We know that the numbers were down, somewhere around 20 per cent, but that is nowhere near as bad as some predictions. I talked to people at many booths and most said that they had useful meetings, a very few said it was very quiet. Those that were getting interest said the main issue is finance; there are projects that need to go ahead but that the broadcasters will need to get credit.
And what was the buzz? I’m sure that new product introductions were well down. It just doesn’t make sense to spend marketing dollars on product launches unless they are sure to sell in the immediate future.
Manufacturers were stressing how their new products could improve efficiencies and lower costs. Even without the special circumstances, these two benefits are going to be essential to help TV adapt to competition for advertising from the web and new services like mobile and IPTV.
The media landscape was changing anyway; this year just makes it essential to adapt to survive. Any broadcaster that is still tape-based should seriously look at migrating to file-based operations if they want to stay around. The benefits are compelling.
As a walked around the show floor, I was frequently asked what new products impressed me. Apart from the emerged 3D technology, several products that did impress me were also selected by our Pick Hit judges, Look down that list and you will see the breadth of new product releases.
Like a politician, MobiTV is a master of the art of the possible. In the ATSC mobile TV pavillion at NAB, MobiTV showed its new MixTV, which adds broadcast mobile TV to its unicast subscription mobile TV service — the best of both worlds according to Cedric Fernandes, MobiTV VP, Technology, who talks about it here.
Tuesday morning the phone function on my Treo broke, putting NAB on hold while I, panicked-ly, scurried around gettting a replacement into service. The experience gave me some new insights into modern life.
First, being phone-less is akin to a disabiity; forcing you into, as Blanche DuBois said, “depending on the kindness of strangers.” Second, the Treo remained useful even though I couldn’t make “phone calls:” calendar, contacts, reminders, chat, Internet, mobile TV.
I was able to check in with Teamcast’s session on the company’s new hybrid DVB-T/DVB-SH mobile TV product line, debuted at NAB. The advantage of a hybrid solution, says TeamCast EVP and GM Serge Mal, is that it lets operators offer mobile TV services leveraging the advantages of both satellite and terrestrial transmission systems. more
As I walk around the show floor, one topic that always comes up is, what do you think of the traffic? It is lighter, its easier to get around the aisles, and it’s easier to get to talk with people. The NAB have announced first two days as 83,000 registrations, that is down, but not a disaster. Most vendors are reporting genuine interest, so folks are still buying. The booth that are usually packed are — packed.
Peter Ostapiuk, Intelsat Regional Vice President, North America Video Solutions, coined the above phrase, saying, “I call MPEG-2 the new analog. It’s like when we moved from analog to digital. Now many service providers want to move from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4”. more
At a press breakfast Tuesday morning, Avid officials at times sounded contrite about the company’s previous behavior. Even so, to a person, they were always enthusiastic about the company’s future plans.
Our key is to “pay attention to customers”, said Kirk Arnold, Executive VP Customer Operations. Kirk has been busy reorganizing, rebranding and, in general, helping refocus the company on products and customers. The company is coming together with a one core theme, “Avid is Back. We’re a different company now”, said Arnold. more
Sony have released an HDCAM-SR camcorder, the SRW-9000. This will be a winner for steadicam shots, where the F23/35 have limitations due to their size and weight. This is the first Sony camcorder that permits 10-bit acquisition in HD.
Over at Panasonic, good news for those who find P2 cards too expensive. They have released an economy line, the E-series in 16, 32 and 64GB. The 64GB card will sell for $998.
Harmonic announced that they are integrating Google’s Content ID into the Rhozet Carbon Coder. When content is transcoded to a distribution format the Content ID can be generated on the fly (typically at 10X realtime). The ID is submitted to Google with usage tags. If that content is uploaded to YouTube, when it is processed to the web format, a fingerprint is generated and checked against their database. Unauthorized content is then automatically blocked. This is an easy way to control piracy from YouTube, and can be built right into a post workflow.
As stations add sub-channels after the digital transition, providing EAS to many outputs becomes expensive with discrete channel systems. Many Public stations cover a state, and may want to target one area with an EAS alert. Trilithic released at the show a way to insert EAS into an ASI transport stream. An announcement can be inserted into chosen program streams, with optional graphics insertion for snipes and logs. The system uses RGB Networks BNP for the transport stream processing.
Several companies have launched 3D stereoscopic products, or have stated that they will develop 3D products for release in the future. Although the movie industry is producing blockbuster movies in 3D, for live sport, 3D television is a compelling proposition.
Panasonic is one company which has embarked on a development project for an end-to-end system. This includes a twin-lens P2 camcorder, all the way through to consumer equipment including a 3D blu-ray and 3D displays.
Miranda is showing a 3D multiviewer aimed at the truck market, for monitoring live 3D sport and events. As Michel Proulx of Miranda pointed out, you need a 3Gb/s infrastructure to support the L/R signals. With their new product releases supporting 3G/b, 1.5-only products look set to follow 270Mb/s-only products into history.
I have seen experimental transmissions from Sky in the UK, and they show great promise. There are some issues to resolve about camera work, and how best to shoot, but the rest of the processing chain can be built with adapted 3Gb/s infrastructure. The Sky system even uses their regular HD PVR.
There is no doubt that the CE vendors will push 3D, with games being a big draw, but the availability of 3D movies means that the repository of content is growing rapidly. Whether this is the right year to invest is another matter, but these developments have long lead times—just look how long it took HD to become mainstream.
Harris is showing a different way forward with their mobile TV products. With trials and rollouts starting, it has finally become a reality, and offers new business opportunities to hard-pushed stations. Although it can be received on handsets, it can be used to delivery over-the-air TV to a multitude of devices: signage in public transportation, netbooks—anything that isn’t harnessed to a roof-top antenna.
While the goal of some companies is to put a cinch on their niche spot in the broadcast chain, other companies are looking to be a one-stop shop for broadcasters and their needs.
Is it a plot to swallow up as many companies as possible to eliminate the competition, or is it really just one savvy business move after another? Harmonic company reps assured its media audience at a press conference last night that it’s definitely not trying to take over the broadcast world. It just makes sense that if the company already has a presence in multiple places in the broadcast chain, why not partner with other companies that fill in those gaps? more
Washington, DC - Apr 16, 2009 - A survey conducted by the National Association of Broadcasters shows that nearly 80 percent of NAB Show preregistered conference and exhibition attendees plan to buy products or services exhibited on the convention floor. In line with that, 79 percent of survey respondents said they plan to purchase products or services on-site or within 12 months of the show
Past NAB Show research has shown that exhibitors generate more than $50 billion in sales as a direct result of the show each year.
More survey findings:
93 percent: Respondents who play a role in purchasing products and services showcased on the show floor, while 41 percent have final purchase authority.
88 percent: Respondents say that the show is “very or somewhat important” to their purchasing plans this year.
42 percent: Respondents who rated “see new products and developments” and “comparing products for future purchase” as two of the main reasons for coming to the NAB Show and added that it was more important this year, given the current economic climate.
34 percent: Respondents who will not attend any other convention this year.
The preshow Internet survey was conducted April 1-8 and was sent by NAB to a random sample of more than 3000 preregistered conference and exhibition attendees.
The editors and writers of Broadcast Engineering post live from the NAB Show in Las Vegas as the news happens. Check back throughout the day for the latest in industry news, reports from press conferences and product introductions.
