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NAB is for soothsayers, trendsetters and people with road...

Unlucky for some…by Will StraussPrototypes, alpha products, demos and proofs of concept: NAB in Las Vegas is all about future innovation. Will Strauss picks 13 stands that you must visit this year. With the dust from BVE barely settled, it’s already time to look towards NAB. I know, I know. Don’t shout at me. I didn’t arrange the broadcast industry...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 April 2013

Bob Pank starts counting cores...

Once again BVE hosted its one-day Cloud seminar. The new ExCel location meant that the room was away from the show floor and ideal for concentrating on the words flowing from the experts. Full-on attention was needed as squeezing in nine sessions between 10.00 and 17.45 meant that each would be short, sharp and to the point, which was certainly the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2013

Cooke Optics

by Robert HowardHere at Cooke Optics we’re currently basking in the golden glow of our brand new Academy Award® of Merit – yes, that’s an Oscar® statuette – which we received this February in recognition of our continuing innovation in the design, development and manufacture of motion picture camera lenses. From Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy...

Submitted by Robert Howard

Published 01 March 2013

Ask the experts: What lens?

Ask the Expert with Paul Sargeant, Procam TVWhen choosing the right lens for your project, there are a huge range of options to choose from that depend entirely on your individual project and your needs. You need to think about the quality of filming you require, where the content will be placed, what camera you will be using to shoot it and how yo...

Submitted by Peter Daffarn

Published 01 March 2013

Three legs good... better, best

by Kieron SethFluid SticksWhy do exhibitions and open days still exist in the social media mad world? Why do manufacturers and resellers maintain show rooms when information is immediately accessible online?Simple: no matter which ‘celebrity’ DOP endorses a particular product, there’s no way to log on to assess how any camera balances on the should...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 March 2013

To cloud, or not to cloud

Almost ever since it began, there have been two parameters that have played a big part in shaping broadcast television – bandwidth and storage. Admittedly, storage was not an issue at the start because there was no way to do it, but Ampex changed that in 1956. Bandwidth dictates many aspects of infrastructure and broadcast picture quality, the amou...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

4k The New Gunslinger in Town

Just when you thought it was sufficient to declare yourself ‘HD Ready’, along comes 4k. But don’t panic. Here’s the lowdown on what it all means and what tools are currently available. By Will Strauss. As someone that works in (or near) the town named broadcasting I probably don’t need to tell you this but technology advances pretty quickly around...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 December 2012

Ubiquitous Cloud at IBC

It was one of those IBCs that was more consolidation than innovation. There wasn’t any one product or technology that stood out as a game changer. There was more evidence of 4K being pushed as a more realistic alternative to 8K and more of the must-have 84-inch 4K TV screens. Well they do look fabulous but I still had to go and see NHK’s 85-inch SH...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

4KTV The next bigger thing?

4KTV – The next bigger thing?The history of 4K digital moving images goes way back to the mid 1990s. That was when film effects started to be processed digitally and produced amazing results – maybe a bit too amazing for some. Of course the effects had to be seamless and so the digitised effects images had to carry all the required detail of the 35...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

Ask the experts......Intercoms for outside broadcasts

Ask the experts – intercoms for outside broadcastsBarry Spencer, Trilogy CommunicationsI just assume outside broadcast trucks come with an intercom. Why do I need to even think about it?The first big point is that an outside broadcast is not just a control room on wheels. It is an event. And that means communications beyond the truck. Within the pr...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2012

IBC2011 must sees

Over 1,300 exhibitors will be supporting IBC2011, each bringing perhaps one, two or three new or enhanced products. My task is to distill these down to the 20 devices likely to be of greatest interest to TV-Bay readers, so far as that is possible several weeks before the show opens. As a recent convert to OS X, I note with gloom that Apple remains...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

North West 200

As the gates to the event open and the hordes roll in to watch the North West 200 motorcycle race, production company Greenlight TV is primed: production schedule ready, broadcast timetable planned meticulously. Then... torrential rain, a crash and a major oil spill... finally a credible bomb alert. It's at times like these when production skills a...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2011

Its a MADI World

At this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, 3D solutions were still a hot topic — but one emerging technology threatened to steal the show. In fact, the rapid growth of devices that support the Multichannel Audio Digital Interface (MADI) has more potential for simplifying broadcasting operations than perhaps anything else. But what exactly is MADI and wh...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 June 2011

Location Sound Recording And Post-production with Chris W...

Sound is often regarded as playing a subordinate role to visuals in film, TV and video production, but the finest directors and producers have insisted on taking as much care over the sonics of a production as the visuals. Of course, on smaller-scale productions, it's still often the case that the soundtrack is whatever you capture while you’re bus...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 February 2010

NAB 2009 report

By general consensus, this year's NAB Spring Convention, or 'NABshow' as it styles itself, was one of the best ever. Wider aisles and a respectable rather than manic level of attendance made the event, in the words of one exhibitor, 'Business Class'. NAB was always the prototype show where you could sense the directions in which manufacturers were...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2009