Broadcast Engineering is a specialty field of electrical engineering that uses knowledge from electrical, electronic engineering, and computer programming for use in television and radio. All radio stations operate at particular frequencies, and even televisions have to receive a signal from a broadcasting system before programs and channels can be viewed on them. Broadcast Engineering makes this possible.
Broadcast Engineering can be pursued as a secondary degree after having received a basic degree in electrical engineering, computer programming, or telecommunications engineering. Aside from this, they usually have a strong background or additional expertise with video or audio mixing, editing and handling, acoustic management etc. A love for media and a desire to make entertainment more appealing to all the senses are all motivation for the broadcast engineering.
Based on which step of the process one chooses to specialize in, broadcast engineers have various designations. The first and most basic step is the construction of devices that can handle broadcasting signals. This would involve researching and constructing better, newer and smarter televisions and radios that can capture a clearer signal and provide better quality output.
Management of existing systems is another aspect of Broadcast Engineering. Systems already in operation require upkeep maintenance and management to ensure that they are working at their best capacity. Additionally, management involves making sure that older system still in use can still and broadcast updated signals.
Research and upgrade in Broadcast Engineering is now a new and burgeoning aspect of the field, since most systems are undergoing a transition from analogue to digital. Thus, aspiring broadcast engineers now also have to well-versed in both types of systems so that they can manage and work with both.
Research is always a dependable career option in any field, and this is true even with broadcast engineering. If there is an existing system, there is always scope to make it better, and if there is a problem with the existing system, there will be a research team looking for solutions and changes. Broadcast engineers can also work in the laboratory to bring about exciting new innovations to make audio and visual entertainment set ups.
Broadcast engineering is highly in demand and with media becoming more a part of everyday life, a degree and eventually a career in broadcasting engineer can be very rewarding and successful. If you enjoy entertainment and media and would like to acquire the skills to make it more enjoyable for everyone then this is the field for you.