admin-agc – AGC Systems

Cugnini/Libin Patents Now Part of Intel Patent Portfolio

February 23, 2026February 23, 2026 admin-agc

Frederick, Maryland — Two patents originally developed by Aldo Cugnini and Louis Libin have been assigned and are now part of the patent portfolio of Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California, as reflected in publicly recorded assignment documents.

The patents, 9,078,248 and 9,226,296, which address innovations in wireless communications, stem from their longstanding work in the development of wireless and broadcast technologies. Their inclusion in Intel’s holdings reflects the technical relevance and strategic applicability of the underlying inventions within the broader semiconductor ecosystem.

Cugnini and Libin are not employees, consultants, or contractors of Intel and have not held any such roles in the past.

No additional details regarding the transaction are being disclosed.

For further information, please contact:

Aldo Cugnini
acugnini [at] agcsystems [dot] tv

John Turner (1943–2025): Innovator, Mentor, and Industry Pioneer

February 18, 2026February 19, 2026 admin-agc

John Turner, founder and principal engineer of Turner Engineering, passed away in December 2025, leaving behind a legacy of technical excellence, generosity, and mentorship. John’s career spanned decades in which he led Turner Engineering to become a leading and respected firm in systems design and broadcast integration. His technical insight, calm leadership, and unwavering commitment to quality earned him the respect of colleagues and clients alike.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, John was a person whose curiosity and kindness enriched the lives of those around him. One memory that I personally cherish occurred during the 2019 transit of Mercury, when Mercury passed across the face of the Sun—an event visible from Earth only rarely and not again until 2032. While I was organizing a public viewing of that celestial event, John graciously lent me one of Turner Engineering’s streaming servers so that the transit could be broadcast live over the Internet. When I offered to pay his usual rental fee, John insisted it wasn’t necessary, waiving the charge entirely as a personal favor—a testament to his generosity and support for science.

While I cannot confirm the specifics, I have long believed that John may have played a role in the work surrounding the restoration of the Apollo 11 lunar landing footage, including projects such as those undertaken by Lowry Digital.

He is survived by his family, close friends, and the many colleagues he mentored over the years. Those who knew him will remember not only his professional contributions, but also the countless quiet ways he made their lives better.

—agc

ATSC Involvement in ITU Continues to Grow

September 26, 2025October 20, 2025 admin-agc

ATSC 3.0 continues to build strong momentum as the next-generation broadcasting standard, with growing recognition across international markets. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has played a pivotal role in reinforcing this position, formally approving a series of ATSC contributions that highlight both the technical strength and the global relevance of the standard. To date, twenty-three ATSC submissions have been accepted and published by the ITU, underscoring a proven record of impact, credibility, and alignment with international broadcasting priorities.

The influence of ATSC within the ITU framework is further reflected in the expanded role of the ITU-R Rapporteur Group on ATSC 3.0. Originally established to review and evaluate technical aspects of the standard, this group has now been tasked with developing new reports designed to guide future innovation, address emerging technical challenges, and provide forward-looking direction for the global broadcasting community.

Through these and other activities, ITU documents offer trusted and authoritative guidance that helps regulators and broadcasters around the world align their strategies and policies. This alignment not only accelerates the adoption of ATSC 3.0 technologies but also fosters consistency and interoperability across markets, strengthening the foundation for the continued growth of NextGen TV worldwide.

Aldo Cugnini’s active leadership within ATSC, ITU-R and ITU-T has been central to these achievements, ensuring that ATSC 3.0 remains at the forefront of international broadcasting innovation.

Aldo Cugnini Receives Highest ATSC Honor

June 16, 2025June 18, 2025 admin-agc

June 12, 2025, Washington, DC — ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, has honored AGC Systems Principal Aldo Cugnini with the 2025 Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award at the 2025 ATSC NextGen Broadcast Conference this week. In accepting the award, Cugnini thanked ATSC President Madeleine Noland, Chairman John Taylor, and the ATSC Board of Directors for bestowing this prestigious award upon him. He also thanked his many ATSC colleagues who have served as invaluable experts.

The Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award is presented annually to an individual within the ATSC membership whose technical and leadership contributions to the ATSC were judged to be invaluable and exemplary. The Award recognizes the first recipient, the late Bernard Lechner, for his outstanding service to the ATSC.

