Government Video Salutes 10 Innovative Products at GV Expo 2014

WASHINGTON—Here are this year’s honorees from this year’s Government Video Expo in Washington, D.C., where 10 technologies were recognized with the Government Video Salute Award.

“We see a lot of products at the GV Expo, and look for those things that attract the interest of government video operators,” said Bob Kovacs, editor of Government Video magazine. “The Salute Award represents our opinion of the best and most affordable products that target the needs of the government video facilities.”

Virtual Backgrounds
digital projected background system
This technology, illustrated at right, allows users to easily insert a still or moving video background image behind live talent. It does not employ a computer or conventional chroma key “green screen” technology, but uses frontal projection. It does not suffer either from the “tearing out” or fringing sometimes seen in chroma keys and allows talent to wear clothing of any color without worry that it’s too close to the background color to allow proper keying.

Evertz vScribe
capture, tag and playout system
vScribe, pictured left, includes many of the features and much of the functionality incorporated in the Evertz DreamCatcher replay system, but at a fraction of the cost, allowing its implementation by PEG entities and other entities operating with smaller equipment budgets.

Tektronix Cerify
enterprise and cloud automated analysis system
Cerify provides automated inspection of file-based content being ingested in a variety of formats, bitrates and compression standards, greatly assisting the quality control operations of television program providers. It provides automatic examination of all content and flags areas/scenes that fall beneath established levels of acceptability. The QC operator can then examine the tagged portions of the content to determine what actions are needed before the material can be aired. Its implementation allows much greater productivity to be achieved in QC operations.

Ikan Piatto
series of LED lighting devices
The Piatto range of LED edge-lit lighting instruments, illustrated right, provide even, soft light for television and cinema production work. The are available in round and rectangular formats to allow users to tailor light output, and they also come equipped with battery plates that allow owners to use them with a variety of camera batteries, including those used with Canon, Panasonic and Sony cameras. The price point of the 9-inch unit displayed by Ikan at the show was $379.

Lynx Broadband Television and Data Network
This system, leflt, delivers high-definition television signals along with Internet or other services on a shared CAT-5/6 data cable, providing up to 210 HD channels. It can be implemented for about half the cost of conventional coaxial or fiber cable installations.

Fujifilm Dternity
storage and archiving solution
The LTO tape-based storage and archiving system, right, is file-based, portable and completely non-proprietary, allowing users to store files without having to perform file-type conversions, add wrappers or install software. It can grow as a user’s needs and content library grows and provides the option of automatically replicating content in the Fujifilm Dternity Media Cloud as well as locally on LTO tape.

Cobalt Digital Quint-Split Multiviewer
This is a new offering from Cobalt, at left, that works with virtually all video signal sources, is quick and easy to configure to meet the user’s display requirements and is fully featured in terms of audio, timecode and other displays. It’s available in two configurations—a standalone rackmounted unit, or as an openGear card that can be used in an owner’s existing card frame.

Altinex Muse IP+ HDMI and Power Extension System
This product makes installing remote HDMI devices, such as a digital signage display, much easier by sending both power and signal down the same Cat-5e/6 cable. In other words, a digital signage monitor or other HDMI device can be installed in a location that has not power, and be remotely powered from the communications cable.

Matrox Monarch
HD streaming and recording appliance
Matrox has made it easy to simultaneously stream and record a video event, at high quality. The Monarch HD, at right, is small, inexpensive and easy-to-use, and it can be set to record and stream video at broadcast quality.

JVC GY-HM200/170 4K Camera Series
JVC’s new GY-HM200 is an affordable 4K camcorder with professional features such as XLR audio inputs, a 12x zoom lens and built-in streaming capability. It’s sibling, the GY-HM170, has identical performance without the XLR inputs and streaming capability, if those are not needed for the application.