Sports Video Group | NAB Now

Rehr Resigns from NAB

National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO David K. Rehr announced his resignation from the trade group Wednesday. Rehr will remain with NAB during a transition phase and work closely with chief operating and financial officer Janet McGregor until a successor is named.

“I have enjoyed leading America’s broadcasters through this time of change and challenge,” Rehr said in a statement. “Our efforts to educate America about the digital-television transition have been enormously successful, and our effort to reinvigorate radio through the Radio Heard Here campaign is positioning radio broadcasters well for the future.”

He continued, “I am looking forward to building on these experiences and working with the broader Washington community to further advocacy efforts through marketing, communications and education.”

Harris Gear Receives Five Industry Awards

Harris returned from NAB in Las Vegas with five industry awards for its Maxiva line of UHF TV transmitters, Intraplex HD Link STL (studio-to-transmitter link) transport solution, and HPX series of high-power HD Radio tube transmitters.

Maxiva won Broadcast Engineering magazine’s Pick Hit award and TV Technology magazine’s STAR award (Superior Technology Award Recipient); Intraplex HD Link STL took home Radio World newspaper’s “Cool Stuff” award and Radio magazine’s Pick Hit award; and HPX also received a Pick Hit award from Radio.

For more information, please visit www.harris.com.

Vinten Rolls Out Vision AS Heads

Vinten launched its new range of Vision AS lightweight pan and tilt heads—which cater to professional DV camcorders from 4.4 pounds to 32 lbs—at NAB.

The Vitec Group unit said the four heads use its Perfect Balance technology, which allows the camera to be moved in any direction under fingertip control. And the AS line’s sideload camera plate feature allows operators to mount and dismount the camera in seconds.

The complete Vision AS range and corresponding camera payload (at 125mm center of gravity) is: Vision 3 AS (4.4-11 lbs), Vision 5 AS (9.9-23.1 lbs), Vision 8 AS (12.1-27.6 lbs), and Vision 10 AS (14.3-32.0 lbs).

For more information, please visit www.vinten.com.

DTS Looks To Gain Market Share Via Partnerships

By Dan Daley

DTS came out swinging at the NAB Show. Along with hardware and master distribution partner DaySequerra, the company debuted its DTS Neural Loudness Control with Analytics, a real-time measurement and correction method with new displays and scopes, as well as DaySequerra’s iLM8, loudness meter.

According to DTS VP of business development Mark Seigle, partnering is a key strategy for getting its products into the market. One prime example is the DTS Neural Loudness Control embedded in the NEO and 6800 product platforms at the Harris booth.

“We’re starting out on the professional side. For instance, we spent many, many hours with sports mixers developing and fine-tuning our mono-to-stereo box solution,” Seigle explains. “We’re putting our mixing, imaging, and loudness solutions in at the affiliate level. Ultimately, the goal is to get the results — higher-quality audio — into viewers’ homes.”

Seigle concedes that loudness solution has become a crowded space, with offerings taking many forms from a growing number of companies, most notably Dolby, possibly DTS’s most direct competitor in this regard.

“Yes, we’re looking to take market share, but we also believe we have a better product,” he says, referring to the proprietary algorithms developed by the DTS engineering team led by DTS chief scientist James “JJ” Johnston. “We believe that you can’t fool the human ear; you have to engineer for it, not around or against it,” he says. “That’s what our solution does. But there are a number of possible solutions out there, and we take them and the issue we’re all trying to address quite seriously.”

PilatMedia Introduces Path to Targeted Ads

By Debra Kaufman

PilatMedia announced a new add-on product for its IBMS Sales system that will enable targeted ad campaigns. “What we’re doing is launching our personalized advertising platforms for linear television,” says CTO Bob Lamb, who notes that the on-demand platform for last-minute commercial insertion was introduced at last year’s NAB.

IBMS:OnTarget will, for the first time, enable content and service providers to integrate both targeted and traditional advertising using the same campaign and inventory management software. Lamb describes how the using a unique set of attributes about the consumer is the basis for advertising campaigns aimed at that market. “We have a modeling tool that tells us to look at a consumer advertising break,” he says. “It allows you to model the effect of adding that consumer break.”

IBMS will allow the broadcaster to use the ad space twice if suitable for more than one consumer profile. “It adds a Z dimension and allows you to do as many versions of the break as you want,” he says.

Privacy issues rear their head when it comes to targeted advertising, but Lamb describes how PilatMedia’s system handles it. “We have a set of business rules that tells IBMS how to behave,” he says. “It’s customized for each market.” The level of detail in the U.S. is much larger than in any other market, he notes.

Although broadcasters have yet to implement this level of targeted advertising, Lamb says it’s at the talking stage. “We’re demonstrating a platform based on what people said we should do,” he says. In other words, if everything works as planned, they will come.

Crispin Gives a ‘Shout Out’ to Customers

By Debra Kaufman

Crispin came to NAB this year aiming to make its customers happy. “The ‘Shout Out’ campaign is in recognition that everyone is going through hard times,” says CEO Dave Neal. “We priced three of the modules differently and introduced a new product in order to say, we know it’s tough out here, here are some things that can be of value for you, and at a very nice price.”

