The Tonight Show................................
tvbroadcast.com
Working Without A Net
By Joseph Maar
(May 24, 1999) Burbank, CA--Partnering together, NBC and Sony laid claim to the first regularly scheduled, network high definition television show in U.S. history when The Tonight Show With Jay Leno began broadcasting in HDTV (1080i) and NTSC on April 26. The bold move puts the Peacock Network and its manufacturing partner at the forefront of HD production, with the entire country watching an NTSC version that makes constant reference to, and thus promotes awareness of, HDTV.
In addition to the technical challenges, the role of being first has come with its critics. Some claim that the production falls short of a flawless and "pure" HD telecast. Although the show does use some NTSC gear in production, it was clear that NBC's technical division did their best to push the HD envelope.
Engineers record the show exclusively in HD (using Sony HDCAM tape machines); no NTSC copy exists. "That's why I'm saying, 'No net! [It's] HD without a net!'" remarked James Powell, NBC's vice-president of Entertainment Production Operations.
Although The Tonight Show has a total of 10 Sony HD cameras available (HDC-700 studio and HDC-750 portables), the show typically uses seven or eight on any given night. According to Gary Considine, executive producer for NBC Studios, this includes four in studio configuration, one on a jib, one or two hand-helds, and at least one POV camera.
The show's technical director switches in HD using Sony's HDS-7000 switcher and HDME-7000 DVE. From there, the signal goes to an HD edit/record room with identical Sony gear. There, editors can tweak the show and replace shots from one of several HDCAM iso-record reels.
"The signal goes through the production switcher via fiber-optic cable to the edit record facility," remarked Powell. "They post in high definition, and once they're finished they have two copies of the completed show.
"We roll both [HD tapes] simultaneously," Powell added. The signal from Burbank to viewers' homes involves a complex dual-path, he stated. One feed is HD, the other is NTSC.
The HDTV feed uses a Tiernan encoder to compress the signal down to 45 Mbps, in order to fit on a single satellite transponder. "The Tiernan TDR6 is the integrated receiver/decoder; it takes in the satellite signal [at each affiliate]," remarked Charles Jablonski, NBC's vice-president of Broadcast and Network Engineering. "The TE10 is our encoder for the satellite feed, and we have a similar encoder in New York."
Powell said the NTSC signal is downconverted inside the HDCAM VTR and "goes [via] AT&T to New York, through the Genesis system, where they have DAs that record the signal and send it up and out to satellite."
He added, "We use a Prime Image [Pipeline] box to delay the NTSC [signal] by 290 milliseconds, so that when they hit the station, both signals, the HD and the NTSC, are in time. That's so that when [the affiliates] switch to local commercials, they're both in time. It's not perfect, but they're close enough... that it doesn't get in the way."
The West coast feed works differently. "The NTSC [East coast] feed is recorded in the Genesis in New York," explained Powell. "They'll play the NTSC from the Genesis, we'll play the high def from here [in Burbank]. We know to roll ahead by 290 milliseconds and... that'll take care the problem [of keeping them in sync]."
Considine described how NBC got involved with Sony to produce the show in HD. "NBC was approached by Sony in terms of, 'do we have an interest in basically being the guinea pig?' And, given the fact that as a network we have been [first nightly series in color, first in stereo] before, and we're risk takers here on The Tonight Show, we said 'why not?' We do 230 new shows a year; it's a good chance to find out what works and what doesn't."
Indeed, on the debut show, there were some things that didn't work. Viewers reported various transmission issues in several of the 12 cities broadcasting the show in HD (however, those may have been at the affiliate level or with certain model HDTV sets). NBC did confirm that their NTSC feed suffered slight lip sync problems.
Despite any "opening night" kinks, the engineering, management, and writing staff appear to have a grasp on how to advance their craft amid new territory. However, criticism may be more justified in some of the production and management areas. Negative viewer comments included poor guest selection for the HD debut show and crowded shot-framing on the standard definition, 4:3 telecast.
Surprisingly, the control room staff does not use 4:3 monitors in their direct line-of-view. In addition, the 4:3 markers in both production control and on the cameras are marked for 4:3 "underscan." Thus, two-shots are often cropped too tightly and some single shots have less headroom than you'd expect from a high-profile, network show.
