BROADCAST APPLICATIONS OF 4 2 2-MPEG

Professional broadcasting applications of digital processing technolog y have been proceeding well for the last decade. The agreement of the fundamental standard for the so-called ''4:2:2'' studio signal coding- ITU-R Recommendation 601-began a continuing process of development wit hin studios and in contribution and distribution. During the late 1980 s, high-performance video and audio compression systems based on the 4 :2:2 standard were developedfor use in contribution and distribution. Some of these were standardized by ITU-T and in Europe by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI). These systems were base d on high bit rates, typically 140 Mbits/sec or 34 to 45 Mbytes/sec, r equired by the compression algorithms available at the time. Technolog y has moved on, and the MPEG standard can achieve remarkable results a t lower bit rates, typically in the range of 5 to 20 Mbits/sec, which is sufficient to support the needs of contribution and distribution ap plications.