The new product is NewsCat, a simplified version of its NewsPro news-archiving software. “What we have is a simple news-archiving option in one box for ,500,” says Neal. “And there are options you can get such as additional storage, Blu-ray capability and HSM (hierarchical storage management).” NewsCat Pro is also very simple to learn and use, says Neal, who says it takes three mouse clicks to archive news slugs.

The Shout Out products include the company’s BXF offering, at ,995. “With our BXF module, you get better integration between traffic and automation,” says Neal, who notes that Crispin installed the BXF module at PBS station WGCU Fort Meyers, FL, in 2007.

Crispin’s Studio Control module, which is aimed at live-programming situations where someone outside of master control might want some limited abilities to roll a break, is now available at ,995. “It’s a fairly narrow but useful tool,” says Neal.

Last in the Shout-Out lineup is Supervisory View, a timeline view of all the channels that are running for multichannel operations. “It allows you to look at one screen and see potential problems and issues as you’re running your multiple channels,” says Neal, who reports the price is ,995.

Neal also notes that the broadcast industry is talking about centralization. “We did a large centralization project with Gannett last year,” he says. “We’ve had other inquiries on doing that again. That still seems to be a topic of interest as people look for ways to cut costs.”

New Tools From Algolith, Pixel Power, Chyron

By Debra Kaufman

A profanity delay system, integrated master control and graphics, and integration of Web-based video editing with graphics services were among the offerings exhibited on the NAB Show floor.

Algolith, a spinoff of Miranda Technologies, introduced the Algogear PDS-1001-MD Profanity Delay System aimed at managing unexpected wardrobe malfunctions, obscenities, or anything else that’s not supposed to air. Other new products include the Algolith SVC-1001-UDC, an up/down/crossconverter with frame synchronizer aimed at solving audio and video timing issues as well as cleaning up metadata. The combined UDC solution is more cost-effective, says President/CEO Yvan Ouellet, and offers more flexibility for managing video formats in hybrid facilities. The SVC-1001-UDC also supports active format descriptor (AFD) signaling for automatic management of aspect ratio and can generate AFD packets based on the aspect ratio settings, to simplify the HDTV workflow.

Also shown was the Algogear SXVC-1011-UC upconverter combined with Algolith’s noise reducer the Algogear VNR-1002-MD, which allows signals to be cleaned up and processed before SD-to-HD conversion.

Pixel Power, a provider of broadcast graphics systems, unveiled BrandMaster, which integrates a complete master-control switcher with broadcast graphics for channel branding. The company also announced that the Prime Television Network has installed four channels of BrandMaster in the upgrade of its new master-control facility. Pixel Power launched an expansion of its LogoVision family of channel branding and playout devices. LogoVision is now available in three configurations designed to meet a range of budgets and graphics requirements: LogoVision, LogoVision Clips, and LogoVision 3D. Pixel Power also added full HD support to its Clarity 3D real-time 3D broadcast-graphics system.

Chyron Corp. announced a technology partnership agreement to integrate Forbidden Technologies’ “FORscene” Web-based video toolkit with Chyron’s AXIS Graphics Web services. FORscene is a frame-accurate video-editing platform with tools for logging, editing, and reviewing video.

Schoeps Brings Its ‘Open Cardioid’ to Town

By Dan Daley

Germany-based Schoeps raised some eyebrows late last year when it announced its MK 22 compact microphone, touting its “open cardioid” directional pattern. It generated some puzzled posts on Gearslutz.com and other audio forums. Schoeps brought the mic over for NAB 2009 for its first U.S. showing.

Here’s the scoop, according to Christian Langhan, Schoeps’s head of R&D. “The MK 22 was developed for use as a spot microphone. It unites the strengths of the MK 4 and MK 21 capsules. Its directionality is only slightly less than that of the MK 4 cardioid, while its sonic character is reminiscent of the MK 21 wide cardioid. Its directivity is essentially constant throughout the frequency range. Its inherent low-frequency response is somewhat more pronounced than that of the cardioid, while proximity effect is somewhat less.”

He describes the “open cardioid” directional pattern as “occupying a point on the spectrum between the wide cardioid and classic cardioid patterns.” Developed by Schoeps in 2008, it offers response of -5 dB at 90 degrees 16-dB suppression of rear-incident sound. “It is in essence,” he says, “a variant cardioid which balances a very natural sound quality with a good degree of directionality.”

Langhan points out that the MK 4 cardioid is often used as a reference microphone, even in difficult recording situations: “Its sonic transparency and suppression of rear-incident sound make it a universal problem-solver.” The MK 21 wide cardioid, he adds, is an alternative when its lower directivity fits the recording situation: for example, for the first desk of strings or for solo piano. This capsule type of microphone, he says, is “prized for its sonic character (similar to that of a pure omnidirectional microphone) and its relative lack of proximity effect.” A “middle way,” he says, combines these characteristics into a single capsule, the MK 22 open cardioid.

Console News: Euphonix DF70 DSP SuperCore, SSL X-Desk Compact Mixer, Lawo Software

By Dan Daley

Consoles received a lot of attention at NAB 2009. Here’s a look at three suppliers’ offerings.

