Music Footage from WGBH to be Issued by Reelin’ in the Years – The largest producer of public TV content, WGBH-TV in Boston, and the world’s major footage source for music, Reelin’ In The Years Productions, announce a licensing deal for the music-related video footage between 1968 and 1995 which WBGH has. Most of it has not been seen since the original broadcast. The best known is the James Brown concert of 1968, the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. It was credited with preventing riots which were experienced in other cities. Other notable performances will feature soul music artists who appeared on WGBH, including Gladys Knight; Earth, Wind & Fire; Carla Thomas; Curtis Mayfield; Sly & The Family Stone and The Isley Brothers. Other programs will feature performances and interviews with James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Taj Mahal, Nancy Wilson, Eartha Kitt, B.B. King and Frank Zappa, among others. In 1993 WGBH produce a mini-series called Rock & Roll, and all 80 of the raw interviews they filmed are in their archives to be used. RITY has been cataloging the music footage and will make it available for clips in their documentary productions.
Pro-ject’s New Record Cleaning Machine – Pro-Ject Audio’s new VC-S vinyl cleaning machine is more powerful than others. It suggests one turn of the record foward and one turn backwards to clean. It is three times faster than other machines and leaves records cleaner and drier. It has a big container of “Wash It” fluid, the record doesn’t touch a platter, and it has a new type of record clamp. With a different fluid it can also be used for 78s. It retails at about €450,00.
Problems in Developing Flexible OLED Screens – LG and others showed OLED screens at CES but in smartphones they are mounted in a rigid holder. Flexible displays are much more complicated. organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are mini light sources directly generating light when turn on, and they don’t need a white light behind them, thus reducing the overall thickness. That’s one of the driving factors behind the switch to OLED technology, plus the better imaging. Some smartphones have over three million subpixels and bending them introduces strain which can tear apart electrical connections. Large-scale manufacturing can be difficult since plastics are tricky materials to work with. And it’s not just the flexible displays – other components are needed to operate the display and need to be part of the overall design. Japanese scientists are working on this and their hope is to apply their research to other fields as well. In spite of the challenges, flexible displays will eventually become ubiquitous in our everyday lives.