BELL TELEPHONE LABORATORIES
INCORPORATED
SUBJECT:
An Auditorium CCTV System
DATE.-
May 19, 1967
FROM:
J. F. Traub
MR. E. E. DAVID, JR.:
1.
INTRODUCTION
This report contains some thoughts on the feasibility of
acquiring an auditorium CCTV system in the near future.
There is current activity aimed towards a broad BTL CCTV
system but the fruits of that labor will probably not ripen
for some time. The system discussed here has definite
limited objectives. On the other hand, it would satisfy
some definite current needs.
2.
THE BASIC SYSTEM
The basic system would link auditoriums at HO, MH and WH by
CCTV with telecasts originating at MH. Additions to the
basic system are discussed in Section 5«
The system should have a moderate cost of acquisition and
operation. It should use equipment currently available
which is easy to install.
More specifically, I believe it should enjoy the following
characteristics:
a)
Big screen reception (Theatre Style TV).
b) 'Live telecasts followed by live question
and answer period.
c)
Minimal special preparation on the part of
the speaker.
d)
Minimal or no modification of the auditoriums.
e)
Small portable equipment.
f)
Equipment operable by untrained or minimally
trained BTL personnel.
g)
Equipment reliable and easy to service
preferably by BTL personnel.
Mr. E. E. David,, Jr. - 2
3.
USERS
The uses of such a system might include transmission of
4.
a)
Computer Science Colloqium Series
b)
Graduate Study Plan
c)
Monthly Out-of-Hours Series
d)
Out-of-Hours Education
e)
Technical Symposia
f)
Communication from management
SPECIFICS CONCERNING POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
BASIC SYSTEM
The following camera and projection equipment has been proposed
by Teleprompter Corporation. The information is as supplied by
Teleprompter and has not been further verified. The price of
leased lines is from N.J. Bell.
a)
Projection
The telecast would be projected on the auditorium
screen. Teleprompter suggests Television Projector
Model A912 by Tele-Beam (Kalkart Company, Plainville,
Conn.) Price M|B* The projector can be used on
screens from 6 f x8 ! to 10^ f Xl4 f . The equipment is
portable and weighs 100 to 200 pounds. It is as
easy to operate as a home TV set.
b)
Cameras
Pickup is via two vidicon cameras which might be
mounted in the auditorium or in the projection
booth. One camera would be trained on the speaker
and the other on the screen of the originating
auditorium. The cameras need not be manned.
Control is through a console which is used to
switch between cameras.
Teleprompter suggests Sylvania SC-A10012.
Price t|B* This includes two cameras, and a
console with two 8-inch monitors. It does not
include special lenses or zoom mechanism. The
console is 2 feet square and 4 feet high and is
portable. The operator can be trained by
Teleprompter in 3-^ days.
Mr. E. E. David,, Jr. - 3
c)
Transmission
Transmission could be on lines leased from N.J. Bell
Rough figures obtained from N.J. Bell are jjff) per
month per line. Hence if we originate at one
location and transmit to two other locations the
cost will be 4BHfe per month. If we go ahead with
this proposal the costs of leasing lines should be
compared with the cost of acquiring our own microwaye^facilities thru private^nyLcrowave companies £
Only video is discussed above. For audio we could
use system rigged up at BTL or have audio supplied
by Teleprompter.
5.
COSTS AND PERSONNEL REQUIRED
Using the figures supplied by Teleprompter we arrive at the
following ballpark costs for the basic system.
Two Cameras plus switching console
Two TV projectors @
Engineering, installation, training
of our personnel
Total
Using approximate figures supplied b
N.J. Bell, leased lines would be
Cost of operating for six months
(exclusion of personnel costs)
Note
This does not include audio.
The personnel required for video (exclusive of audio) are
two persons at the two TV projectors and one person at
console. In addition a director should be available to
coordinate between the speaker and the man at the console.
He would be required at a rehearsal of the talk and at the
talk itself. We might want service personnel standing by
at least for the first few telecasts.
Mr. E. E. David,, Jr. -
6.
ADDITIONS AND MODIFICATIONS OF THE BASIC SYSTEM
a)
The basic^aystem has all programs originating at
MH. It^wfe«±el be desirable to have the system
completely symmetric with respect to the three
locations. The major expense here would be for
line changes which would be tripled.
b)
In order that Indian Hill and the branch laboratories
could see the presentations, it might be desirable
to record on videotape. The video and audio parts
of both lecture and question period could be recorded,
The signal can be taken off the switching console.
Hence the same man who operates the cameras could
handle the recording. Equipment suggested t>y^^
Teleprompter Ampex 7000. Price fl|fe* Tape ^fj
for one hour tape.
At the receiving end there are a number of possibilities. One might have another Ampex 7000. Or one
could ship the video tape recorder together with
the tape*. If large screen projection is to be used,
another TV projector will be required. On the other
hand, TV sets could be used. These would require a
modulator available for some 4MB*
c)
It might be desirable to install a small monitor at
the podium. The speaker could then see what is
shown on the screen without turning around.
d)
Various lenses (flflB per lens) and a zoom mechanism
(4JH) are available for the camera. Because we
are interested in simplicity of operation we should
hold such accessories to a minimum.
7. ' RECOMMENDATION
As a first step towards making a decision on the feasibility
of the system proposed in this report I recommend we accept
an offer by Teleprompter to survey our auditoriums and to
give a demonstration. If this proves satisfactory we would
ask Teleprompter and one or two other companies to make a
formal bid.
MH-137^-JFT-MG
J. P. TRAUB