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/ 08.26.2010 3:00PM
Industry Gears Up for IBC
AMSTERDAM: This year’s IBC convention comes on the cusp of
3DTV migration. U.K. satellite broadcaster BSkyB is set to launch its residential
3D service Oct. 1, just two weeks after the gathering.
The Sunday conference session “What Caught My Eye 3D Special,” with Adam
Sculthorp, a stereographer at U.K. production outfit Telegenic. He’ll talk through
the enormous range of 3D tools on show this year, highlighting those that he
thinks are essential for delegates to see.
SONY RETURNS
The rising interest in 3D sees manufacturers such as Sony make a comeback
to IBC, after a noted absence from last year’s show in favor of several smaller
self-arranged European events that made up its Power of Images tour.
“The feedback from the countries who hosted the Sony Power Of Images events has
been overwhelmingly positive and we will continue to host these events, road shows
and master classes to engage with our customers and partners in the future,”
said Mark Bainbridge, general manager of Sony Media and Broadcast. “Our
decision to integrate IBC into the wider Power Of Images program was taken
based on the merits of the event as a communications platform on which we can
demonstrate our 3D and file-based media workflow solutions and brand message.”
Perhaps IBC is just too tempting a vehicle for Sony not to showcase its
progress in 3D, where it currently claims to be the only manufacturer at the
show with the capability to deliver complete end-to-end 3D solutions from lens
to living room.
For multinational manufacturers with branches and divisions around the globe,
just having staff and customers in a single European base once a year is worth
shelling out for a booth, according to Patrick McLean, Avid director of Segment
Marketing Post & Broadcast in Tewksbury, Mass.
“IBC is very important to us as it gives us the opportunity to meet with many
of our customers in a single location during a concentrated period of time, and
it gives Avid staff unparallel opportunity to talk and discuss and connect with
our customers,” he said.
There will be a broad range of Avid solutions on display around this year’s
theme of openness, McLean said. Avid will also attend the Final Cut Pro User
Group’s Super Meet during IBC, to speak with the Apple community about Avid
tools and interoperability. There will also be a chance for delegates to check
out Avid’s newly released ISIS 5000, a lower-cost version of its Isis shared
storage system designed specifically for smaller broadcasters and facilities.
IBC is one of the key ways that it keeps in touch with the market, Miranda’s
Neil Sharpe said: “It offers great opportunities to discuss upcoming projects
with our clients, and also allows us to widen our contacts.”
Miranda will highlight its Nvision 8500 routers with integrated audio
processing, which eliminate timing problems while offering greater space
efficiency.
For those wishing to command a greater European footfall, IBC is still an
important way of evaluating the state of the industry, according to Paul
Nicholls, sales and marketing manager at Phabrix, a U.K.-based provider of
signal processing technology for the broadcast industry.
“With world economics forcing many companies to stay away from traveling to
NAB, IBC has become increasingly a focal point to display new products and
services within Europe,” he said. “Only 2 percent of the 600 visitors to
Phabrix’s NAB stand were from Europe--enough said.”
At the Phabrix stand delegates interested in test and measurement can check out
the manufacturer’s new Rx platform on display in the 2U rack-mounted range.
Nicholls said Phabrix’s handheld test-and-measurement gear now has a Dolby E
option.
WHAT’S NEW?
While 13 may be an unlucky number for some, being able to offer up an extra
hall at the show is good news for the show’s organizers. Hall 13 will be
located in the space between the new Elicium tower, the Auditorium and Hall 3.
The building will add more than 800 square meters. Exhibitors include BBC
Academy, Clear-Com and San Solutions. John Holton, chair of the IBC exhibition
committee adds that the hall also demonstrates “a real sense of optimism in the
industry.”
Also debuting this year is Connected World in Hall 9, which will showcase the
Mobile, IPTV and Digital Signage Zones, the Connected World Hub and the
Connected Home of the future.
Technologies on display in this hall will include those currently impacting the
broadcast industry, including set-top boxes, hybrid TVs, LCDs, netbooks, games
consoles, tablets, media players, mobile phones and other consumer devices.
CONFERENCES
The keynote speakers for this year’s IBC reads like a roll call of “Who’s
who” in broadcasting. This year’s overriding theme of “challenging mindsets in
a modern media landscape” and the conference’s ambition to address some of the
key commercial, creative and technical issues facing the industry have
attracted big hitters, according to Michael Lumley, chair of the conference
committee.
“In recent years, the IBC conference has leapt forward as the forum which gets
right to the heart of the key issues in our industry,” Lumley said. “It
attracts world-class speakers and delegates who recognize that it is the best
place to drive forward the debate.”
Indeed, the opening session of the conference on Sept. 11 asks a loaded
question which some of Europe’s top names will tackle: “Does public service
broadcast have a future?” Sir Michael Lyons, the chairman of the BBC Trust,
will outline his take on the future of public service broadcasting.
The session also includes keynote addresses by Yoshinori Imai, vice president
of Japanese national broadcaster NHK, and Ingrid Deltenre, director general of
the European Broadcasting Union.
On Friday, Sept. 12, the big broadcasting names continue to roll with BSkyB’s
chief operating officer Mike Darcey, chief executive of HBO Central Europe,
Linda Jensen, and RTL’s Gerhard Zeiler, all lined up to deliver the keynote “New
Routes to Original Funding,” a session designed to examine the various funding
models for broadcasters--from ad funded television to premium subscription--and
explore which model is the best way to stay afloat in harsh economic times.
If last year’s stats are anything to go by, more than 45,000 attendees from
more than 140 countries will flock to see the stands of 1,300 technology
suppliers--many of whom will be showcasing the latest stereoscopic
developments.
Register for IBC at
www.ibc.org.
--by Ann-Marie Corvin for TV Technology
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Sunday 12:00AM
EBU Pushes Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband TV
“Underlying this co-operation is the shared conviction that... only a flexible, cross-border approach will make it happen quickly.” ~ Ingrid Deltenre