[BC] A review of the Roadshow

[mark@shander.com]

Hi Ron and All,

I attended the recent Phoenix Roadshow event, and I did "relearn" a few
things.  While passing around an NTSC composite video distribution
amplifier with 2 inputs and 4 outputs, I asked Larry what the logic was
in designing something that didn't switch between the two inputs,
allowing two signals to potentially reach the outputs together, which
wouldn't necessarily sync properly because the unit wasn't designed to
genlock.  He reminded me that this kind of device has a loop output for
signal monitoring, and that you would normally terminate loop with a
75-Ohm terminating resistor or terminate it at the monitor.
 
I think I would rather have monitored the video DA via one of its
outputs rather than the loop input, since seeing what you're
distributing is more important to me than seeing what the source signal
looks like.

That having been said, my experience with the Phoenix event was that
Larry was in his prime, and shared a lot of great information, and a
lot of really good technical stuff.  Not only that, but I won a T-Shirt
that was delivered to me via FedEx two business days later.  I also
walked out with a great HDTV keychain and literature on some Henry
Engineering products I'm budgeting for.

Regards,

Mark