14-06-2024, 07:45 PM
(14-06-2024, 01:23 PM)bbctvtechop Wrote: It was even more clever than that. Each camera lens also had a device on the front where operators could adjust it to open or close the mesh effect to let in more or less (or none!) of the outside lights in.
I never figured out exactly how it worked!
The problem towards the end (before the 54D refurbishment when the desk moved away from the windows) was that so many changes had been made to the streetscape the blinds no longer matched.
Persian TV had variable ND filters attached to the front of the cameras, and there were polarised blinds on the windows. Very effective, and it was possible to control exactly how bright the view was behind Presenters, better in MCU/MS shots than wide shots. They were driven by whoever was doing Vision Control/Lighting in the Gallery, not the Camera Operator on the floor (most cameras were under remote PTZ and focus control by the Lighting/Vision Op anyway).
They worked the way that cheap variable ND filters for DSLRs would work. Variable ND doesn't help against direct sunlight hitting a presenter - just the view out the window. The ND wheels needed constant tweaking as the cameras crabbed across the studio floor. The streetscape blinds were quite clever, though spoiled the overall feel of the view through the window - possibly why Newsnight don't use them?