Automating Quality Control in File-Based Workflows

1 F rom the day most television stations first signed on, nearly all eyes at the stations focused on one channel. In control rooms, studios and transmitters, engineers constantly monitored video quality in real time. Professional video picture monitors were often used for critical observation. Trained and licensed broadcast engineers used calibrated waveform monitors and displays to necessarily verify standards compliance and to measure and adjust technical variables. Tektronix’ founders invented the world’s first triggered oscilloscope in 1946. Soon after, Tektronix began manufacturing specialized test and measurement tools for television broadcasters, based on the triggered oscilloscope. The new equipment allowed TV stations and facilities to more easily ensure that their signals adhered to NTSC and FCC standards, so everyone who could receive their broadcast signal could see their programming. Even with the best waveform monitors, these checks were visual and therefore subjective.