Broadcast Beat Magazine September, 2014 | Page 17

RADIO BITS

TRIVIA

17

(Continued from previous page)

It is the software that addresses the pixel and subpixels that make up the pixel. It is interesting to note that, in storage, pixels are made up of one or more bits, with "bit depth" representing the number of shades (mono or color). Of course, the most economical for storage purposes is monochrome, which uses just one bit per pixel (on/off). Gray scale and color typically use from 4 to 24 bits per pixel, providing from 16 to 16 million colors (256 shades of red x 256 shades of green x 256 shades of blue).

Through the careful control and variation of the voltage applied, the intensity of each subpixel can range over 256 shades. When combined, the subpixels produce a possible palette of 16.8 million colors, which take an extremely high number of transistors. To put it into perspective, a typical laptop computer supports resolutions up to 1,024x768. If the 1,024 columns were multiplied by the 768 rows, then multiplied by each of the 3 subpixels, we get 2,359,296 transistors etched onto the glass! When there is a problem with any of these transistors, a "bad pixel" is created on the display. Considering that fact, it's not too unbelievable that many active matrix displays have several bad pixels in various places across the screen.

So, when you get right down to it, it's the pixel that controls hi-res. Whether it's in the quantity or the quality (or process), it all comes down to the picture cell. From "how many your camera sensors can record" to "how many your monitors can display," and via whichever process, the world of high-resolution revolves around the pixel.

Magic Pixels

The Power is

in the Pixel!

Top 4

right now

Sporty car racing

Nec ne erant suscipiantur. Harum facilisis adversarium pro ea, cu duis iudicabit sadipscing eam

MagyPath B.C.

Nec ne erant suscipiantur. Harum facilisis adversarium pro ea, cu duis iudicabit sadipscing eam

According to:

the website FunTrivia.com, the World's Largest Trivia Website (http://www.funtrivia.com)

Sporty car racing

Nec ne erant suscipiantur. Harum facilisis adversarium pro ea, cu duis iudicabit sadipscing eam

Which company ended up developing the first radio network in the USA?

AT&T. Surprise! AT&T had long been experimenting with public address systems, long-distance (trunk) lines, and vacuum-tube radio transmitters. Thus they were quickly able to use telephone lines, amplified with vacuum tubes, to interconnect radio stations in the early 1920s and provide simulcasting. RCA, along with Westinghouse and GE, tried to form their own network by boosting their stations' transmitter outputs, by using leased telegraph lines, and by sending shortwave transmissions (which can travel farther than longwave). But they just could not compete with a telecommunications giant like AT&T. In 1926, however, RCA bought out AT&T's network, which then became the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC.

Broadcast Beat's founder Ryan Salazar (right) on stage with Rich Demuro (left) at the

2013 NAB Show

Broadcast Beat's founder Ryan Salazar (right) on stage with Rich Demuro (left) at the 2013 NAB Show

Broadcast Beat Magazine / Sep-Dec, 2014