A Woman Who Preserved over 30 Years of TV History(atlasobscura.com)
atlasobscura.com
A Woman Who Preserved over 30 Years of TV History
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/marion-stokes-television-news-archive
9 comments
There are people who recover teletext from VHS tapes, for example: http://www.uniquecodeanddata.co.uk/teletext76/bbc1_1983-06-2...
I've actually done this. Recovery from VHS tapes is at least technically possible, but not reliable, and relies on pages being sent multiple times. (And often a bit of guesswork.)
It's much more reliable from S-VHS recordings, though those are understandably much rarer.
It's much more reliable from S-VHS recordings, though those are understandably much rarer.
Is there an FFMPEG type of filter that can translate information recorded in the vertical interval space like CCs or even VITC? All of the equipment I ever used expected an incoming video signal for processing. For archival processing, it would be an interesting approach when finding the proper video based equipment would/could be difficult.
Specifically for teletext (so, in general, PAL territories only), you can use this: https://github.com/ali1234/vhs-teletext
$ ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "movie=test.ts[out0+subcc]" -map s output.srt
https://stackoverflow.com/a/27780366/7106583
https://stackoverflow.com/a/27780366/7106583
Finally had a chance to look into this further. The filter you found requires an MPEG2 Transport Stream. That tells me that this filter is just extracting the CC data within the MPEG stream. We've had tools to do that since MPEG2 was a thing.
I'm specifically talking about a full raster SD video capture at 720x486 NTSC with the VBI information visible. Is there a filter that will read the white dashes in the VBI and do some sort of optical translation of the dashes into something like an SCC file. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I used to actually be able to decode the VITC in my head by reading the dashes. It started out as a joke while bored working 3rd shift where we'd offset the H/V delay on a monitor. It actually became a useful skill when we started digitizing the full raster video image but the time code was not captured/saved in the resulting digital media. Reading the white dashes allowed me to then reset the time code of the digital file.
For those wondering, there were 2 types of time code in video tapes. LTC (linear time code) was an encoded audio signal that would sound like a series of tones that would be decoded into time. VITC (vertical interval time code) was visibly encoded into part of the video signal that consumer televisions would not display. Normally, the player would "listen" to the LTC while playing and fast scan/rewind. While a player was paused onto a video frame, it could no longer "hear" the LTC. It would instead then switch to decoding the VITC. The VITC was also not able to be decoded at fast speeds since it went by too quickly. When the VITC and LTC did not match, all sorts of interesting things would happen in an edit bay.
I'm specifically talking about a full raster SD video capture at 720x486 NTSC with the VBI information visible. Is there a filter that will read the white dashes in the VBI and do some sort of optical translation of the dashes into something like an SCC file. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I used to actually be able to decode the VITC in my head by reading the dashes. It started out as a joke while bored working 3rd shift where we'd offset the H/V delay on a monitor. It actually became a useful skill when we started digitizing the full raster video image but the time code was not captured/saved in the resulting digital media. Reading the white dashes allowed me to then reset the time code of the digital file.
For those wondering, there were 2 types of time code in video tapes. LTC (linear time code) was an encoded audio signal that would sound like a series of tones that would be decoded into time. VITC (vertical interval time code) was visibly encoded into part of the video signal that consumer televisions would not display. Normally, the player would "listen" to the LTC while playing and fast scan/rewind. While a player was paused onto a video frame, it could no longer "hear" the LTC. It would instead then switch to decoding the VITC. The VITC was also not able to be decoded at fast speeds since it went by too quickly. When the VITC and LTC did not match, all sorts of interesting things would happen in an edit bay.
Oh sorry, this lib should handle it: http://zapping.sourceforge.net/Zapping/Zapzilla.html
You my friend, are a steely eyed missile man.
I love FFMPEG and everyone that contributes to it. For the really old farts (of digital media), I also loved the old AVISynth contributors. I've noticed a lot of the old plugins for that are now available as FFMPEG filters.
This sounds really cool but won't the original broadcasters be all over the archive for publishing these files? How could anyone get permission to release all that copyrighted material?
Archive.org complies with DMCA take downs (preserving it until copyright expires), lots of content is effectively abandon-ware and nobody cares enough to bother.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_work
archive.org is also an officially recognized library for the state of California, which gives them some leeway:
https://archive.org/post/121377/internet-archive-officially-...
https://archive.org/post/121377/internet-archive-officially-...
Very little incremental leeway for digital content. It's much more that relatively few copyright owners are much interested in chasing after old TV show and news postings even if they're aware of them.
> While many people assumed that television networks held on to everything they aired, that wasn’t the case. Studios were constantly erasing and recycling broadcast tapes in order to save money and free up storage space.
I've heard about this happening during the early days of TV. For example, there was a lost episode of Dr. Who that finally turned up and part of the story was that most studios just re-recorded over the old stuff.
I didn't realize the practice continued into the 80s.
Are there any estimates for how much TV footage was never preserved by the networks?
I've heard about this happening during the early days of TV. For example, there was a lost episode of Dr. Who that finally turned up and part of the story was that most studios just re-recorded over the old stuff.
I didn't realize the practice continued into the 80s.
Are there any estimates for how much TV footage was never preserved by the networks?
I suspect the vast majority is long gone--and much of what isn't gone is on decaying media that isn't well catalogued in some vault someplace. The situation is better for anything that made it into wide syndication presumably but even the owners of some shows can't rebroadcast or sell on DVD/digital in their original form because they don't own the rights to music.
