engineering

Outside broadcasting

Outside broadcasting is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Outside broadcasting rather than just read about it. In short: Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly transmission.

Key takeaways

Outside broadcasting belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Outside broadcasting to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Outside broadcasting from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly transmission. Some outside broadcasts use a mobile production control room (PCR) inside a production truck.

History

Outside radio broadcasts have been taking place since the early 1920s and television ones since the late 1920s. The first outside broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company was of the British National Opera Company production of The Magic Flute from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 8 January, 1923. The first large-scale outside broadcast was the televising of the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth in May 1937, done by the BBC's first Outside Broadcast truck, MCR 1 (short for Mobile Control Room). After the Second World War, the first notable outside broadcast was of the 1948 Summer Olympics. The Coronation of Elizabeth II followed in 1953, with 21 cameras being used to cover the event.

In December 1963 instant replays were used for the first time. Director Tony Verna used the technique on the Army–Navy Game which aired on CBS Sports on December 7, 1963. The 1968 Summer Olympics was the first with competitions televised in colour. The 1972 Olympic Games were the first where all competitions were captured by outside broadcast cameras. During the 1970s, ITV franchise holder Southern Television was unique in having an outside broadcast boat, named Southener. The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981 was the biggest outside broadcast at the time, with an estimated 750 million viewers.

New technology In 2008, the first 3D outside broadcast took place with the transmission of a Calcutta Cup rugby match, but only to an audience of industry professionals who had been invited by BBC Sport. In March 2010, the first public 3D outside broadcast took place with an NHL game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. The first commercial ultra-high definition outside broadcast was a Premier League game between Stoke City v West Ham, televised by Sky Sports in August 2013. Tests in 8K resolution outside broadcasts began to take place during the 2010s, including tests by NHK and BT Sport. The first public 8K outside broadcast in the UK took place in February 2020.

Modern applications

Modern outside broadcasts now use specially designed OB vehicles, many of which are now built based around IP technology rather than relying on coaxial cable. There has been an increasing rise in the use of flyaway or flyback Portable Production Units, which allow for an increased level of customisation and can be rigged in a larger variety of venues. In the past many outside broadcasting applications have relied on using satellite uplinks to broadcast live audio and video back to the studio. While this has its advantages such as the ability to set up anywhere covered by the respective geostationary satellite, satellite uplinking is relatively expensive and the round trip latency is in the range of 240 to 280 milliseconds. As more venues install fiber optic cable, this is increasingly used. For news gathering, contribution over public internet is also now used. Modern applications such as hardware and software IP codecs have allowed the use of public 3G/4G networks to broadcast video and audio. The latency of 3G is around 100–500 ms, while 4G is less than 100 ms.

Gallery

See also Production truck Satellite truck Electronic news-gathering (ENG)

References

External links

Recreation of a full 1970s BBC Outside Broadcast production Technical planning stage of a 1970s Outside Broadcast production Demonstration of the 'lining up' process for EMI 2001 OB camera from the 1970s Discussion and demonstration of the microphone and communications set up for a sports OB BBC Outside Broadcast crew reflect on their careers in OB production TV Outside Broadcast History Website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Outside broadcasting

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Outside broadcasting claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Outside broadcasting before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Outside broadcasting ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Outside broadcasting

In research: Outside broadcasting appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Outside broadcasting in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Outside broadcasting is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Broadcast engineering, Television terminology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Outside broadcasting outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Outside broadcasting in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Outside broadcasting means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Outside broadcasting out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Outside broadcasting in simple terms?

Why does Outside broadcasting matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Outside broadcasting?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Outside broadcasting.