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Eye-to-eye: 2011 highlights

“Broadcasters must climb up the ladder into high definition or they’ll get their ankles chewed by the computer industry”. Memorable quote from a manufacturer of video standards converters nearly 30 years ago when NHK was trying to establish its original 1125-line (1080-active) 5:3 aspect-ratio ‘Hi-Vision’. Well it happened. 2011 was the year ‘high-...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

3D Five years on

For me, IBC2006 was the beginning of the modern 3D era. At an invitation-only presentation, 3ality’s CEO Steve Schklair described what his company was achieving with S3D. Suddenly it all made sense. With the accuracy of digital shoots and computer technology replacing difficulties and expense of working with film, 3D could now be viable. Unlike the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Building an HD MCR for The Associated Press

The Associated Press delivers fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, it has grown into a large and trusted source of independent news and information. AP’s activity in the broadcast market centres on the supply of live and edited video to over 500 broadcasting operations and 200 news...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Whats new in video monitoring

The great majority of video monitoring displays in any modern broadcast presentation facility are LED-backlit LCDs. Reliable, space-efficient and economical on power, they produce excellent pictures for all but the most critical applications, usually in conjunction with one or more multiviewers to emulate a monitor stack. Domestic television began...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Fast 3D

It is easy to make the assumption that 3D should comply with existing standards, as in the 2D video streams of television or movie images running at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, according to the relevant 2D standards. However, the recent step up to doubled frame rates, generally referred to as 50p or 60p for television and 48p (or higher) for mo...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

Top ten from a top gun

Another IBC has come and gone. I peaked early: for me the highlight came before we even set out for Amsterdam when, as I wrote here last month, I met Sir David Attenborough, winner of the International Honour for Excellence. On site two things stand out. One was a delightful lunch, courtesy of my old and esteemed friend Roger Thornton of Quantel. I...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

Soooooo. IBC

Soooooo. IBC!For those of you who don't know (and obviously only read tv-bay for my column) IBC is the world's second largest broadcast convention, held in Amsterdam. As previously mentioned in last months' column, I went with tv-bay. It was my first convention of any kind, and I was in no way prepared for the sheer scale of the event. This thing i...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

The IBC 2011 Future Zone

Meet Tony Drummond-Murray, an engineer. His company, Murraypro, has been inventing and manufacturing precision equipment for 37 years. The mere 10 minutes I spent on the Murraypro stand at this year's IBC were an education. I learnt how and where manufacturers dangerously cut corners when designing their products and what effect this has on broadca...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 November 2011

Peli 1640 Review

It may or may not have become apparent that I love my tech. I use it, write about it, podcast about it. In fact I think I might even start shaking and suffering from mild withdrawal symptoms if I don't have a least one item of tech near me. That said, it's important that all my lovely techy cameras and other kit are well protected. I spend a lot of...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 November 2011

Storage and Archive - Ask the expert

What is Arkivum?Arkivum specialises in the management and storage of an organisation’s data, whether that is financial records, documents or video footage. Formed in 2011 as a spin-out from the University of Southampton, our solution is built on several decades of knowledge in retaining and archiving of data. Our goal is to ensure the safety and se...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

A grand boy

I am smiling a particularly content smile while writing this month’s column, as just a couple of days ago I met one of my great heroes, and a giant amongst broadcasters: Sir David Attenborough. He is the recipient of the IBC International Honour for Excellence this year, and I was directing a video interview with him to use as part of the awards ce...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

September. My new year

September. My new year. The new year in January is just logistics. The new financial year in April is just maths. But September, September is a new beginning. Its ironic how when everything begins to die, school starts up again. Symbolic you might say. But autumn is my favourite season. Going back to school meant new pencils, new shoes, and having...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Storage and archiving

Anyone looking closely at a helical scan video tape mechanism, particularly the miniature variety, might be forgiven for wondering how such an elaborate technology ever came to be invented. The first experimental video tape recorders were essentially audio recorders running at very high speed to achieve the bandwidth needed for television signals....

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

The benefits of Business Process Management in Media Asse...

How have Media Asset Management systems changed with integration of IT platforms?Traditionally MAM providers use wired logic for point-to-point integration based on dedicated custom links connecting two systems through a single communicating path. This rigid approach is not recommended for integrating the multiple third-party systems and technologi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Getting Social

There are, apparently, 200 million tweets a day. Given that Twitter claims 200 million active users that seems a modest output, it is true, but the Twitterati have a disproportionate reach because large numbers of people – many of them lazy journalists – follow other people’s trending topics without contributing themselves. YouTube users download c...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011