KitPlus | Articles

4K is bigger than size alone

by Bob PankIssue 79 - July 2013 It seems that numbers are a great eye-catcher and 4K was everywhere at NAB, and will be at IBC too. Here, of course, we are talking about a TV system with four times the number of pixels of HD, namely a picture area of 3840x2160 for TV, or for cinema 4096x2160. At the recent BeyondHD conference in London discussion a...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2013

Crystal Balls and the future of television TandM

by Steve NunneyIssue 79 - July 2013 Best to keep well away from the Australian fast bowlers then! Joking apart, what is the future of television test and measurement? Or should we rather refer to media dispersion MD for short. MD is taking off big-time. After the five year digital switchover process was completed, everyone had digital terrestrial t...

Submitted by Steve Nunney

Published 01 August 2013

Generic vs. name brand: Portable power solutions

Ask the Experts: Generic vs. Name Brand – How to Differentiate Portable Power SolutionsIn today’s marketplace, there seems to be a disparity in cost when it comes to batteries. What should the professional consider when purchasing new batteries? There are three key considerations: What value do I place on reliability—is my reputation at stake? Seco...

Submitted by Martyn Sly-Jex

Published 01 July 2013

A cinematic makeover with Blackmagic Design

With the announcement of Blackmagic Cinema Camera at NAB 2012, Mark Linnhoff, a France based cinematographer, began to see the future of filmmaking in a new light. “Finally, an affordable acquisition tool that doesn’t compromise on image quality,” he recalled. “When I got the camera, I carried out some tests with a series of Carl Zeiss ZF.2 and Nik...

Submitted by Mark Linnhoff

Published 01 July 2013

Do you have firmware deficiency syndrome?

For 5 days in June 2013 we did a survey on Facebook and our own website and asked how often camera users had gone online to check for firmware updates…Checked online for a firmware upgrade….. …within last 30 days 18%…within last 90 days 9%…within last 12 months 3%…never checked online 70%We could have gone further to see which users used what camer...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Intelligent linking - answering some key power questions

with Steve EmmettWhat makes a safe Li-Ion Battery?Recently, the Boeing Dreamliner story has added to the perception of the Li-Ion battery as a potentially dangerous item. However, the reality is that Li-Ion batteries are a safe and robust source of portable power, when they are designed and constructed by a recognised battery manufacturer that has...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Does size matter? with Polecam

It’s simple. Horses for Courses! ScenarioWhen shooting Anything, Anywhere, there is always a trade between budget, performance, manpower, speed and space – the production company and client will inevitably want quite simply “the best they can get and at the best price”. However when the application and location of the shoot dictate over and above t...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Alex Fine is super busy: Following the Ravensbourne 3

The name of the game right now is MAJOR FRUSTRATION! The nature of the game right now is SUPER BUSY ORGANISING LOTS OF FILMS ALL AT ONCE! This part of the term in final year at Ravensbourne is quite difficult. My peers and I are all having to either Direct and/or Produce two films (of any type) and work in minor/ supporting roles for at least two o...

Submitted by Alex Fine

Published 01 June 2013

Changing the art of Chroma Key

ChromaKey technology has been used for decades in TV and film studios to composite images or footage into a shot using green and blue screen backdrops. Although used on multi-million dollar movies, such as AVATAR and used all around the world in News rooms, conventional ‘Fabric’ ChromaKey technology requires Kilowatts of lighting, hours of setup ti...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 01 June 2013

How to choose the right broadcast microphone

By Ralph Dunlop, Director, Sound Network– UK distributor for DPA Microphones1. What are most common types of microphones for broadcast use and how far has microphone technology progressed in the digital world?Traditionally the most popular microphone used in broadcast and film sound recording was the “Boom” mounted mic. The problem with older boom...

Submitted by Ralph Dunlop

Published 01 June 2013

Exceptional loudness control does not have to break the b...

by Oliver Masciarotte, Director of Customer Experience, Minnetonka Audio SoftwareThe industry is buzzing about loudness control. It is perhaps the most important audio issue facing broadcasters today because governments have mandated change. EBU R128 and other such legislation around the world attempts to provide some level of consistency in percei...

Submitted by Oliver Masciarotte

Published 01 June 2013

Planning the digital marathon

Never one for New Year's resolutions, I made the 2013 Virgin London Marathon one to finally commit to. So once I'd put in the training and mentally prepared for the greatest marathon on Earth, I started to explore new ways in which I could share my experience with friends, family and the public in a different way. It's certainly inherent within the...

Submitted by Ben Darby

Published 01 June 2013

Evolving the industry audio monitoring systems

With respect to monitoring, particularly for multiplatform content delivery, how can our facility straddle the divide between baseband and file-based signals?The media industry as a whole is moving toward multiplatform content delivery. This shift includes and affects not only traditional broadcasters and new media outlets, but the content creators...

Submitted by Don Bird

Published 01 June 2013

Chris Barlow gains greater customer satisfaction

by Chris Barlow, Technical Director, AstecMonitoring the quality of service and experience for customers across an often complex and sizeable broadcast estate, can be a difficult area to oversee and hard to control. Gaining an understanding of the quality of the services customers are receiving has many variables to consider including the presence...

Submitted by Chris Barlow

Published 01 May 2013

Back to basics: MPEG Dash

by David Springall, CTO & Founder, YospaceJust when you thought that you had got your head around the different flavours of MPEG, another one comes along. What on earth is MPEG-DASH, and why do we need to care about it?The DASH part stands for dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP. MPEG-DASH is an attempt to create a standardised approach to deliver...

Submitted by David Springall

Published 01 May 2013