KitPlus | Articles

Bob Pank looks at the size of 4k

by Bob Pank Issue 86 - February 2014 The television industry has had many new technological eras in recent years. Only two years ago we were still a 3D era; the latest of the many that have surfaced and sunk over the years of cinema, making it recurring fad. Now 4K / UHD is firmly grabbing the attention of equipment manufacturers as well as product...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2014

The joys of the outside broadcast!

by Barrie WilliamsIssue 81 - September 2013 When Michael Essien wanted to broadcast his charity football match from Ghana, the natural choice was In-5 Broadcast, who over recent years have become well- known for cost-effective outside broadcasts, writes Barrie Williams. However, with no HD broadcast equipment hire in Accra, it was necessary to take...

Submitted by Barrie Williams

Published 01 October 2013

A runaway success at Graduate Fashion Week with Blackmagi...

Issue 79 - July 2013 Encouraging and nurturing raw young talent, Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) is one of the largest international platforms of its kind. Showcasing the future of fashion, over 1,000 aspiring designers descended on London during June for Graduate Fashion Week 2013. Made up of 22 catwalk shows and an exhibition with more than 40 univer...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 August 2013

To cloud, or not to cloud

Almost ever since it began, there have been two parameters that have played a big part in shaping broadcast television – bandwidth and storage. Admittedly, storage was not an issue at the start because there was no way to do it, but Ampex changed that in 1956. Bandwidth dictates many aspects of infrastructure and broadcast picture quality, the amou...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

The semantic web made simple

There is a new term creeping in to discussions in the broadcasting business, and particularly around those involved in asset management and research projects. The term is “semantic web” and, I suspect, there are a lot of people who are neither completely sure they know what it means, nor trust its relevance in our business. I aim to provide some si...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

Cloudy NAB

Those who arrived a couple of days before the NAB show opened had the unusual experience of cool weather, heavy grey skies and rain. The clouds had arrived in Las Vegas. By the time the show opened they had gone but there was still a big one in the North Hall where I experienced my very first ‘Cloud Computing Pavilion’. It was not the structure I’d...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

BVE 2012 in no particular order.......

The big story at BVE 2012 was BVE 2013. With the Earls Court exhibition site scheduled for redevelopment, BVE relocates next year to the ExCel exhibition site in London’s Docklands. The distance is only about 10 miles but, in the minds of many BVE exhibitors, the move is comparable with moving the NAB Convention to the Mississippi Delta. If you rea...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

Ask the experts......Intercoms for outside broadcasts

Ask the experts – intercoms for outside broadcastsBarry Spencer, Trilogy CommunicationsI just assume outside broadcast trucks come with an intercom. Why do I need to even think about it?The first big point is that an outside broadcast is not just a control room on wheels. It is an event. And that means communications beyond the truck. Within the pr...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2012

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

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

tv-bay questions

Who are you? (about yourself and who you work for)?I am a freelance colourist working mainly in London and LA. I am the founder of the UK’s first datalab MYTHERAPY. I am also working on behalf of several manufacturers in research and development of colour science for digital film cameras; I am a demo artist for Iridas and Master Colourist at ICA In...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

Easy and accurate testing of low-power transmitters for d...

Using portable TV analyzers for gap filler installation, maintenance, and service measurementsTwenty-five kilograms or more: That is how much the test equipment needed for testing digital television transmitters – a test receiver, spectrum analyzer, and power meter – weigh all together. This weight is not an issue for a transmitter like the one on...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

North West 200

As the gates to the event open and the hordes roll in to watch the North West 200 motorcycle race, production company Greenlight TV is primed: production schedule ready, broadcast timetable planned meticulously. Then... torrential rain, a crash and a major oil spill... finally a credible bomb alert. It's at times like these when production skills a...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2011

AdVision TV: Editing... Live

Glastonbury - it's on TV. Premier League Football? On TV. Not subscribing to the right satellite channel? Worried about missing a big event? Try Googling it, try YouTube. You would have thought that live events would struggle to survive in the face of this wall of media coverage. But rock concerts, sports matches, conferences and venues across the...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 May 2011

tv-bay questions

James Tonkin; Director of Hangman Studios, London UKWho are you? (about yourself and Hangman Studios?)I am a director/editor who over the last few years has also turned to DP'ing and producing. I trained originally in music technology for my degree at Rose Bruford College in London but I soon moved into editing and directing after graduating in 200...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011