As equipment becomes increasingly sophisticated and automated, the need for test & measurement products has never been greater. There is only one way for sure to know the quality of your signal: measure it.

Fortunately, today’s test and measurement gear generally does more for less money than the equipment available 10 years ago. Not only that, T&M equipment is also getting smaller and more energy efficient, and IP interfaces on today’s devices let you use the Internet as your test probes.

CONTENT MONITORING

Digital Nirvana will introduce its MonitorIQ Compliance Logging System, a cost-effective logger for audio/video with closed caption/DVB subtitles/teletext and VANC metadata that records up to four channels of HD/SD-SDI, ATSC/QAM, DVBT/C/S2 or eight streams over ASI. MonitorIQ Producer makes it easy to re-purpose broadcast content to the Web, produce podcasts, and save broadcast-ready clips for archiving.

IneoQuest will show a range of IPTV monitoring solutions, including the IQMediaMonitor which monitors and troubleshoots any IPTV/IP video network, and contains software to allow detailed inspection of all video flows across multiple IQMediaMonitor units.

Manzanita Systems will have on hand the MP2TSAE v5.0, which verifies compliance with MPEG, ATSC, & DVB specs, including buffer levels, timing, jitter, and bandwidth consumption. Support includes DVB subtitling, 608 & 708 closed captioning, & KLV metadata.

MiraVid will feature its TeleSight, a multiviewer and analyzer that handles up to 64 channels. With support for signals such as ASI, SDI and IP, as well as all common compression formats, TeleSight can check bitstream conformance in real time.

Pixelmetrix will launch a new network management system called the Consolidator, which provides an end-to-end solution for DTV monitoring and control. The Consolidator provides centralized access to all data, as well as visibility to key fault and performance information from up to 1,000 Pixelmetrix probes in a distributed content delivery network.

Sencore’s VB330 dual-port VideoBridge

Sencore will highlight its VideoBridge, which supports advanced core monitoring for national networks and customer-premises applications. New for this year will be VB330 dual-port probes that add 10GigE analysis capabilities to the company’s 1GigE offering. Also, Sencore’s VB12-RF features QAM/VSB, ASI and IP analysis in a compact, portable chassis.

Snell’s Centra control and monitoring platform will make its 2011 NAB Show debut as Centra v1, providing integrated scalable control and monitoring. Centra v1 offers a variety of new features that simplify use and further unify control and monitoring across all media operations.

Triveni’s RM-40 Mobile Dashboard

Triveni Digital will showcase the latest extensions to its GuideBuilder metadata platform, along with the latest release of the company’s StreamScope MT-40 analyzer, which now includes CALM support.

Also new for Stream-Scope is the RM-40 Mobile Dashboard, a new Web-based interface that gives engineers secure mobile access to all of their StreamScope RM-40 stream comparison and visualization data and tools via iPhones, iPads, and Android-powered devices. GuideBuilder has been extended for mobile service support with new electronic service guide functionality for program content, as well as for interstitials and channel logos.

T-VIPS will highlight its CP546, part of the company’s cProcessor suite for processing and monitoring of MPEG-2 transport streams. In addition to its monitoring capabilities, the CP546 also allows in-depth analysis of signal, services, components as well as PSI, SI and PSIP table decoding. Combined, these features enable the fast diagnosis of erroneous signals. The CP546 provides remote supervision and monitoring of up to eight DVB-ASI or SMPTE-310 transport streams, and up to 16 IP/Ethernet transport streams.

Video Clarity will debut the RTM Manager, which provides accurate error monitoring/recording for AV quality, lipsync and VANC data for the broadcast, cable or IPTV network facility.

New features for Volicon’s Observer Scout,video network monitoring device include an ASI/Transport Stream Monitoring and Logging system that gives broadcasters, networks, and cable operators the ability to handle MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 transport streams and retains the content and extensive metadata carried within them.

A new loudness monitoring feature for the Observer makes it easy for users to monitor and log audio for multiple stereo and 5.1 channels and comply to both the BS.1770 and EBU Tech 3341/3342 specifications. And the new Observer AC-3 (Dolby Digital) Decoding Option allows operators to capture and log HD/SD-SDI content without the need for expensive external AC-3/Dolby Digital device for extraction, decoding, and embedding.