I would expect scripted TV to be shot and mastered on film until ~2000 and you'd hope the negative would be stored somewhere but maybe not.
It's a lot easier to imagine live TV such as news or sports not being recorded or saved. Broadcast-grade tapes probably weren't cheap.
It's a lot easier to imagine live TV such as news or sports not being recorded or saved. Broadcast-grade tapes probably weren't cheap.
TV was not recorded on film. Older TV looks different than older film, for this reason.
Some stuff was shot on film, some stuff was shot on videotape. Really early TV was either recorded on film or not recorded at all since video tape recorders didn't exist until the mid-50s.
To add another wrinkle, some stuff was broadcast live via video and recorded to film by basically pointing a film camera at a TV. This was then used to broadcast the content in another timezone.
That's crazy. Like the architect scene from The Matrix Reloaded
Calling Quantified Self! (https://quantifiedself.com/)
Damn, that's astonishing. I hope it ends up on youtube: I still watch grainy recordings of HBO from ~1980 for laughs, would love to see what "real" TV with commercials and programming was like over 40+ years.
Damn, that's astonishing. I hope it ends up on youtube: I still watch grainy recordings of HBO from ~1980 for laughs, would love to see what "real" TV with commercials and programming was like over 40+ years.
That use case for YouTube alone makes it a national treasure. There's nothing quite like finding a TV commercial I haven't seen in 35 years, taped off of the exact same TV station in Seattle I first saw it on. I'm suddenly transported back to a time and place in a way that virtual reality currently can't touch.
It's on archive.org, though there are so many tapes that they are still digitizing them. If you live in the SF bay area, go volunteer.
https://archive.org/details/stokestvarchiveexperiment
https://archive.org/details/stokestvarchiveexperiment
Someone needs to populate the about page. I was hoping for a gist summary to be found.
https://archive.org/details/stokestvarchiveexperiment&tab=ab...
This is a ridiculous question: would any of these transmissions, via VHF or satellite uplink, have been capable of escaping our solar system and be receivable by some distant intelligent life in some distant solar system? Or would the signal be completely lost to background solar radiation or otherwise simply not be capable of transmitting that far?
How much of what's transmitted around the Earth escapes?
How much of what's transmitted around the Earth escapes?
Well, the signal escapes but would be very hard to pick out and very weak. You'd probably have to have something like a better version of the radio telescope they used to get a black hole image. It's hard to say it would be impossible though.
I've always wondered about this subject and I have a hypothesis: civilizations only broadcast recognizable signals for a short time.
Then as radio becomes more sophisticated, the signals become harder to receive and be recognized. Over time, radio becomes more efficient, so signals will be more directional, lower power, and compressed. That means you have to be in the right place with the right coding scheme otherwise the signal won't be received, or will look like noise.
Then as radio becomes more sophisticated, the signals become harder to receive and be recognized. Over time, radio becomes more efficient, so signals will be more directional, lower power, and compressed. That means you have to be in the right place with the right coding scheme otherwise the signal won't be received, or will look like noise.
IIRC, Sagan specifically mentioned that our radio signals are being beamed out into space (long ago, in the TV series Cosmos.)
The probability of decoding NTSC signals (ie, the old SD standard) without prior knowledge is probably going to be better than decoding the current digital MPEG broadcast standard. So the aliens have about 50 years of signals to look at before it suddenly looks like we encrypted everything.
I hope they like reruns of Mr Ed.
The probability of decoding NTSC signals (ie, the old SD standard) without prior knowledge is probably going to be better than decoding the current digital MPEG broadcast standard. So the aliens have about 50 years of signals to look at before it suddenly looks like we encrypted everything.
I hope they like reruns of Mr Ed.
I like the idea of a sci fi story where someone sends a ship at faster-than radio speeds to recover old transmissions from earth.
This sounds really expensive! No mention in the article of how she managed it.
The article mentions she bought Apple stock early on.
her husband had money
rom 1968 to 1971, she had co-produced Input, a Sunday-morning talk show airing on the local Philadelphia CBS affiliate, with John S. Stokes Jr., who would later become her husband. Input brought together academics, community and religious leaders, activists, scientists, and artists to openly discuss social justice issues and other topics of the day.
rom 1968 to 1971, she had co-produced Input, a Sunday-morning talk show airing on the local Philadelphia CBS affiliate, with John S. Stokes Jr., who would later become her husband. Input brought together academics, community and religious leaders, activists, scientists, and artists to openly discuss social justice issues and other topics of the day.
The article has a better explanation later on:
"She eschewed Tivo, and although she was an early and evangelical investor in Apple Inc., she never sent an email in her life. She even managed to convince the rest of the already-wealthy Stokes clan to buy Apple stock, which paid off in spades. She funneled these funds into her recording project and the massive storage space she required as the sole force behind it."
It comes down to savvy investments on her part and family money, not just "she spent her husband's money".
"She eschewed Tivo, and although she was an early and evangelical investor in Apple Inc., she never sent an email in her life. She even managed to convince the rest of the already-wealthy Stokes clan to buy Apple stock, which paid off in spades. She funneled these funds into her recording project and the massive storage space she required as the sole force behind it."
It comes down to savvy investments on her part and family money, not just "she spent her husband's money".