JISC

John Zubrzycki is the Archives and Content Retrieval Section Leader at BBC Research and Development. He is in charge of a team working on a portfolio of projects aimed at updating the BBC’s archive systems and developing advanced content classification and retrieval techniques to improve access to the archives.

John joined BBC Research in 1982 and has pioneered the use of fibre-optic networks for studio centres using dense wavelength-division multiplexing through a series of European collaborative research projects. He has also worked in collaborations on 4th generation mobile technology, producing a 34 Mbits/s mobile demonstrator in 1998. John then led the R&D team that produced the world’s first digital wireless camera in 2000, which was further developed with industry into a practical system in regular use by the BBC and many other broadcasters. John was responsible for the development and testing of the terrestrial STBs used in the BBC HDTV Trials. Until recently, John’s was in charge of a portfolio of ‘Beyond HD’ projects, including High Frame Rate TV and Super Hi-Vision, in collaboration with NHK, during which he led a cross-industry team that carried out an award-winning live London-Amsterdam link of Super Hi-Vision pictures and 22.2-channel sound at IBC’08. He also led a team researching 3D production and broadcasting techniques, in a European research project called 3D4YOU. Currently, John has started working on bringing together the various strands of R&D on archives into a new Section at BBC R&D.