I am often amazed by the thermal knowledge of chief engineers at broadcast stations, they know BTU ratings of every major unit AC unit.

This knowledge is a reflection of the energy waste yesterday and today.  Heavy air conditioners move BTUs of heat created by expensive custom equipment moving bits mostly representing silent black or audio tone over test patterns.  Repeated patterns of uncompress bits are used because of the custom nature of old broadcast equipment, to which these chief engineers add duplicates for redundancy.

This week I have been traveling, working in client facilities, sometimes uncomfortably chilled, because thermal balance of this waste heat is still a bane of broadcasters.  As LEDs replace picture tubes and overhead mini spots, will there be a revolution in smart thermal engineering?