KitPlus | Articles

Lessons Learnt - Webcasting live to the web

by Larry Jordan Issue 105 - September 2015 When I first started in this industry, more than 40 years ago, live television broadcasts were plentiful and popular. In fact, I got my start as a director in live television. However, the only way to create a live broadcast was with lots of equipment, large crews and plenty of money. Today, the paradigm h...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 October 2015

5 broadcast trends at IBC 2015

by Peter Savage Issue 105 - September 2015 Azule CEO Peter Savage gazes into his crystal ball to make predictions about the technology trends that could emerge from IBC 2015. 4k acquisition will go mainstreamOf course, 4k has been a hot topic for several shows but this year will see it move into the mainstream. Alongside the plethora of camera intr...

Submitted by Bernard Newnham

Published 01 October 2015

The production desk finally gets innovative

by Kieron Seth Issue 104 - August 2015 The video switcher (aka vision mixer) is at the heart of all live television, all AV and many a live webcast. But despite its core role, its remained essentially the same concept for decades, consisting of a digital video effects processing unit, matrix switcher and control panel. Fundamentally this hardware-b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 September 2015

The evolution of vision mixers

by Liam Laminman Issue 104 - August 2015 At the heart of any multi-camera production is a vision mixer or production switcher as some people call them. Its core role is the switching of different sources, primarily cameras, often VTs and sometimes incoming external sources such as remote feeds from broadcasters. Even for non-TV types, thats relativ...

Submitted by Liam Laminman

Published 01 September 2015

Chasing ratings

by Dick Hobbs Issue 104 - August 2015 As everyone is no doubt aware, the BBCs core structures are being investigated at the moment as part of the renewal of its charter. The political bodies set up to do this are made up largely of anti-BBC people, so we are in for interesting times. I have a view on the BBC and its funding, and maybe one day in on...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 September 2015

SDV - Shaping the Next Generation of Linear TV Service Of...

by Lionel Bringuier Issue 103 - July 2015 Software-defined video (SDV) solutions are shaping the next generation of linear TV service offerings for both content distributors and content programmers. Live-to-VOD services such as catch-up TV, start-over TV, nPVR and delay TV offer new ways to enrich live TV experiences and package live content alongs...

Submitted by Lionel Bringuier

Published 01 August 2015

The business case for media asset management

by Kevin Usher Issue 103 - July 2015 You could argue that, so far, there have been two stages of commercial justification for asset management systems in broadcasting. First, it was a necessary evil: if broadcasters, production companies and other media organizations wanted to store content as filesat least some of the timethey needed a means of fi...

Submitted by Kevin Usher

Published 01 August 2015

How HEVC technology is revolutionizing field-based broadc...

by Eli Garten Issue 103 - July 2015 High-Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC), also known as H.265, is the subsequent generation of H.264 and tapped to be the next widely adopted standard for video compression. As with any MPEG evolution, the new standards goal is to make compression more efficient and allow for reducing OPEX and CAPEX in various video...

Submitted by Eli Garten

Published 01 August 2015

UHD: a long road travelled

by Julian Fernandez Issue 103 - July 2015 Theres no denying it, Ultra HD (UHD) is impressive and the clarity of image is captivating, but its going to take a while for UHD to become mainstream in the home. A fairly expensive large screen TV is a must to get the best picture quality and since the majority of the world isnt yet watching television in...

Submitted by Julian Fernandez

Published 01 August 2015

The holistic approach to fighting piracy

by Rory OConnor Issue 102 - June 2015 Now more than ever, consumers are driving the way that their content is delivered and consumed across platforms. Content owners increasingly need to be able to respond and adapt in an agile manner to deliver quality content across every consumer device from the day they hit the market. To stay relevant, operato...

Submitted by Rory O Connor

Published 01 July 2015

Why fast production storage is just not enough

by Martin Bennett Issue 102 - June 2015 UHD, 4k, 6k, 8k¦the proliferation of high-resolution formats and files along with the growing number of skillsets that can collaborate on projects push storage bandwidth and capacities beyond their limits. If we just take a look at the potential storage requirements for a single 8K raw digital cinema format t...

Submitted by Martin Bennett

Published 01 July 2015

A box of delights

by Dick Hobbs Issue 101 - May 2015 In the immediate aftermath of NAB and its bombardment by new gizmos, I want to talk about Professor Noriaki Kano. In the 1980s, at the Tokyo University of Science, he came up with a simple model of product design for customer satisfaction. His original work was more complicated than this diagram, but fundamentally...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 June 2015

Fiber Transport for the future

by Lars Hohmann Issue 101 - May 2015 Broadcasters have access to numerous fiber-based signal transport solutions today. From the simplest point-to-point throw-down boxes to more elaborate optical rings, products come in at a variety of performance and price levels. In most cases, the broadcaster that wants a mix of signals will purchase signal-spec...

Submitted by Lars Hohmann

Published 01 June 2015

Full reference testing helps ensure quality audio deliver...

by Adam Schadle Issue 101 - May 2015 With the ever-increasing amount and variety of programming, devices, screen sizes, quality levels, and delivery methods today, broadcasters and delivery networks must be able to measure the quality of audiovisual content - and their processes for delivering it - to ensure it will meet standards that satisfy audi...

Submitted by Adam Schadle

Published 01 June 2015

Back in the day

by Larry Jordan Issue 100 - April 2015 Congratulations, TV-Bay, on your tenth anniversary; as well as the 100th issue of TV-Bay/KitPlus magazine. Very cool!Ten years ago seems like forever. Some of us were editing with Final Cut Pro 5. LiveType was still with us. Others were using Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 (CS3 was still two years in the future). Stil...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 May 2015