Most engineers and technicians working in operational areas spend a certain amount of their time inventing new, better and more cost-effective ways to do their work. Often, such reveries are little more than exercises in inventing a better mouse-trap and are destined to be forgotten if only because the opportunity never arises to put the ideas into practice.

Just now and again, however, there comes a chance to re-build an entire system. Here Brian Flowers, long-time Head of the Eurovision Control Centre in Brussels, gives an account of his work to design the new EVC in Geneva, for which he is Project Manager. If the old mouse-trap was PAL/SECAM/ NTSC, the new one will be analogue/digital, composite/ component and 4:3/16:9, with provision for future HDTV.

Although it is some forty years since the first VHF/FM sound broadcasting services opened in Europe, no generally-accepted preference has been established for the use of vertical, horizontal or mixed polarization. This is no doubt due in part to the many factors which can affect the conclusions of any field trial: characteristics of the terrain where test measurements are taken, choice of test points, measurement techniques, statistical methods applied to the results, etc.

The present contribution compares mixed and horizontal polarization in various types of terrain, with particular attention to areas where reception is problematic. It is concluded that horizontal polarization is the preferred choice for use in hilly or mountainous terrain.

The world's major sporting events have for many years played an important rôle in increasing public awareness of new or improved television broadcasting systems. Although HDTV cameras had been present at previous events, the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympic Games were the first at which comprehensive coverage was attempted in HDTV.

In Barcelona, for the 1992 Summer Games, European broadcasters and industry pooled their resources under the "Barcelona 1250" banner to provide over 225 hours of Olympic programming, with commentary in six languages. Over 40 HDTV cameras and their support systems were deployed, and the exercise involved over 300 production and technical staff.

Facilities were provided at nearly 700 "Eurosites" in towns and cities throughout Europe, allowing large numbers of viewers to watch the sports – and to begin to get used to HD-MAC picture quality and the 16:9 aspect ratio.

Attracted by the theme of Expo 92 - The Era of Discovery - 42 million visitors had an opportunity to discover European high-definition television.

In a manner fitting the scale of Expo 92 itself, the Spanish transmission authority, Retevisión, and the Vision 1250 EEIG joined forces to show the best of European HDTV technology and programmes. Despite the involvement of Retevisión also in the provision of conventional television coverage of Expo 92, and the heavy burden on both organizations for HDTV coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Expo 92 visitors were able to see programme-makers at work in Europe's largest specialist HDTV studio, and appreciate the technical and esthetic quality of high-definition, wide-screen presentation in the national pavilions of all twelve Member States of the European Community and elsewhere at the Expo 92 showground.