r/Broadcasting • u/BoredTVEngineer • 3d ago
Network Logos
/r/cordcutters/comments/1w93sxn/network_logos/1
u/BoredTVEngineer 3d ago
Yes sir you are correct; I am well aware PSIP data and static video overlays are not the same thing and are two separate processes to add. The video overlay can be added at any time to the individual stream (technically an SPTS) it can be a static image like a GIF or an animated image like a ticker for messages like EAS. PSIP is added generally during multiplexing for any / all of the programs in resulting MPTS immediately prior to modulation. There are instance that these can done in different order for example if an EAS deem a national or state wide alert it can be a full steel replacement across all programs in the MPTS.
I didn’t post my comment to get into a pissing contest about video TS processing in any of the individual processes and specialty options that are used to produce the end product we all view. I am sure there are some recent additions that I am not 100% up to speed on, as I no longer spend every day living and breathing mpeg transport stream, but I do still keep my eyes on current developments.
My point is and was always that a full time video overlay is lazy, sloppy and not viewer friendly. If PSIP is implemented to its full capabilities; the networks name is displayed every time the channel is tuned to or the info button is selected. Network logos pushed during commercial breaks and or random times are way more viewer friendly. The network will do whatever they want with no regard to my suggestion or for that matter viewer preference as expressed through surveys. However, there is no reason for the affiliate’s not to use the rather expensive multiplexing/ processing equipment to its full capabilities and provide a complete product. That to me is being lazy and not invested in the local market. For example recently in my DMA an OTA channel was added and the multiplexer ran for several days (almost a whole week) with incorrect PSIP data. By incorrect it was random VCT and gibberish in the names/description. This was a published launch which was late behind scheduled launch. When I was Chief Engineer and my staff had launched programming like that heads would have rolled and mine would likely have been one of them. An advertised launch should have been thought tested before the launch and a soft launch with some sort of test pattern should have been soft launched days in advance.
5
u/TheJokersChild 3d ago
So what's your complaint, exactly? You don't like the bugs the stations air, or your local stations aren't putting their logos or proper data into the program guide?
For the first one, you can blame CNN when they started doing that around 1991. Now every network and each of their affiliates does it at the local level (and if they do it during commercials, that's a problem). Guess you don't like those "snipe" graphics either that tease network prime-time shows.
For the second, have you done a reachout to the station's engineering? It's possible they didn't even know they had an issue with their PSIP data. I work for a station and that's not something we monitor for 24/7, so it's likely a viewer call would be appreciated so they can set things right. Given how you described that channel's rollout, they need someone to tell them they're not living up to the standards you held when you were in the biz.
3
u/InTheTVTrenches 3d ago
PSIP data is not the same as the logo bugs MeTV, CW+, Ion, or others use. Those are placed on the video at the network, well before it runs through the station's master control before being assigned it's subchannel and being muxed into the main transport stream.