KitPlus | Articles

Three big questions on OTT

by Simen FrostadIssue 84 - December 2013 Every media operator wants to deliver OTT services, or is already doing so. Growth over the past 18 months has been phenomenal, and a media operation without OTT is almost inconceivable now. But for many coming from a broadcast background, the technical side of OTT is terra incognita, and a mixture of fear a...

Submitted by Simen Frostad

Published 01 January 2014

Driving customer loyalty with OTT

by Jakub KabourekIssue 84 - December 2013 The multi-screen revolution is being driven by the consumer and is developing quickly. It offers huge potential and a bright future for operators adopting OTT across multiple devices. By delivering quality television services operators are expanding their market potential and thereby significantly increasin...

Submitted by Jakub Kabourek

Published 01 January 2014

A flys view of IBC

by Robin PalmerIssue 82 - October 2013 At IBC 2013 there were a number of new technologies to be seen amongst all the hype of 4K this and all that. You may know the name of the Fraunhofer Institute as the people who brought us MP3. At this years exhibition they showed their work in many different fields of advanced video and audio. One project from...

Submitted by Robin Palmer

Published 01 November 2013

Finally a compact HD zoom lens!

By Steffan Hewitt, director, PolecamThere are a great number of situations in our industry where the requirement for a small low profile broadcast quality HD camera is needed, whether it be for documentaries, natural history, in car, on board, covert, news, drama, underwater, on a jib arm or small remote head – the list goes on, and expands from th...

Submitted by Steffan Hewitt

Published 01 March 2013

Zoom lenses and minicams

Finding a quality tracking zoom lens for the minicams made for the likes of Toshiba/Iconix/Hitachi/Sony has been an uphill battle. The cameras have been made primarily for the medical imaging market for microscopes and endoscopes but adopted by the broadcast industry as a high end minicam. However lenses were always a problem. Fujinon made the TF r...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

How location audio changed with the birth of reality TV

In the twenty-plus years that I’ve been a sound mixer/recordist I’ve witnessed countless changes in our industry from the introduction of digital multi-track recording to the arrival of 5.1 surround sound. But the biggest, most dramatic paradigm shift I’ve seen is much simpler than that – and it’s a social thing. For many years, when it came to rec...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

3D Diaries Cameras: more for less

http://www.tv-bay.com/imag/issue062/files/44.htmlCameras: more for less?There is plenty of guidance available about how to shoot ‘good’ stereo 3D and the principles are quite easy to understand. Achieving good results takes good equipment and, maybe, the assistance of a stereographer and even a convergence puller... unless you are using one of thos...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Eye to Eye: Whats new in lighting

The majority of modern digital video cameras and D-SLRs are capable of delivering high-quality images provided the lighting conditions are good. Attempting to shoot in low light introduces the risk of noise and limited depth of field. Whatever the claimed camera sensitivity, good lighting is as essential today as ever. The following is a short over...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Andrew McLeans Guide to Lenses

Andrew McLean, an experienced cinematographer and now vice president of business development at broadcast equipment hire company HotCam, details some of the basic things to consider when it comes to choosing and using camera lenses. What’s the first thing you do when choosing lenses for a shoot?First I consider the creative direction – the aestheti...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Headache-free 3D

With over 30 broadcast channels now offering 3D programmes, and cinemas in practically every major town and city equipped to show 3D films, demand for stereoscopic content is increasing rapidly. Display manufacturers are now responding to this growing market with various new technologies intended to improve the viewing experience. A useful show for...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

The art of 3D

Two recent events have expanded my understanding of 3D. BVE North turned out to be quite busy – both around the exhibition and at the many free seminars. Of course I made a beeline for the 3D Revolution Theatre where there were sessions throughout the two days of the show. The ‘Storytelling in 3D’ session was of particular interest. There’s been pl...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Doing 3D by the book

'3D TV and 3D Cinema: Tools and Processes for Creative Stereoscopy' (ISBN: 978-0-240-81461-2) is Bernard Mendiburu’s latest book, published this summer by Focal Press. It follows on from his previous success ('3D Movie Making') which has had several reprints to keep up with demand. Since the first book came out two years ago, the art of 3D media, t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Keeping both eyes on the ball

It goes without saying that spectator sports are made for television; of course they are, as can easily be proved by trying to follow a football match on radio. A skilled radio commentator can describe key aspects of the action fairly well but television actually gives viewers the impression that they are sitting in the stadium. Widescreen high def...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Panasonic AF101 review

In 2008 Canon released its latest stills camera the 5DMk2. Little did they know what they had released on the videographers world. This so called STILLS camera had a hidden talent, that of course of remarkably good 1080p video. The indie film makers went wild, no more did they have to bolt on large cumbersome depth of field adapters to their video...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Using Panasonic AG-AF101 HD Camera

Introduction When award winning film maker and photojournalist Fiona Lloyd-Davies announced her latest project to embark on a journey to The Democratic Republic of Congo, she described the place as “probably one of the toughest environments that a camera can work in - very hot and very, very dusty” but, this was to be just one rigor amongst many du...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011