This was also the experience of prior dual-format broadcasts that had to consider the "safe-action" area of 4:3 (see February, March, and April issues of Television Broadcast for discussions on this topic in "Front Row View"). However, NBC's production team has chosen to favor 16:9 framing.
"They determined that they wanted to have everything in 16:9 so that they didn't have any information omitted from them," remarked Powell. "And, so we did that... and hopefully, they won't change it. It would be really tough to change it around. They seem to be really happy with it."
Considine remarked, "Some monitors have double lines [to mark 4:3 'safe area'], but it's probably true that [the show is being shot] a little tighter than it was. I think we're in high def, so you have to frame for high def."
He added that his staff modified the seating area to include two guest chairs. This prevents one guest from appearing in the 16:9 single-shot of another guest. Technicians also adjusted the lighting. "In high definition you really have to pump up the lighting a lot, and sometimes then it's real hot in NTSC."
Despite the fact that some HD viewers had receivers which claimed the show's audio was in true Dolby Digital surround sound, NBC is not doing the show in 5.1 channels.
"That's not to say that we won't, but we didn't change the audio," remarked Chris Summey, vice president of Systems Integration for Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company. "They already do matrix surround [Dolby Pro Logic], and they didn't [want to] change that. There's not enough sets out there to change the show that dramatically. We want to take this one step at-a-time."
Insiders say that while NBC's Euphonix CS3100B audio board is 5.1 capable, the entire Burbank facility is not and, even if it was, HDCAM tape machines record only four channels of sound.
Another production problem is that letterboxed movie clips and effects that simulate 16:9 HD for the 4:3 audience appear as a "floating rectangle" on HD sets. This is the result of recording only one signal out of the production switcher.
A dual-recording would allow one of Sony's switcher ME banks to feed the 4:3 show while another runs the 16:9 production undisturbed. Using the DVE on one show but not the other would prevent this "floating rectangle." However, you'd have to record two different formats.
NBC's Jablonski said that time constraints don't allow for fixes on two versions of the show in time for the 8:35 p.m. live feed to the East Coast. "We didn't want to change anything the production [staff] had to do," he remarked, "because they get off the [recording] at 6:00 or 6:30, if they had to fix two copies they might not have time."
Other significant items include the show's use of non-HD graphics and NTSC pre-production editing gear. For design elements and fonts, the staff uses NTSC graphics upconverted from a Pinnacle fxDeko in tandem with a YEM upconverter.
In taping pre-recorded comedy segments, Tonight Show videographers use an HD field camera (Sony's HDW-700A) for EFP shoots. However, editors downconvert and digitize the tape to an NTSC Avid Symphony for nonlinear editing. Once finished, the Avid video is then upconverted back to 1080i HD.
According to Considine, "There's only one high definition edit bay [at NBC Burbank] and that's ours to record the show and then send it out. We have two Avids going all day for pieces that are laid into the show. [If we tried HD] there would be a long queue and then you'd go to the rehearsals, make adjustments, and then go back into the queue. We have to get ready to record the show, so it didn't make sense since nonlinear has been a huge jump for us."
Despite all of the challenges of dual-format shows, NBC is successfully on the air nightly with HDTV. The milestone is significant.
From Sony's side, the effort is considerable and the business model evident. "One of the high values right now in doing multiple formats, because not a lot of people are viewing in HD, is the franchise opportunity," remarked Sony's Summey. "Three years from now when the show goes into syndication, the HD format is going to have a higher-value appeal."
For NBC's part, there are some early adopter and learning curve issues that one would expect. Though many hope The Tonight Show staff continues to improve on the initial shortcomings, there is no doubt that NBC is providing leadership for other broadcasters.
However, experts agree that the production team could have done their homework better and avoided some of the headaches that have befallen prior dual-format shows.
Considine said his staff is committed to making a quality production for both HD and NTSC viewers. Remarking on the technical challenges and creative opportunities, he commented, "Right now, we want to get all the pictures right for everybody. And then, obviously, have some fun with it."
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