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A telestrator is a device that allows its operator to draw a freehand sketch over a moving or still video image. Also known as a video marker, this device is often used in sports and weather broadcasts to diagram and analyze sports plays or incoming weather patterns. The user typically draws with a finger,
stylus A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
or pen on a
touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...
or
graphics tablet A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand draw or paint images, animations and graphics, w ...
. From the touchscreen or the tablet, the drawing signal is communicated to the telestrator, which overlays the video image with the drawing and outputs the combined signal for broadcast or display. Today, the telestrator is used in a wide variety of applications (from educational, boardroom, church and military presentations to telemedicine conferences), where it can be used by both the near and far ends to annotate precise details of microscopic images or other medical images that are under consultation. The telestrator is also used in courtrooms to communicate details of multimedia images presented to a jury.


History

The telestrator was invented by physicist Leonard Reiffel, who used it to draw illustrations on a series of science shows he did for
public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...
's WTTW in Chicago in the late 1950s. The original Telestrator consisted of a storage tube
oscilloscope An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...
with a television camera aimed at it. A storage tube is a special
cathode-ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...
(CRT) that retains its image until deliberately erased. A second device was used to decode X and Y positions of a pen-like device held on a metal plate. These produced varying voltages that moved a corresponding dot around the face of the oscilloscope. Normally this was at low voltage, too low to "write" the image onto the CRT. When a button was pressed, the voltage was increased and the image began to be stored. The image was picked up by the television camera and mixed with main display, using a
beam splitter A beam splitter or beamsplitter is an optical instrument, optical device that splits a beam of light into a transmitted and a reflected beam. It is a crucial part of many optical experimental and measurement systems, such as Interferometry, int ...
or video mixer. A variety of methods were presented that allowed the pickup to be placed directly over a display of the main signal. After he had been using it to help illustrate details to his young science audience, he approached Chicago's CBS affiliate WBBM-TV suggesting it be used in sports and weather.
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
football player-turned-sportscaster Johnny Morris, who worked for Channel 2, began using it as did the station's chief meteorologist. According to Reiffel, "After that, New York began to hear about it, and it went on from there." The user interface for early telestrators required the user to draw on a TV screen with a
light pen A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. It allows the user to point to displayed objects or draw on the screen in a similar way to a to ...
, whereas modern implementations are commonly controlled with a
touch screen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...
or a
graphics tablet A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand draw or paint images, animations and graphics, w ...
. The late NFL color commentator John Madden famously used a telestrator during football games for many years, boosting the device's popularity. Because the telestrator was used for NFL game coverage as well as in former NFL player O. J. Simpson's murder trial, this fact was exploited to humorous effect on a 1995 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', with Simpson inadvertently writing out " I did it" by using a telestrator as he explained a passage of play. During his time as a color commentator for NBC and TNT of the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
,
Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Net ...
has been referred to as the "Czar of the Telestrator" by
Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...
for his masterful way of diagramming basketball plays on screen.
Howie Meeker Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best ...
,
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
hockey color commentator and studio analyst, used the telestrator for many years on
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
's ''
Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...
'' to analyze plays during intermissions. He was famous for shouting instructions to the "boys in the truck" – such as "Back it up! Back it up!" and "Stop it right there!" – in his trademark squeaky voice. Wrestling announcer
Bobby Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, color commentator, and wrestler. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the Wo ...
briefly used a telestrator while in the then- World Wrestling Federation, calling it the "Brain Scan". He would usually use it during post-match replays to doodle derogatory pictures or comments. Reiffel won the 2004
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
for his invention. He is one of two individuals to receive the award, which is usually given to companies and groups. Today, telestrators are widely used in broadcasts of all major sports. They have also become a useful tool in televised weather reports. They are also used by Ian Waite on Britain's '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' and humorously on the U.S. reality game show '' Wipeout'', mostly by John Henson.


See also

*
Computer-mediated reality Computer-mediated reality refers to the ability to add to, subtract information from, or otherwise manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a wearable computer or hand-held device such as a smartphone. Mediated reality is a p ...
*
Overhead projector An overhead projector (often abbreviated to OHP), like a Movie projector, film or slide projector, uses light to Projector, project an enlarged image on a Projection screen, screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared ...


References

{{National Hockey League on national television Telecommunications-related introductions in 1982 Sports television technology Television technology NFL on television NBA on television Major League Baseball on television National Hockey League on television