[Tig]Why'd they do that? was new compression methods (camera)

[Dick Hobbs]

Steven Bradford may well be right in saying that there are some  
particular projects that actually do need special-purpose systems  
which are completely unique and bespoke.

But the unavoidable truth is that, for decades, our industry has been  
dogged by people claiming that their requirements were unique when  
really they were doing pretty much the same as everyone else. The  
result is that vast sums of money were wasted, in projects like the  
ones other contributors to this thread have mentioned. Big  
broadcasters around the world are always the worst, and - I suspect -  
BBC was the worst of all.

The sign of a mature industry is a supply side that delivers products  
which are accurately tailored to the needs of the majority of the  
users. It is blindingly obvious that spreading the R & D costs across  
tens, hundreds or thousands of systems is commercially much more  
sustainable than developing each one from scratch.

The extension of that is that there has to be good communication  
between suppliers and users so that the right products can be  
developed which meet the real needs of the vast majority of users.  
That is a message which manufacturers have, at times been  
surprisingly reluctant to hear: I know because I have been saying it  
for many years with little effect (and a distinct failure to make  
much money at consultancy in the field).

And to get back to my very old friend Peter Swinson and his original  
story, yes it is typical of military suppliers that they would rather  
invent a PAL encoder from scratch rather than buy one off the shelf  
from a sister company. But - looking back at Swinny's last days at  
Cintel - how is that different from designing a telecine controller  
from scratch rather than co-operating with established manufacturers?

Sorry. Cheap shot.

Dick



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Dick Hobbs
Consultant and writer on television and film technology
+44 1435 830988
Skype DickHobbs
dick at hobbsonline.tv




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