KitPlus | Articles

The UKs PTZ explosion

by Kieron SethIssue 83 - November 2013 The advent of broadcast quality, remotely controlled PTZ cameras has had an enormous impact on television production in the UK. Not only can cameras now be discreetly placed in virtually any location but they can also be operated a very small team of technicians. This combination of creative freedom and the si...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2013

Bob Pank looks at shooting 4K TV

by Bob PankIssue 82 - October 2013 Not unexpectedly IBC was full of buzz and products for 4K the new image format for television. This is generally taken to be a 2x2 version of HDTVs 1920 x 1080, i.e. defining a 3840 x 2160 pixel picture. But there is nothing new about big pictures like this. Back in late 2004 a draft of the Digital Cinema Initiati...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2013

Why broadcasters need to be aware of the advent of HEVC

by Kanaan JemiliIssue 82 - October 2013 High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, has been the talk of the industry since gaining international standards approval earlier this year. HEVC is a new video compression standard and the successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding). Developed by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group and I...

Submitted by Kanaan Jemili

Published 01 November 2013

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

Making an advert with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

by Brandon KahnIssue 80 - August 2013 When Mothers Basement came to us with an advert to put on UK cinema screens, I knew my trusty, but basic, XF 305 wasnt going to cut it. Sure, most ads you see in cinema are projected in regular HD and are often shot no higher than 1080, but I felt we needed some extra size. Some extra dynamic range and colour i...

Submitted by Brandon Kahn

Published 01 September 2013

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

Monitoring Image and Signal Degradation

by Peter LampelIssue 79 - July 2013 OmniTeks latest waveform analysis software focused on assessing the degradation in video and audio quality and timing suffered by images as they are transmitted or stored. What approach has OmniTek taken to measuring these effects? In an ideal world, all broadcasters would love to have a piece of equipment that s...

Submitted by Mike Hodson

Published 01 August 2013

Why test and measurement is for real life, not just for e...

by Will StraussIssue 79 - July 2013 Thanks to its long-standing association with virtually incomprehensible acronyms, dark machine rooms and (lets face it) engineers with unruly beards, the subject of Test and Measurement (T&M) always gets a bit of bum rap. Yet, for all the pre-conceptions, it is a hugely important part of the production and broadc...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 August 2013

Increasing creativity and functionality with Q-Ball

By Jim Daniels, technical director, Camera CorpsTell us more about Camera Corps and its position within the industry…Camera Corps was founded almost 20 years ago to offer broadcasters video system design and rental services. Having focused on rentals from the very beginning, we have provided high-volume cameras, pan-and-tilt heads and tracking syst...

Submitted by Jim Daniels

Published 01 July 2013

Winner of the most viewed interview award

We're happy to announce the launch of the new JVC GY-HM70 shoulder mounted camcorder. This new model offers a professional appearance together with excellent image results in low-light situations, making it ideal for videographers working at weddings and other special events. Offering superior image stabilisation and loaded with new features for en...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Sony NEX-EA50 reviewed

Once in a while you get the chance to review a camera that brings back memories of years gone by - Sony's NEX-EA50 camera is one of those cameras. Some may say I am stretching things a bit too far, but as I looked at it I felt at home with it because it reminded me of my old Sony VX9000E (also known as the DSR200). This was my first DV camera and a...

Submitted by Zulqar Cheema

Published 01 July 2013

LiveU Buyers guide to cellular uplinking

With Ronen Artman, LiveUCellular uplinking continues to change the way that video is gathered in the field, bringing new levels of flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The technology allows broadcasters to alter the way that they approach events, be that news, sports, community activities or anything in between. It has also delivered high quality li...

Submitted by Ronen Artman

Published 01 May 2013

4K at NAB with Bob Pank

As we head once more to NAB you may wonder what this year’s big thing will be. I put my money on 4K. As I write there must be many exhibitors polishing up their ‘4K solution’ message, ready for their customers at the show. With the extraordinary situation of screens costing more than cameras, a viable business model clearly remains far off. But, to...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 2013

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