Euphonix introduced the DF70 DSP SuperCore for System 5 consoles that require extra-large digital-signal-processing (DSP) channel counts. The DF70 can support more than 450 channels at 48 KHz or 220 channels at 96 KHz. The current DF66 DSP SuperCore is the DSP engine of choice for all markets that require no more than 334 channels; it also supports a dual DSP SuperCore 100%-redundancy system for broadcasters and can handle up to six of the same DSP SP663 cards as the DF70. The DF70, in comparison, supports up to eight SP663 cards for the highest-channel-count applications. The DF70 also includes 32 MADI I/O for a total of 2048×2048 inputs managed by the console’s PatchNet routing software. The DF70 comes with six mixer models with different combinations of buses with more than 450 channels, up to 64 mix buses, up to 24 aux sends, and up to 24 external inputs. The DF70 began shipping this month.

Solid State Logic’s new X-Desk compact audio mixer got its first U.S. showing at the show. The X-Desk combines a 16-channel SSL SuperAnalogue summing mixer with a compact analogue audio hub. The mixer features 100-mm faders and monitoring with dim and cut buttons, stereo and mono aux sends, channel and master bus inserts, and accurate bar-graph level metering. The 7-U X-Desk comes with rack ears for standard 19-in. rack mounting. Multiple X-Desks can be cascaded via D-Sub connection to expand up to 150 inputs. Other features include 8x dual-input mono line channels, 16-channel mixdown, 8x insert send/returns on channels, stereo cue, and two mono auxiliary sends, 2x stereo returns with level, pan and bus assignment, and RF Screened I/O connections. The X-Desk will be available beginning in May priced at ,899.

Console manufacturer Lawo showed its latest v4.4 software release for its mc² series mixing consoles. The new version supports the new MKII router that, with on-board computer control, offers a redundant control system for mc²56 and mc²90 control surfaces.

In conjunction with a redundantly configured MKII router, the takeover of an active control system’s tasks by the standby router card is triggered automatically as soon as the standby card detects an error on the active router card. Both router cards are permanently synchronized, so all the critical user information — including production data, automation data, and snapshots — is immediately available (manual switchover is also possible). This capability allows the control computer to be replaced during runtime, without having to take the mixing console out of service. It’s now also possible to have the operating surface at a distance of several miles from the actual mixer and its HD core control engine.

Among other v4.4 software features: enhanced and optimized GUI pages that improve overview, handling, and metering for live applications. A reverse bus-assign page facilitates the fast location of undesired inputs to the buses. Another ergonomic enhancement is the user-assignable color-coding for the mc² series can now be applied individually to every channel; color assignments are stored with the snapshots and production data.

Panasonic: Mainstream 3D? The Time Is Now

By Carolyn Braff

Panasonic has made a significant push to 3D at this year’s NAB Show, offering a stunning demonstration of what 3D in the home can look like. According to Keisuke Suetsugi, manager of Pansonic’s high-quality–AV development center, the 3D emphasis is far more than a wow-factor gimmick to lure attendees to the booth. Rather, when it comes to making 3D a legitimate broadcast medium, for this brief moment, the company believes, all the stars are aligned in Panasonic’s favor.

“We do not want to miss this opportunity,” Suetsugi says. “3D has failed many times in the past. This time, we’d like to do this right so that 3D can be a mainstream format for the video industry. The environment is ready, content is ready, the technology is ready, so we cannot miss this time. If we fail again, it’s going to be forever.”

The 3D on display at the Panasonic booth is stereo 3D, combining two images onto a single display. Left-eye and right-eye images each flash at 120 frames per second, in sequence (left, right, left right). Active shutter glasses, equipped with batteries and electric socketry, accordingly open and close the left and right viewing windows at 120 frames per second, to sync with the images being processed on the screen. The 3D-enabled television shines an infrared signal to the glasses, which have a receptor probe on the bridge. Inside the probe is an IR sensor that detects the infrared signal and recognizes the timing of the frame sequential, so that the lenses shutter at an interval that matches the on-screen images.

“We are proposing to have full HD resolution for each eye,” Suetsugi explains. “That has never been done in the consumer industry. We are hoping to be able to establish two standards, the Blu-ray standard to store that data on a disc, and the other is the HDMI standard, how to carry the signal from the playback device to the display device.”

The display, Blu-ray, and HDMI technology already have the capability to do that, Suetsugi says, so all that needs to be done is to assign a 3D flag to the signal.

“Just by doing that, we can have a full-resolution image, which is the picture you looked at inside the theater,” Suetsugi explains. “That’s what we would like to have in the consumer arena.”

And Panasonic wants that in the consumer arena quickly - sometime next year. But before the product can hit the shelves, there must be content, because, without compelling 3D content, all Panasonic has is a box and a screen. With that in mind, Panasonic established the 3D Blu-ray disc-compression and authoring center in Hollywood last January, and the company is reaching out to content-producers to help them create top-notch 3D content.

“That way, we can grow all together the best possible 3D by having everything ready together at the same time,” Suetsugi says, including cameras, editing systems, displays, and content. “That’s our message at this NAB Show.”