At the TANDBERG booth (SU4210), I met with Lisa Hobbs, vice president of business development for satellite and broadcast. The company is showing two new integrated receiver decoders optimized for high-volume video distribution applications.
The RX8310 distribution receiver uses DVB-S2 modulation and MPEG-4 AVC compression. And it has the option to decrypt multipe services, allowing decryption of a complete multiplex of channels with a single unit. The system allows for single service decoding of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 4:2:0 SD video and HD service downconversion.
The RX8320 ATSC broadcast receiver provides ASI and 8-VSB inputs for the reception of broadcast services over terrestrial or fiber links with automatic redundancy switchover between inputs. For more on the RX8320 ATSC broadcast receiver, watch a demo on Broadcast Engineering TV.
SeaChange is looking to change the face of video storage. The company is offering a flash-based library system. This system is adapted to one already in use for VOD and focused on play-to-air servers. Flash-based systems are much less prone to failure than disk-based systems, and Chris Nicholson and Sherry Zhu say that the MediaCluster architecture leverages data so you don’t tax one drive. Listen to Sherry Zhu, director of storage based projects for SeaChange, talk about the FML200.
In booth SU5408, Crispin is introducing it’s new and free asset management system for Omneon video servers. The system allows users to browse the contents of the server for clips and view key statistics of the server. It also allows you to search, sort, rename, delete and copy clips from one folder to another.
In giving away licenses to MediaNav for free, the company is hoping to introduce new people to Crispin’s range of other products. Listen to Rodney Mood, Crispin’s chief operation officer, talk about MediaNav.
At a press conference yesterday Vizrt put on display a collaboration with Perceptive Pixel. Perceptive Pixel has an advance multi-touch graphics display system. Vizrt has integrated the system into its Viz Engine.
Users of the integrated system can control graphics through multi-touch gestures. Listen to Phil Kurz’s interview of Jeff Han, Perspective Pixel’s founder, about the interactive display.
Communications Specialties Inc. (CSI) is in booth SL8025, which happens to be just across the aisle from the Penton booth (Broadcast Engineering’s parent company) in the South Lower Hall. In the CSI booth, Derek Miranda walked me through a live setup of the company’s new Pure Digital Fiberlink 3150 Series, which allows users to transmit HD/SD-SDI over one single mode or multimode fiber.
The company also offers the Pure Digital Fiberlink in 7500 Series and 7502 Series versions. They use no compression or sync stripping.
There is no reason the television industry cannot have a working mobile television standard by the end of 2008, Sterling Davis, vice president of engineering at Cox Broadcasting and member of the Open Mobile Broadcasting Coalition, said on the opening day of NAB2008.
Davis offered a report to a gathering of more than 400 broadcasters April 14 on progress the coalition has made testing competitive systems offered by Harris, Rhode & Schwarz and Thomson as part of its Independent Demonstration of Viability (IDOV) project aimed at birthing an ATSC-approved mobile TV standard by the end of the year.
According to Davis, field trials of the systems began in March and will continue in April in San Francisco and Las Vegas. During NAB2008, the Sinclair Broadcast and Telemundo stations in Las Vegas, are transmitting mobile TV as part of their digital stream. more
My last stop on the floor yesterday was at the Xytech booth (SL4326). There, I was given a little plastic man with a squishy, sticky head that you can throw like a dart, and a fascinating walk-though of Xytech’s new Enterprise.net, or XE .NET. It’s a smart web client version of the company’s flagship business management and workflow system. It allows users to access the schedules from their desktop or remotely from laptops or handhelds.
I came to the Belden thinking I’d prepared for my interview by brushing up on Belden’s latest cables. Boy, was I wrong. There is a lot going on at this booth this year, and two of the biggest attractions aren’t cable products at all. The three big product groups I looked at were: recently acquired Hirschmann’s MACH 1000 and 4000 switchers, new modular racks and the introduction of the 1855p (the plenum version of it’s 1855a).
First, let’s start with Hirschmann. Tim Toth, director of sales, told me this was Hirschmann’s first showing at NAB. Hirschmann offers Ethernet switchers and routers for mission critical applications. The group’s goal is to eliminate single points of failure in Ethernet networks. The MACH 1000 and 4000 are created to provide 99.999 percent reliability, even under extreme circumstances. The fanless MACH 1000 has an operating temperature range of -40 degrees F to 185 degrees F. The switchers also have a handy USB flash drive backup setup. For more, check out a short audio clip of Tim talking about the MACH 1000 and 4000.
Next, on to Belden’s new racks. Product line manager and engineer Denis Blouin says that Belden’s goal in making these racks was to provide enclosures designed with broadcasters’ needs in mind. And the well-thought-out setup for cable placement and flow is to be expected from racks being designed by a cable maker. Denis showed me the ultra-slim truck rack, which has the option of being made from aluminum. All the rack frames include the company’s Quick Mount System for cable placement, allowing a cable to be attached anywhere a user wants. For more, check out a short audio clip from Denis about the racks.
And, yes, there were cables too. The company introduced new HDMI cables for HD audio and video. It has also completely updated its Brilliance Tactical Fiber Optic Cables. And Marc Stringer, market manager, told me that Belden will soon be offering the 1855p.
Sunday is always the exception to the rule of my typical NAB experience. For the past 20 plus years, I spend Monday through Thursday running from appointment to appointment spread throughout the massive Las Vegas Convention Center that makes the convention –to me- more like a marathon than an industry gathering. But Sunday is different –particularly Sunday morning.
For the past several years, back-to-back press conferences are held in one specific meeting room on the upper level of the north hall of the convention center. Every hour on the hour, a new press conference put on by a different vendor begins. No running around; no frenetic activity. Just sit there and let the information flow. more
Inside, outside and all around the NAB Show, Broadcast Engineering writers and editors will cover the show.
The Broadcast Engineering staff will be positing daily about the 2008 NAB Show. Come here to check out our pre-show postings for tips and not-to-miss happenings. Need help in planning your schedule? Need to know the what, when and where about that special party or NAB event? Here at BE@NAB, we‘ll have the answers. more
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.
At the TANDBERG booth (SU4210), I met with Lisa Hobbs, vice president of business development for satellite and broadcast. The company is showing two new integrated receiver decoders optimized for high-volume video distribution applications.
I came to the 
Next, on to Belden’s new racks. Product line manager and engineer Denis Blouin says that Belden’s goal in making these racks was to provide enclosures designed with broadcasters’ needs in mind. And the well-thought-out setup for cable placement and flow is to be expected from racks being designed by a cable maker. Denis showed me the ultra-slim truck rack, which has the option of being made from aluminum. All the rack frames include the company’s Quick Mount System for cable placement, allowing a cable to be attached anywhere a user wants. For more, check out a short 
Sunday is always the exception to the rule of my typical NAB experience. For the past 20 plus years, I spend Monday through Thursday running from appointment to appointment spread throughout the massive Las Vegas Convention Center that makes the convention –to me- more like a marathon than an industry gathering. But Sunday is different –particularly Sunday morning.
