KitPlus | Articles

Parting the Cloud

Every so often a trend looms over the broadcast horizon that gathers pace so quickly it soon becomes the buzzword at every launch and trade show. A few years ago it was MAM and more recently stereoscopic; now the big buzz in town is the cloud. But despite its recent rise to fame in the broadcast sector there’s still a lot of confusion regarding how...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

TV-BAY: Ask the Experts

Studio Technologies responds to typical booth visitor questions at NAB and IBCBy: Gordon Kapes, president, Studio TechnologiesStudio Technologies, the manufacturer of tailored, high-performance video, audio and fiber optic products for the professional audio and broadcast markets, has been building equipment to address the production needs of broad...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Discussing asset management

Half the stands at IBC claim to have asset management products – do they all do what you do?Yes, it seems like everyone claims to do asset management or workflows. And it confuses the hell out of buyers. So we need to take a step back and think about what we actually mean. So let’s break it down. First: assets. What are your assets? Well, that depe...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Ask the Experts - IT and Broadcast converge

Q. ‘Convergence’, specifically the convergence of IT and broadcast technology, appears to be one of those themes that endures. Why does the subject still garner so much attention in 2012? It must be 15-years since the term was first used in this context, are we not a fully converged industry?No, I don’t think we are fully ‘converged’, far from it;...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2012

Testing times of a 4K world

The term '4K' applies to some five slightly different picture formats with around 4,000 pixel horizontal resolution: all much bigger than HD. In fact roughly four times the total pixels required for 1920 x 1080 pixel high definition. 4K has been around for some years but was until recently only affordable by producers with mega budgets. Advances in...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 August 2012

Ask the Experts - Loudness

Introduction:Loudness level inconsistencies are one of the most common problems in the broadcast industry. Loudness standards are now being introduced as discontinuities in audio levels between programs, or between programs and advertisements, have been the cause of viewer complaints – in fact they are the number one cause. Of course anything that...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

What should I know about lithium-ion batteries

Ask The Experts: Martyn Sly-Jex, Regional Sales Manager, EMEA, Anton/Bauer What should I know about the chemistries behind lithium-ion batteries? When Li-ion cell chemistry was first introduced, it was hailed as a breakthrough, lightweight power solution for broadcast and video professionals. It incorporated high-energy density and low-self-disch...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 July 2012

Our third digital revolution?

Our third digital revolution?By Bob PankA little history – the first digital revolution for the TV production and post industries started somewhere about 1972 and then involved introducing digital islands into an analogue world. The introduction of much more affordable digital VTRs such as Sony’s DigiBeta in 1993 heralded the beginning of the end o...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

X 10 or X 3? - That is the question

X 10 or X 3? - That is the questionFor many years now, the sports programme producer has benefited from a triple speed (75fps) super motion replay facility. Initially replayed via specially modified BVW tape decks but once the industry standard EVS server acquired the ability to record the three phases of such cameras and supply a continual record...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

A live video streaming advocate

As you may or may not know, I’m a bit of a live video streaming advocate. I love the idea of being able to distribute high quality content via the internet, without the need for huge budgets, licensing, and all the hassle involved more conventional means. I do a lot of live streaming from small venues, and by their very nature is difficult to fit m...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

Sport Pushes the Limits of Wireless Transmission

Sport Pushes the Limits of Wireless TransmissionBy Mark Anderson, Marketing Operations Manager, VislinkWith the London 2012 Games and the UEFA EURO 2012 European Football championships just around the corner, physical and mental endurance will be pushed to the limits. Those pressures also apply to the technology used to cover these events for the w...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2012

NAB 2012 Kit Review used by BroadcastShow

NAB kit review:-So pre-NAB we are all very busy organising interviews with 70 exhibitors over 4 days covering 4 halls and in our case around 28 miles. Late last year we developed an online interview booking system at www.broadcastshow.com which allows exhibitors to book one or more 15 minute slots, enter stand information and questions they may lik...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

Wireless Audio at the sharp end

Wireless Audio at the sharp endIt's noisy, it's very, very hot, but then often it can be cold or raining but it's still noisy and everything has to be de-rigged and moved to another country, sometimes in a different continent, every two weeks – did I mention it's noisy? Formula 1 motor racing has never been more popular – witnessed at the tracks by...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

The evolution from audio to PIX

Sound Devices has built a strong reputation throughout the world as a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio field recorders and mixers renowned for rugged reliability, operational flexibility and pristine audio quality. While our users are quite familiar with our folks in sales, marketing and technical support areas, they may not be aware of t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

Ask the experts - Fibre optic distribution and content de...

1- With the increase in bandwidth requirements for signal distribution systems, which infrastructure provides greater benefits — copper or fibre? Can you explain why?Both copper and fibre each have their place in today’s broadcast infrastructure. As we know, the useable bandwidth of coax cable is a function of both its physical construction and the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 2012