FEED-HUNTING - LET'S GO SEARCH FEED
What are feeds, who need feed, how find them and how view it
 

writed by The Pitbull
with help from:
Stanley Cassidy, Gingy


LAST UPDATING:
03 July 2006

"FEED" INTRODUCTION

1) What are "feeds"?

"Feed" definition, also simplified, could frighten beginners and appear not as a matter for everybody. Wrong! It is better probably to analyze before some example and then introduce the concept , and so we recommend you temporally pass to following page and then return here for continuing reading.

With the term "feed" defines  a transmission, often punctual, effected by a satellite and aimed to feed one or more chains televisions. These technical connections are used for directing some services or allow direct real-time from distant places.

FEED, therefore, are service channels used from the broadcasting stations for transfer the signal, and therefore audio and/or video, from two distant points among them exploiting the satellite as support.
It is easy to understand what we won't find as "feed" .
- It's possible to see porno video?
No! Films are recorded in special study and recorded on ribbon or dvd , and so they don't require direct real-time away satellite.
- It's possible to see musical concerts?
If are replicas no! If instead it is an event in progress, and the projection is scheduled in tv (as the MTVs Awards), also from some foreign channel, then there is possibility to catch it. Really, this must not be take as a rule. More than once happened that has been diffused in feed re-mix, or highlightses, or straight recorded concerts (for necessity of moving and other reasons) .
- Which feeds are found with great frequency?
As already said: those for which is necessary have real-time signal . For the most part news, bulletins, external interviews and sport events.
have you ever wondered when to the news they tell "we have live our envoy from..." how does it make the signal to reach the television study?
We can bring a valid example quoting the role that feeds had on the Pope Giovanni Paolo II disappearance. Many many channels have transmitted in real-time funerals after having been for whole days outside of hospital.
Have you wondered how they have done? Probably no, but sure you have seen various vans with the dish on the roof parked nearby.
It's obviously that images, before arriving in our televisions (or in our monitors; -) have completed a long path.
Try to synthesize it:

1) the cameraman, with camera on the tripod, make recording scene
2) the signal reaches via radio the van , positioned to few meters, that elaborates it and sends to the "support" satellite
3) "support"  satellite "reflects" the signal toward the center of Broadcaster
4) in television studies he handles the assemblage, channel logo addition, data compression that until now were high quality, and ri-transmission toward the satellite on which channel is present (i.e. Astra 19.2°E or Hotbird 13°E)
5) the satellite "reflects" signal toward our dish
6) The dish "convert" signal and sends to our decoder

From these six points we can have various indications. We can first of all make sense of as it is possible receive feeds. To point three have said that signal reaches from satellite to broadcaster. Who forbid us to receive same signal with our dish? Nothing! And here disclosed secret of feeds. Practically, we receive same signal that should be reserved only to the addressee (the broadcaster), but due to limits imposed by technology is radiated on wide territories.

We can make a first consideration about
"type" of images:


"Maurizio Costanzo Show" Feed
Note absence of channel logo "Canale 5"
Since must be still elaborate they enjoy some maximum visual cleaning. Any logos or other message it's not present (and this makes channel often unrecognizable). Besides you can forget advertising spots since they are added in second moment. However, also this point must not be read as a rule. Different times, for make an example, to 7°E they have been transmitted for Eurovision feed that was the direct transmission of that single channel: this way it has happened for Sanremo Festival, when they were connected with Rai 1 with spot (and so also for the confrontation between Prodi and Berlusconi... the whole wake of the spots given by Rai 1 has passed in feed Ebu). Sometimes logo are present in the feed (and it is also for this that a channel as DSF, also being FTA, crypt its feedses... for protect mark).

A second consideration we can do on "quality" of images.


Feed of a concert at 24 mbits!
(Click to enlarge)

 


Feed of a meeting of kick
(Click to enlarge)
Since they directly come from the operator camera, and they have not suffered any post-elaboration neither ri-compression, they are almost always of high quality. Paradoxically, therefore, if you catch the feed of a game, you could see it to a superior quality to that visible on payperview channels.

Still a consideration on the feeds: they are almost always without censure. This means that you will assist to things that others won't see in tv.


A journalist waiting for connection
(Click to enlarge)
If it's a feed about interview you will see preparations before, operator that regulates audio, color and brightness of camera and relax moment at the end of the connection. This will make you understand that behind presenter's smile hides tension of to go to real-tv and stress of whole preceding job.
 

Preheating of a soccer game
For a game meeting you will assist to the heating before, and to the dispersion of the crowd at the end. For show programs you will continue to have the direct when they will pass line to the advertising.


Cleanings before handball game


An empty ring waiting for the meeting



A surgical operation in real-time

In certain cases images can be rather strong for which is better avoid feed search in presence of children. At that time they could pass violent scenes, war scenes not censored by editor or straight surgical operations transmitted directly from a hospital to other.


Besides, we add that FEED are not always composed by audio and video, but more often than you think, exists signals they have no Pid audio and also not Pid video (sometimes for more "camouflage", sometimes because they are UFO, signals of data transmissions somehow not identified).


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FEED INTRODUCTION
1)
What are "feeds"?
2) Feed Archive
3) Requirement
4) Hunting?

SEARCHING METHODS
5) Direct insertion
6) Charts based search
7) Blind search

8) Feed in 4:2:2 format and encrypted
9) Conclusions