Broadcasting technology moves away from capturing news on film to bring stories to RTÉ Television viewers quicker.
The Director of Engineering and Director General designate of RTÉ, George Waters, delivers the inaugural Morrissey Memorial Lecture in the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). The lecture 'Television in the New Age - A Tale of Two Channels’ addresses the workings of the television service. It also covers the challenge presented to RTÉ News in getting filmed reports from around the country to air.
The problem of getting film that has been shot a long distance away from the studios back there in time for transmission.
Newly developed electronic news gathering equipment will be used to bring stories to the screen. Electronic news gathering uses miniaturised electronic cameras and videotape recorders. With this equipment,
Pictures can be transmitted live from any spot around the country, and no part of the country is further than about an hour’s drive from an injection point for these pictures.
At present, producing a news report is a lengthy and complex process. News film must be processed, edited, dubbed and have a commentary added.
By replacing news film production with an entirely electronic system,
RTÉ hope that within a year they'll be able to bring you news pictures live or at least within an hour or so of being taken from almost any part of the country.
At present this is only really possible for stories that occur close to Dublin.
The Morrissey Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Institution of Electrical Engineers in memory of Professor of Electrical Engineering at University College Dublin (UCD) and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Joseph Morrissey.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 March 1978. The reporter is Derek Davis.
