JTS:The Application of New Technologies Required for an Automated System for Audio and Video Migration

In order to build a next generation system for the automated migration of AV content to either Tape or Files – new technology needed to be invented that was not available. These technologies included:

A new robotic handling system designed to handle different formats gently and reliably for automatic insertion into VTR’s and other processing equipment.

A new system that analyzes the audio and video quality on a frame by frame basis in real time and detects errors and logs them, as well as providing information to an “expert system” that uses artificial intelligence to make assessments on the quality of the tapes being played back and makes adjustments as necessary.

A new tape cleaning system that actually finds physical defects on the tape while cleaning the tape.

Encoding systems to digitize the content in real time, as well as a series of management systems that allow the entire system to be monitored remotely and run on site in an archive.

Central to the research and conclusions of the PrestoSpace projects, this presentation will briefly describe how these individual components work as well as how they work together as part of a larger system that changes the way that migration of content will be done. This presentation will also briefly discuss the need for Lossless compression and some of the requirements of such a format for archival applications.

Jim Lindner, an internationally respected authority on the preservation and migration of magnetic media, is the Managing Member of Media Matters. Jim pioneered many of the techniques now commonly used for videotape restoration and has lectured widely and written about media preservation for the past twenty years. After founding the videotape restoration company VidiPax, he served as its president and executive director, stepping down after selling the company in 2001. He is a founding director of the National Television & Video Preservation Foundation and acted as a witness and panelist for the Library of Congress' "The State of American Television." Jim was twice a member of the board of the directors of the Association of Moving Image Archivists and FIAT. Currently, Jim sits on the Executive Board of SEAPAVAA and is the Chief Video Consultant for the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at the Library of Congress. An active participant in SMPTE and ANSI standards committees, Jim has also served as Chairman of the Board of Anthology Film Archives.