KitPlus | Articles

Professional Media Card Readers

by Greg Laporte Issue 94 - October 2014 You\'re on location and you\'re done shooting for the day and you have a sizeable stack of fully recorded memory cards. It\'s a complex shoot, perhaps with multiple cameras from different vendors recording on different memory card formats. Now, how do you get the raw video files from all of those cameras into...

Submitted by Greg Laporte

Published 01 November 2014

In the Field

by Robin Brown Issue 93 - September 2014 Traditionally teleprompters were seen solely as a studio staple, but for more than two decades they have been consistently supporting talent in the field in a variety of locations around the globe. The numerous step changes in technology, which have had such a dramatic impact on all types of television equip...

Submitted by Robin Brown

Published 01 October 2014

4K Streaming and the Future of 8K

by Keith Wymbs Issue 87 - March 2014 There is little doubt that 4K and Ultra HD video will take hold over the next three years. These higher-resolution video types are a genuine advance from traditional HD and they likely will progress more quickly than their HD predecessor given the solid digital foundation now in place and advances such as high-e...

Submitted by Keith Wymbs

Published 01 April 2014

Packed to Protect: What you need to know

Issue 86 - February 2014Peli Cases have become well established in the market as essential protection for broadcast and photographic equipment, offering watertight, dustproof and crushproof security. Combining durability, security and style, Peli Hardback cases have been introduced to protect iPads, tablets and laptops from drops, knocks and scratc...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 March 2014

A bag for life? PELI Elite Laptop Backpack reviewed

by Simon TillyerIssue 80 - August 2013 Were a big user of PELI cases here at tv-bay. We use them for what they were designed for... and then some with attempted drownings, drops, drags and dynamite tests!So when I was offered the chance to try out the new PELI Elite Laptop Backpack I jumped at the chance. My Workstation Specialists PC is loaded wit...

Submitted by Simon Tillyer

Published 01 September 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

Life live beyond the Premier League

by Kieron SethIn Europe outside broadcast has traditionally been within the reach of a handful of deep-pocketed television companies. Across the Atlantic, small OB vans have been popular for years with niche, regional news crews beaming state pie eating competitions to eager viewers. With the advent of Local TV and low-cost fast turnaround producti...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2013

Monitoring: Cutting the Wires

Teradek began the wireless monitoring revolution at last year's NAB show. Its Cube wireless encoders are no bigger than a pack of playing cards. They compress a camcorder's video feed into an H.264 signal for transmission to either a WiFi-enabled laptop, iPad or tablet or to a Cube decoder. Straight-away live, remote and affordable monitoring was b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2012

Why a new range of cases?

The team here at Ianiro International worked with Luggy for many years - they made wonderful bags with a real Italian quality and an eye for style. Sadly, last year the owner passed away, drawing their business to an abrupt close. For Ianiro International and its customers, this left a real gap. But it gave us an opportunity to reflect on our portf...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2012

Dick gets hands on

There is a new buzz phrase in computer magazines at the moment. It is “digital skeuomorphism”, an expression which has come to describe the way that a user interface is designed to look like something else. To give an example of digital skeuomorphism, the picture is of my iPad calendar. The point is not to show how busy I am at NAB, but to show the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Managing Media

Looking after the media for a television production used to be a relatively simple task. The footage would be shot and captured on tape. The tapes would be delivered to the post-production facility for editing. They would be ingested into the edit system, the editor would construct the final program and it would be recorded back to tape. All the ta...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 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

Thinking of buying an OLED - read this first...

It may surprise some people that Autocue, known worldwide as the leader in broadcast, educational and corporate teleprompting, is also highly experienced in providing broadcast quality reference monitors. We’ve parlayed our experience in quality prompting screens to specify the manufacture of broadcast monitors for OB trucks, vision galleries and Q...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Learning from the master

In 1985 I took a job at Logica. In those days we were developing systems for teletext and subtitles, and later for graphics management, using computer hardware from DEC, a brand name that disappeared in 1998 when it was acquired by Compaq. The PDP-11 was revolutionary in that it was a 16 bit computer, but even then there was a suspicion that it did...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 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