Brad on Broadcast

Building on Wednesday’s list, here are some more exciting new products and technology to be on the lookout for at the 2011 NAB Show.

iPhone interface

Ensemble Designs is featuring an iPhone-to-HD/SD-SDI video interface for the BrightEye Mitto scan converter. Mitto provides a solution for getting severe weather footage and breaking news from an iPhone into a news program. more

Looking for some companies to visit at the NAB Show? Want an idea of what kinds of products will be on display? Here are but a few of the products already announced that may want to put on your must-see list.

High-performance 9in production monitor

Panasonic’s BT-LH910 is a powerful 9in LCD monitor for field and studio applications. Breakthrough features include a new high-brightness, high-contrast IPS panel; newly developed 3-D assist functions; and professional interfaces including HDMI and 3G-SDI. This monitor is at home as an electronic viewfinder on location as well as in mobile or live settings. more

CMMB America, together with Canadian technology provider Unique Broadband Systems (UBS) and Hong Kong affiliate CMMB Vision, announced the successful demonstration of Converged Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB) mobile TV signals for the first time over cellular network frequencies in a trial demonstration near Denver.

The demonstration represents the first United States-based field test for CMMB and signifies the company’s attempt to position CMMB for its commercial launch of services in the U.S. market. The company says the results validate CMMB’s ability to cohabitate with cellular technologies as well as its superior coverage over varying line of sight and non-line of sight environments. more

On Wednesday, March 9, I introduced you to some in the new line of Sony products to be revealed at this year’s NAB convention. The information was gleaned from a trip to Japan that included visits to three different Sony corporate locations. With that as background, let’s continue with a look at some new Sony technology. more

Sony executives last week invited a selection of 10 key editors from the United States to visit three company facilities in Japan. The editorial trip included meetings at the Atsugi Technology Center, near Tokyo; Sony’s worldwide headquarters in downtown Tokyo; and the Sony image sensor factory in Kumamoto, Japan. This combination of high-intensity (and long) days of meetings allowed me to better understand some of Sony’s newest products and get an inside look at this wealth of new technology. Much of what I saw will be shown to the public for the first time at this year’s NAB show.

Over the next few days and weeks, I’ll treat Broadcast Engineering readers to a behind-the-scenes look at some of Sony’s plans and new technology. Armed with this information, I’m sure you’ll want to see for yourself at the show what the engineers at Sony have been up to. more

Last week I witnessed what amounts to the fourth ownership change for Grass Valley since its inception. Founded in 1959 by Donald Hare in Grass Valley, CA, the company merged with Tektronix in 1974, and private investor Terry Gooding purchased the Grass Valley business in 1999. He then sold it to the French company Thomson SA in 2002.

Nothing against the French, but that ownership always seemed rocky. From my discussions with many GV personnel, the relationship between American and Technicolor’s French management was often strained. I more fully recognized one key symbol of the French style of management when GV press releases began listing the value of equipment sales in euros. I asked the Americans why a sale of equipment made in Grass Valley, CA, to a broadcast network in New York would be valued in euros. The paraphrased answer was, “Because that’s what they (the French) want.” more

Tore Nordahl sent me a copy of his latest report, “Fighting for M/H & 3D dollars: Why 720p60 may rise again.” The entire paper is available at his website, www.coax.tv.

I can summarize his paper’s premise: If your station is transmitting in 1080i60, you may want to consider moving to 720p60 to maximize available bandwidth for new services such as M/H. more

My electric toothbrush died. It must be time for NAB. Okay, there are lots of things that signify it’s time for NAB. Tax time is what I often think of. This trip, I discovered a new indication I was at good ‘ol NAB. My electric toothbrush is dead. more

According to many, okay some, the NAB convention will highlight mobile TV applications, showing live demonstrations (again). Lest those in the broadcast industry think we are the only ones pushing mobile TV, it is worth a bit of effort to see what other giants in this space are saying and have planned. more

The next stop on my NYC trip was the Library Hotel in midtown Manhattan. There, I met with Jennie Evans, of Manor Marketing, and five of her clients for a relaxing roundtable of discussions at the top of the hotel in the Poetry Room.

The Library Hotel in New York City offers its guests more than 6000 volumes of books organized by the Dewey Decimal System. Each floor of the hotel honors one of the 10 categories of the DDS, including Social Sciences, Literature, Languages, History, Math & Science, General Knowledge, Technology, Philosophy, The Arts and Religion. And each of the 60 rooms is uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category to which it belongs.

However, you’ll miss the hotel if you don’t look hard. I never did see an outside sign — just a storefront filled with lots of old-looking books. I asked the doorman for the location of the meeting and he directed me to the fourteenth floor. Upon embarking the elevator, I found myself entering a quiet lounge, complete with a rooftop patio. It was a pleasant evening coupled with the perfect rooftop location for leisurely business discussions. more