more here is a news item about it. it was a huge achievement and one which led to a whole new era of live television.
This news item led me on a bit of a search and I found this bit of Australian history, again associated with the Apollo 11 moon flight and it's live television transmissions. Australia has a lot to be proud of in it's achievements and this was a big one involving the Parkes radio telescope. On this website you may get lost in the technical descriptions, but if you skip through that you will find an inspiring story. Many of the men mentioned in this story are now enjoying a well earned retirement.
Talking about live television in australia
I am reminded of a news item I came across in the last year about the very first outside live broadcast vans brought into Australian by the ABC in 1956. Two units were imported as package deal kits from PYE UK and housed within Morris vans. When they arrived a team was assembled who then had to read the manuals and put it together "by the numbers".
These vans were cramped, hot and very basic. There were only three cameras and if something failed it had to be fixed immediately. One of these vans has now been restored and is based in the National Museum of Australia and is believed to be the only working example of its era left anywhere.
I had the chance last year to see the insides of two very big and very well set up high definition outside broadcast units based in huge semi trailer vans. They were vast, air conditioned and luxurious. Much has changed, some things for the better.
Humour
Do you remember....
When the TV took 5 minutes to warm up? Telephone numbers with letter prefixes? Newsreels and even support movies before the feature ? Headlight dipper switches on the floor? Home delivered milk in glass bottles? Metal ice trays with a lever? Drive in theatres?
Please feel free to contact me with any questions and comments on this newsletter and suggestions of what you would like me to cover in future issues.