Archive of the Broadcast Engineering TV Category

I’ve been back from IBC for a week, and I don’t envy you broadcasters and editors who slave over producing video. It’s a lot of work! Now that I’ve caught my breath from being back, I want to give a post-wrapup of IBC, specifically the video we shot for BE TV@IBC.

All of the videos are on the site now, and I hope you tune in, because they’ll give you a real look at what we saw at the show.

Let me touch on a few of the videos. more

I’ve never had a problem using intercoms, so I was a bit surprised that anyone thought that a color display on an intercom was important. Now I’m a believer.

The RTS KP-32CLD color display keypad allows users to be grouped by color and channels. This makes it quite easy to see that green links connect to the machine room guys and blue links go to the edit suites, for example. more

Today I saw Streambox’s solution for file-based video management and acquisition. The solution comprises three products: the Store and Forward Client, the Store and Forward Server, and the Media Station. All three work together to provide greater control and management of field-generated video as it is edited and uploaded to the broadcast studio for multiformat playout.

The solution enables control room operators to better manage hundreds of video files as they’re uploaded to the Store and Forward Server by field reporters or citizen reporters for on-demand or scheduled playout via an easy-to-use Web interface. more

Over at Quantum today (Stand 7.G29), I got to catch a demonstration of the Workgroup Archive. It combines NAS simplicity found in common infrastructures with the scalability of the company’s StorNext software.

The solution is preconfigured, and setup can be as simple as plugging in a few cables and setting up data movement policies. It supports the NFS and CIFS protocols, which allows connectivity to practically all standard applications while reducing setup hassle to a minimum.

The product can scale from 23TB to 316TB, enabling customers to grow from a small storage environment to a much larger system without any equipment swap-out.

For more information, watch this video demo.

At IBC Thomson Grass Valley unveiled the K2 Dyno replay controller. The compact controller coupled with the new K2 Summit production client is designed to help sports producers and other professionals capture live events in crystal-clear HD resolutions and instantly play them out at variable speeds for critical analysis during fast-paced events. It is ideally suited for HD sports production trucks and shared storage production facilities.

It features an intuitive user interface that includes the company’s T-bar, switcher-quality buttons, a touch-screen LCD, plus high-speed GigE networking. For larger operations, the controller can operate as a dedicated client within the IT-centric MediaFrame metadata architecture. This ability allows users to gain access to all of the information about a specific clip through the K2 Dyno replay controller for fast and easy recall. Users can import and export MXF, QuickTime, and GXF (SMPTE 360M) files directly using any USB device.

For more information about the K2 Dyno, watch this video demo.

When I stopped by the Pro-Bel stand today (3.A61), I picked up my favorite piece of swag from the show: plastic ice cubes that light up and change colors in the middle. I’m told you stick them in the freezer and use them to cool down your drink. These are, of course, to promote Pro-Bel’s Morpheus Integrated Content Engine (ICE), which was first introduced at the NAB trade show in April. The company didn’t intentionally name the product ICE, but realized the acronym after naming it Integrated Content Engine. more

We just stopped over at the Harris booth, where the company was very excited about its new transmitter Maxiva. The transmitter comes in both liquid-cooled and air-cooled versions.

So what’s special about it? Maxiva features Harris’ PowerSmart technology for efficiency and a compact footprint. The Maxiva UAX air-cooled transmitters offer a robust and scalable low-power UHF solution for analog and digital broadcasting.

Available in power levels from 10W to 2kW, they are ideal for low-power applications from full-market coverage to gap filler applications. The PowerSmart architecture enables high power-density, a compact footprint and high efficiency to give broadcasters the lowest cost of ownership. The architecture uses fewer parts in the cabinet to provide simple field reparability and “green” energy-efficient operation.

To view our video demo of the Maxiva, click here.

AmberFin today announces the launch of the latest version of its iCR software, an open-standards platform technology that can digitize and transform new and archived content.

AmberFin iCR 4.0 includes SD/HD ingest and is optimized for open storage servers, with integrated review and quality control. Its repurposing module has been enhanced to enable it to reduce file sizes by as much as 25 percent.

The platform also provides increased interoperability with Apple FCP and Avid editing systems. more

I met up with Blackmagic Design today so I could see the company’s new Mini Converters. There are five models in the Mini Converter group, plus the new Broadcast Converter, a combination rack mount all-in-one model.

All of the converters include the following features: 3Gb/s SDI technology, redundant SDI inputs, balanced analog and AES/EBU switchable audio, standard ¼in jack audio connections and an international power supply, which includes adapter plates for all international power sockets. more

It’s day two, and my feet hurt! We shot about 15 videos today, running around the RAI.

I was really excited to visit with AmberFin since it’s a fairly new company. AmberFin is a spinoff of Snell & Wilcox and focuses primarily on iCR, a multidelivery software platform. It creates a high-quality file-based master, delivers quality-control review, provides unique file conversion to multiple formats and simultaneously prepares multiplatform versions of video content.

Afterward we shot a video of Snell & Wilcox’s iQ Modular, which delivers the flexibility needed to construct any type of broadcasting facility. Its components provide compatibility with 3G emerging standards and metadata-rich infrastructures as well as current analog, SD and HD standards.

Additions to the IQ Modular range include advanced Dolby E processing enhancements.

Well I don’t want to give everything away about what was going on at this booth. Check out the product demo videos of Amberfin iCR and Snell & Wilcox iQ Modular.