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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

Intercom for Sports Production

The best kind of intercom system is one that works so well that it only takes a button or two to push when communication is required. Because of how quality intercom systems simplify communication, it is one of the broadcast industry’s most undervalued technologies. However, it is absolutely essential to a successful broadcast, especially in the fa...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

What is high-performance data transport and why is it imp...

What is high-performance data transport and why is it important?The advent of digital content has led major media companies and their IT partners to design fully-integrated systems for the creation, distribution, repurposing and archiving of their file-based content. While most processes associated with content production and distribution have tran...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

Courting communications

This week I received two press releases from major companies, both, incidentally, beginning with A and holding the number one and two spots in broadcast editing. And both, in their different ways, were prime examples of how not to do it. In the purple corner we have, and I quote “Avid today announced that it has been awarded a significant contract...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

KVM enterprise and video matrix switchers in broadcast ap...

KVM enterprise and video matrix switchers in broadcast applicationsEngineers within the professional broadcast world are comfortably familiar with video routers for the control of uncompressed video and audio signals within live studio and editing locations. However there is less familiarity with the use of KVM enterprise and video matrix switchers...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

Can second-screen apps really add value to the broadcast...

As today’s consumers watch television, many of them are engaging with media through multiple devices at once. In fact, some studies indicate that as much as 50 percent of television viewers are regularly online as they watch. They are posting and tweeting on social networking sites, checking movie and actor facts on sites such as IMDB, and even vis...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

Question and Answer with Trilogy

Question 1: What bandwidth would I need to allow on my network to reliably support IP communications and what other issues would I need to take into consideration?The bandwidth required to support IP based intercom or talkback communications really depends on the quality of audio you want to achieve. Therefore the higher the quality, the greater th...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

QC: An Inside Job

The requirement for quality control grew up in the early days of television and depended on measurement instruments to check the video and audio going to air. This T&M made prefect sense when equipment was analogue and, to an extent, has continued into the digital era, however the needs of the digital file based workflow environment are very differ...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2011

Loudness Whats All The Noise About

Anyone involved in our industry can’t have failed to notice the amount of noise broadcasters, manufacturers and legislators are making about audio loudness. As topics go, this one is currently red hot. Broadcast audio that comes with annoying loudness differences can result in complaints from viewers and, in some territories, these complaints can t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 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

Why do broadcasters need to take an interest in connected...

Why do broadcasters need to take an interest in connected TV?With ever-increasing amounts of content available, we’re heading towards a world where catch-up TV will enable you to access last week’s content as easily as today’s. This doesn’t mean to say that linear broadcasts are over; I would expect broadcast delivery to continue to dominate and fo...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

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

Mobile Cameraman Extraordinaire

I had wanted to work in television since my teens and, at 20, started as a trainee assistant cameraman at Mersey Television on 'Brookside' in Liverpool and then joining Thorn-EMI Facilities in London. Thorn-EMI put me in charge of a studio used to shoot links for companies like Children's Channel using very bulky early tubed Betacams. Five years la...

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