More information about the Award and its namesake is at the ATSC announcement.

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The Trouble with Watts

March 23, 2023December 28, 2023 admin-agc

I recently read an article in a well-known consumer-facing technical hobby magazine, where the author used the phrase, “watts per day.” This is an erroneous concept (the technically-trained author should have known better), which illustrates a matter that is often confusing to the average person.

“Watts per day” is not a meaningful unit of measurement.

The watt (W) is a unit of power, which is defined as the rate at which energy is transferred or used. One watt is equal to one joule per second (J/s).

The unit of energy is typically measured in joules (J), but it is also commonly measured in watt-hours (Wh) or kilowatt-hours (kWh). One watt-hour is equal to one watt of power used for one hour, and one kilowatt-hour is equal to one kilowatt (1000 watts) of power used for one hour.

In other words, the “watt” conveys the notion of the rate of energy consumption. When we pay for energy consumed, we pay for kilowatt-hours.

Therefore, if you see the phrase “watts per day,” it is likely that the author was trying to convey the notion of power used over a period of one day, and the correct usage would be to express it in terms of watt-hours (or kilowatt-hours) per day.

As an example: if a piece of equipment is rated at 100 watts, and the equipment is used for 8 hours every day, then we can say that the equipment consumes 800 watt-hours of energy (not power) per day.

Additional reading: why “RMS watts” makes no sense!

agc

What is the Ecliptic? — Sky & Telescope, September 2022 — Errata

July 20, 2022 admin-agc

The inaugural Sky & Telescope article of Beginner’s Space – What is the Ecliptic? already has a serious error: the Earth is drawn incorrectly! Even in this artful depiction, it’s clear that the orientation of the continents should be rotated clockwise by 23.4°.

In the equatorial-azimuthal projection used there, the Geographic North Pole of the Earth (which of course projects to the North celestial pole) should emanate from above central Canada, not from above eastern Canada, as drawn in the article. Similarly, the Celestial equator (not the Ecliptic) should be drawn as the projection of the Earth’s equator (as correctly described in the article), which of course runs across the top of South America.

Let’s hope not too many new readers are confused!

—agc

Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica Names Aldo Cugnini as Digital TV Transition Advisor

June 6, 2022May 4, 2023 admin-agc

June 3, 2022 – The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica has announced that longtime broadcast television expert Aldo Cugnini of AGC Systems is being retained to provide advisory services in support of Jamaica’s transition from analog to digital broadcasting and the analog TV switch-off. Several years in the making, Jamaica’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) will transition the island nation’s over-the-air television broadcasting system to the ATSC 3.0 digital standard.

“Aldo is an excellent addition to the Jamaica DSO team. He will also help to advance our relations with ATSC, as Jamaica joins the NexGen TV community,” said Cordel Green, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica.

A long-time Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) member and technical committee participant, Cugnini will serve as Technical Advisor to the Commission, which will include support for rolling out ATSC 3.0 Transmission, Application and Presentation services, as well as providing input into the deployment of digital-to-analog converters for Jamaican viewers.

“I’m very excited to be part of the Broadcasting Commission technical team and I am proud to be helping to bring the most modern television standard available today to the broadcasters and people of Jamaica,” Cugnini said.

“ATSC welcomes Jamaica to the growing number of countries deploying ATSC 3.0 technologies with Television Jamaica blazing the trail, launching NextGen TV services in January this year,” said Madeleine Noland, ATSC President. “With many more Jamaican broadcasters preparing for service launches, there is much work yet to be done. With the selection of AGC Systems and Aldo as a long-time ATSC member, Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica has brought years of expertise to the project.”

On January 31, Jamaica joined South Korea and the U.S. in the adoption and transmission of an ATSC 3.0 digital terrestrial television service. TV Jamaica (TVJ) is offering free broadcasting services to viewers, with a variety of channels including TVJ, TVJ Sports Network, Reggae Entertainment Television and Jamaica News Network, and the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica.

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Image Stacking — Sky & Telescope, April 2022 — Errata

March 3, 2022July 20, 2022 admin-agc

The following errata correct the April 2022 Sky & Telescope Article, Image Stacking Demystified, by Richard S. Wright, Jr.

