Japan Broadcasting Corp, or NHK, with assistance from Toshiba Corp, has developed a general purpose image processing system called Picot which enables a single machine to perform a variety of different types of image processing, and is pitching at the video and TV programme-making markets: its skills include creating La Nuit Americain – turning a day scene into night – and enhancing an indifferent image; Picot incorporates specially designed image processing and control chips, in a system which consists of a processing and control unit, a personal computer and an operations table – and the system meets High Definition TV standards by virtue of the additional power of the microcomputer.