KitPlus | Articles

How a live streaming launch comes together....

Well it’s that time of year again. CALL of DUTY Launch. That’s right it’s been a whole year since I wrote about the successful launch of Call of Duty Black Ops, and now we have the new Call of Duty MW3 launch. Just as last year, myself as part of the Mediakinetic team were once again asked by Headstream and Five by Five Digital to live stream the l...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 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

Ask the Experts - Integrating Social Media

Why should I care about integrating social media into my broadcast operations?Viewers are the lifeblood of any broadcaster, whether public service or commercial, major national broadcaster or special interest, free-to-air or pay TV, RF or IP delivery, fundamentally it's all about getting, and keeping, as many viewers as possible. Social media provi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

RAID SATA Storage System for Music Production

In today’s music industry, it is no longer necessary to have a big studio to produce a hit. This is nothing new to Future Cut Productions, Ltd., a London-based music production studio comprised of Darren Lewis and Tunde Babalola. Utilizing a unique approach, Future Cut produces, mixes, and remixes most of its tracks using only a Mac® Pro in a small...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

IBC2011 must sees

Over 1,300 exhibitors will be supporting IBC2011, each bringing perhaps one, two or three new or enhanced products. My task is to distill these down to the 20 devices likely to be of greatest interest to TV-Bay readers, so far as that is possible several weeks before the show opens. As a recent convert to OS X, I note with gloom that Apple remains...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Operating at the cellular level

The live coverage of outside broadcast events, news or sports has always been an expensive and logistically cumbersome business. The need to invest millions of pounds in specialist satellite trucks can take years to recoup, putting the ability to service live sports contracts beyond the economy of a very few suppliers. Even the live presentation of...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Eye to Eye on Delivery and Distribution

A notable aspect of the 2010 IBC and 2011 NAB conference sessions was the rapidly increasing focus on IP streaming. Fibre-optic delivery to the home has yet to be turned into widespread reality but transport speeds over existing electrical infrastructure continue to accelerate. Cloud-based storage and distribution services offer a solution to the c...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

Cameras for streaming

I first saw true HD pictures years ago at IBC. OpTex had a camera focusing on some beautifully lit fruit. The image on the screen was extraordinary, hypnotising. Leap forward a decade and Amsterdam brought Europe its first taste of Ultra High Definition Television - not 720p, not 1080i, but 4320p. The enveloping cinematic pictures and the embrace o...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

HTML5 and H.264. Friends United....

H.264 - The Success StorySome technologies like DVD, CD, TV and the PC prove themselves over time. They are practical, flexible, reliable - even universal. Is H.264 one of those magic bullet technologies?H.264, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC, is the video codec that has taken the broadcast and consumer world by storm. In 2008, Anthony Rose, fo...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

3D or not 3D, that is the question

Peter Savage wonders if the buzz around 3D is really justified – despite his willingness to don some 3D specs and head to the big screen in his local pubLast Saturday night I sat and pondered the broadcast question of the moment – 3D or not 3D?Not unlike poor Hamlet, unable to reconcile his mind on life, I was torn between the hype and the reality...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

Either meet your listeners halfway, or get them to come t...

In TV Bay’s IPTV & Online issue, I spoke about how streaming video online enabled content owners to share their work with the world a lot more effectively, so although the end result is the same, what technical procedures are different for streaming pure audio content?The pace of technical advancements have now established distinct requirements for...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 June 2011

Hands on an IPad 2

It’s been near on 1 year since the Apple iPad landed on planet earth. No one knew if it was going to be a success, sceptics were sure that the tablet format would be nothing more than a fad and that true portable computing still lay in the realms of the notebook pc's. However after 9 months and 12 million units sold, Apple of course, again, annoyin...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 2011

BVE and the Year Ahead

In the IABM's market survey a year ago, the Director General, Peter White, forecast: “Although the worst appears to be over and a degree of optimism is discernible, 2010 is still shaping up to be a fairly lacklustre year. As we exit the year, however, we do expect to see better signs of market improvement with a more promising 2011 and 2012.” How p...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2011

BVE 2011 retrospect

BVE 2011 had much of the buoyancy and buzz of an IBC. The organisers claimed an attendance of over 15,500 visitors and 240 exhibiting companies. Many of the UK-based stalwarts who make the annual pilgrimage to Amsterdam could be seen exploring the show, confirming that BVE is now taken seriously by mainstream broadcasters. It is perhaps over-optimi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

A novel approach to delivering radio content

Who does a national broadcaster turn to with 9 TV and radio stations, each with 20hrs of daily programmes and a need to deliver them locally and cross continental... In a media rich world where viewers habits are rapidly changing they need to add another dimension to radio while maintaining the 'spirit' of a radio programme. France Tlvisions’ Rseau...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011