Yesterday, we started out shooting technology demos at Thomson Grass Valley. The company’s product manager of integrated production solutions, Scott Matics, showed us MediaFUSE. This new content repurposing and multidistribution system provides an end-to-end suite of automated tools that allow broadcasters to increase the amount of content available for Internet and mobile distribution.

I don’t know about you, but I think Internet and mobile are the way of the future. There has been a lot of talk about mobile TV at NAB, and obviously the Internet is a key distribution platform or you wouldn’t be reading this blog.

Our next stop was Sony, where we viewed the TriMaster BVM-L230, a 23in full HD LCD master monitor. The picture clarity was incredible. The monitor features the industry’s first 10-bit LCD Panel driver with full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution. The BVM-L230 also features a Sony developed LED backlight system, which offers wide color spaces and color accuracy not available in conventional LCD monitors.

Watch a video on Sony’s TriMaster BVM-L230 on Broadcast Engineering TV.

Related articles: Thomson Grass Valley Ignites MediaFUSE for multiplatform production; Crosscreek installs Sony LCD monitors for HD production; Sony rolls out new reference LCD monitor.

Broadcast Pix has expanded its Slate line with a new 2 M/E version. With the Slate 5000, a single operator can run all aspects of a sophisticated 2 M/E live HDTV production, including complex graphics, animation, clips and effects. It also allows the operator to control robotic cameras, audio mixers and video switchers.

The switcher, which can accommodate up to 32 video inputs, has six keyers, six DVEs, animated transitions with audio, a multiview monitor, dual channel clip store for as many as 60 hours of QuickTime and MPEG-2 clips, Harris Inscriber CG, and five channels of graphics. The panel has two banks of device controls, each of which can be assigned to a switcher function, clip or graphics store, or to control other devices in the studio.

The Slate 5000 can be ordered in various configurations, such as HD/SD, SD-only, analog, or mixed format. The HD versions can simultaneously process 1080i, 720p, SD-SDI, HD analog component, analog composite, Y/C, component, DVI and VGA inputs, with both synchronous and asynchronous signals, in both NTSC and PAL, and in both 16:9 and 4:3 formats. The Slate HD models can output both 16:9 and 4:3 formats simultaneously.

Related article: Broadcast Pix expands Slate line with new 2 M/E version.

Update: Broadcast Pix won a Pick Hit award!

Canon displayed their new DIGISUPER 27 and DIGISUPER 27AF HD studio lenses (models XJ27×6.5B IE-D and XJ27×6.5B AF, respectively) high end applications. Company officials pointed out that this lens incorporates almost 10 years of research and development on optics, lens coatings and mechanics for lens movement.

The lenses have a focal length of 6.5mm to 180mm. Other innovations in the studio lenses include a maximum servo-zoom speed of 0.5 seconds and a new optional remote-controllable macro-focus feature that allows the camera operator to perform macro focusing from the pan bar. more

So representatives from every company at this year’s NAB, and surely every NAB since the beginning of time, want to convince the public that their companies are the best, whether they are trying to corner the newsroom system market from acquisition to playout or focus specifically on one aspect of the broadcast industry and encourage integration with as many companies as possible.

But, really, what can I say to a company that was featured, in small or large part, in more than a dozen booths beyond its own — not just integrated by these companies, but backed by as well — and that adheres to the idea of being “cheaper, faster and better” than any other company that is trying to do what it does? more

My last meeting of the day on Tuesday was with Microsoft. I met with Joe Seidel director, Global Partner Development, Microsoft TV. Seidal discussed the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television and multimedia platform, which he said is delivering video entertainment experiences to more than 1 million set-top boxes worldwide. In addition, he said its service provider customers are adding two new IPTV subscriber households every minute.

One of the developments of Microsoft Mediaroom that peaked my interest was DVR Anywhere. This allows viewers to begin watching a recorded program in one room and finish watching it in another. For instance, you could begin watching a movie in your family room, continue watching it on your kitchen TV while you’re eating dinner, and then finish watching the same movie from your bedroom. But that’s not all … While you’re finishing watching the movie from the comfort of your bedroom, someone else from your household can begin watching the same movie from a different TV in your house.

Related articles: Harmonic DiviCom Ion encoder passes Microsoft Mediaroom conformance testing; Microsoft, Broadcom to collaborate on IPTV; Microsoft opens new Mediaroom interoperability lab.