The cumulative image noise is proportional to the square root of the number of frames being stacked.
Mathematically, the shot noise from the imager and associated electronics can be considered to be added to the signal.
The horizontal axis in both graphs on p.56 should be labeled “number of stacked frames,” and the vertical axis should be labeled “quantity.”

EXPLANATION

1. The S&T author writes, “Shot noise is also quantifiable — it’s simply the square root of the signal value.” This is incorrect, as are the numerical examples that follow the statement.¹ The noise and signal components are separate entities, and one cannot say that one of them is a function (square root) of the other. (Actually, some systems do have an interaction between the two, but those are usually 2^nd-order, minor effects, and are not relevant in the image stacking situation.) The noise value is completely determined by the physics of the imaging device and the transistors in the related electronics, and is independent of the signal – it’s even there when there is no signal (e.g., a dark frame). The incorrect statement would imply that a dark frame has zero noise, which is not true: in addition to fixed pattern noise (which we can reduce by subtracting a dark frame when doing advanced image processing), the dark frame will have its own random noise, too.

What is really happening is the following. When we stack multiple images, we are literally adding the images together, pixel-by-pixel. That means that the signal components get added together, and so do the noise components. When the images are properly aligned (registered), the signal components at each pixel from one frame to the next add together as correlated data, since they are part of the same image. This combination is literally a simple addition, so image stacking increases the signal component in proportion to the number of frames being stacked.

However, the noise component at each pixel from frame to frame is uncorrelated, because it is a random process. The noise components add together as orthogonal vectors, which means that the noise value increases by the square root of the number of frames being added together. (The stacked images are then re-scaled, so that the resulting image doesn’t get progressively brighter everywhere – but this, of course, scales the noise by the same amount.) The signal-to-noise ratio improvement is therefore proportional to the square-root of the number of frames that are stacked.

2. The S&T author writes, “It’s important to bear in mind that this noise is not something that gets added so much as something that’s missing.” This is incorrect. The mathematical modelling and analysis of signals with noise accounts for each of these elements as an added component; there is nothing “missing” from the original signal, which still exists in the image capture. In practice, this can be readily seen by using a spectrum analyzer, which will show that the signal and noise are separate components. The shot noise from the imager and associated electronics should be considered to be added to the signal.

3. The graphs on p.56 are labeled incorrectly. The horizontal axis in both graphs should be labeled “number of stacked frames,” and the vertical axis should be labeled “quantity,” as it represents either signal or noise in the left-hand graph, and signal-to-noise ratio in the right-hand graph.

—agc

FOOTNOTE (1):

There is a different quantity, known as photon noise, which is characterized as the square root of the photon signal, but this is not the dominant factor in our calculation of signal-to-noise ratio, because we are considering the net effect over a set of stacked frames.

REFERENCES:

Wikipedia: Shot Noise – note the discussion regarding “square root of the expected number of events.”

Wikipedia: Gaussian Noise – “values at any pair of times are identically distributed and statistically independent (and hence uncorrelated).”

Philippe Cattin, Image Restoration: Introduction to Signal and Image Processing.

Robert Fisher, et al, Image Synthesis — Noise Generation.

ITU-R PUBLISHES TWO DOCUMENTS on PLANNING and TESTING of ATSC 3.0 SERVICE

February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 admin-agc

AGC Systems Key Participant in ITU-R Rapporteur Group and ATSC Planning Teams

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has published two new documents that support the planning and testing of ATSC 3.0 systems. The documents are:

ITU-R Recommendation BT.2033-2 : Planning criteria, including protection ratios, for second generation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting systems in the VHF/UHF bands.
ITU-R Report BT.2495 : Methods for laboratory and field measurements for the assessment of ATSC 3.0 reception quality.

This brings the total number of new ATSC-related documents to five, which includes the Handbook on Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting networks and systems implementation, which was updated last year.

Several ATSC-3.0-related documents are also in the ITU-R deliberation process, which are expected to result in additional publications. AGC Systems has been involved in this process for several years, and leads several initiatives to develop these documents.

The International Telecommunication Union is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs). Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. ATSC member organizations represent the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite, and semiconductor industries. The ATSC mission is to create and foster implementation of voluntary Standards and Recommended Practices to advance terrestrial digital television broadcasting, and to facilitate interoperability with other media.

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