Cue Dots

[thegeek]

As part of the line up procedure an OB does they measure the delay and then take that into account when turning the invisidots on and off from what I have seen.

That is also done for cueing an OB in over talkback, at least at the BBC. Playout will do a count and the OB runs their titles when they hear their cue. Playout then note how late the programme started and can then tell the OB at what point in the count to run it for real.

So for example the network director will be counting from 10 to 0 but the OB will run their titles at 3

The delay test we do where I am (where we also don't use cue dots) is that the PA will do a count from 10-0 and they'll cut to a different camera at 5. So for example if it cuts at 4, that's a one-second delay.

I felt for the PA and director the other week where we had a 2 second path delay on top of a 10 second profanity delay. That can't have been a fun one to work out timings for...

[Neil Jones]

There's an old-school style cue dot here, from a Channel 4 1983 re-broadcast of the time Bruce Forysth and Norman Wisdom fronted an entire episode of Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1961 because of an Equity strike:
https://youtu.be/5H44XXI3E2U?t=3172
(from 52:52)

This one spins obscenely fast and then seems to become a cue rectangle, though I'm not sure if that's an effect of converting it from the original recording to a more modern format? Telerecording?

[Markymark]

Still laying about on the internet, is the datasheet for the popular SD-SDI Cue Dot generator that the now defunct( ?) company MicroVideo manufactured

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...jWr9VByar-

[Steve in Pudsey]

There's an old-school style cue dot here, from a Channel 4 1983 re-broadcast of the time Bruce Forysth and Norman Wisdom fronted an entire episode of Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1961 because of an Equity strike:
https://youtu.be/5H44XXI3E2U?t=3172
(from 52:52)

This one spins obscenely fast and then seems to become a cue rectangle, though I'm not sure if that's an effect of converting it from the original recording to a more modern format? Telerecording?

That was because of a strike? Sounds like somebody shot themselves in the foot, Bruce and Norman's special was better than the regular show!

I believe the cue dots spinning around was deliberate to make them noticeable, but the effect was random due to them being non sync?

[Markymark]

I believe the cue dots spinning around was deliberate to make them noticeable, but the effect was random due to them being non sync?

Yes, just a free running square wave generator, (to produce white and black video) left to do its own thing, and keyed into the main video signal had the desired effect. I expect many thought it was a tiny barber's pole! ?

[Bluecortina]

As I've pointed out before, it was never a requirement for the 'ITV' cue dot to be a moving stripe, it could be a stationary stripe.

[Markymark]

As I've pointed out before, it was never a requirement for the 'ITV' cue dot to be a moving stripe, it could be a stationary stripe.

Indeed. I think Granada's was just a plain white square for years ?

[Inspector Sands]

I remember as a kid often being able to tell which ITV company made a programme just by the cue dot. Central's in particular was quite distinctive and modern looking

That's an art that's been lost in time, there were a few things that made certain companies output distinctive. These were often things you couldn't quite put your finger on - the acoustics or the perspective or the style of direction.

[Neil Jones]

I remember as a kid often being able to tell which ITV company made a programme just by the cue dot. Central's in particular was quite distinctive and modern looking

That's an art that's been lost in time, there were a few things that made certain companies output distinctive. These were often things you couldn't quite put your finger on - the acoustics or the perspective or the style of direction.

Once I'd spotted "it", it was obvious to me whether what I was watching had been made by Central, there was something about its look that was common, although this may have had more to do with where it was filmed, much like anything filmed at Television Centre with the EMI 2001 cameras all looks the same, from Dad's Army to Fawlty Towers to

[Markymark]

[quote="Inspector Sands" post_id=30924 time= user_id=1003]
I remember as a kid often being able to tell which ITV company made a programme just by the cue dot. Central's in particular was quite distinctive and modern looking

That's an art that's been lost in time, there were a few things that made certain companies output distinctive. These were often things you couldn't quite put your finger on - the acoustics or the perspective or the style of direction.

Once I'd spotted "it", it was obvious to me whether what I was watching had been made by Central, there was something about its look that was common, although this may have had more to do with where it was filmed, much like anything filmed at Television Centre with the EMI 2001 cameras all looks the same, from Dad's Army to Fawlty Towers to