VIDEO MONITORING

DK-Technologies will spotlight the PTO760M waveform monitor that can test both audio and video. The PTO760M can display parade, waveform, vector, lightning, amplitude, single-line, and levels for up to 16 de-embedded audio channels.

Hamlet will be presenting a new Vid-Scope-3D version that compares both “eyes” of a 3D production to ensure accurate matching between channels, including ITUstandard photo-sensitive epilepsy tests. Also on display will be Reel-Check, which provides file-based PC quality control testing.

Harris will debut 3DTV signal monitoring for its VTM-4150PKG monitor and TVM- 9150PKG signal analyzer packages—targeted at 3D post-production and monitoring. New displays have the capability to show four pictures simultaneously, and can be a combination of left eye-right eye, mix, split, left-minus-right and anaglyph.

Leader Instruments will highlight its LV5800, a waveform/vector monitor for HD/SD-SDI signals with an XGA (1024x768) TFT color LCD in an adjustable tilt front panel. Inputs supported and auto-detected by the LV5800 include 23 different SDI formats.

Link Electronics will feature the HDG-820/821 HD pattern generator, a selfcontained multiformat generator that can be used where various HD signals are required. Tri-level sync is on all analog component outputs and HD-SDI is also supported.

Lynx Technik will demonstrate the Testor, a handheld audio/video test signal generator for testing digital video performance in all SD and HDTV formats. In addition to a variety of video patterns and signals, the Testor includes a programmable eight-channel AES test signal generator with adjustable frequency, gain and phase in either 20- or 24-bit formats.

Nevion will introduce the VideoIPath connection management platform, which simplifies the complexity of video-over-IP deployment with key scheduling, provisioning and monitoring of video-over-IP services. Also new is the FCS250-IP, a compact, high-density video in-service monitor for video-over-IP that installs in any Nevion Venture chassis.

OmniTek will showcase its OTR 1001 video and audio analysis tool, which is compatible with all single and dual-link SDI formats up to 3 Gbps and can provide jitter measurements and an eye-diagram display for 3 Gbps signals.

Phabrix will be pointing at its SxE handheld eye and jitter test set, which displays up to 3 G-SDI signals on a 4.3-inch LCD screen.

The company will also show off the SxD, a multiformat signal generator, analyser and monitor designed for post production, studio, camera and projector testing and measurement.

Rohde & Schwarz ETL

New capabilities for Rohde & Schwarz’s ETL TV analyzer this year include the addition of a new FPGA card and some firmware, which extends the ETL to measure ATSC-MH signals, while continuing to provide all required legacy measurements.

Tektronix will unveil the WFM8300 waveform monitor and WVR8300 rasterizer for 3D production and post-production. In addition, the company will show how existing WFM8300, WVR8300, WFM8200 and WVR8200 instruments can receive 3D capability for free through a new firmware upgrade.

RF

Anritsu will spotlight the MS8911B digital broadcast field analyzer, a compact, battery-operated instrument that measures ISDB-T and DVB-T/H signals. The MS9811B can be used for spectrum monitoring, broadcast proofing, transmitter acceptance and regulatory compliance, and it covers frequencies from 9 kHz to 7.1 GHz.

Coaxial Dynamics will show its model 81094 Advanced Wattchman wattmeter/alarm system that monitors both forward and reflected power in two transmission lines with only one controller. The unit’s front-panel display shows power from both sensors simultaneously, and the data can be displayed on a PC anywhere on the Internet.

Davicom will present its MAC (monitoring, alarm and control) systems for remote transmitter monitoring. MAC hardware and software permit access to real-time site information, such as transmitter status, antenna VSWR, audio/video levels and presence, mains and auxiliary power levels, temperature, tower lighting, fire alarm and building security status.

Pixelmetrix will unveil a new feature for the company’s Electronic Couch Potato (ECP). The Video Quality Analysis (VQA) application provides real-time evaluation of the video quality that end-users experience, and assigns video samples a Video Quality Index (VQI) from 1 to 100, which represents the picture quality.

Promax Electronics will feature its ProWatch Telmo remote monitoring system for maintaining and measuring digital terrestrial television signals. Once configured, the Telmo can monitor the quality-of-service parameters for up to six multiplexed bitstreams, with preset warning and alarm levels.

Z Technology will show off the company’s field-strength measurement systems, such as the DSS5800 automatic drive test system. Driven around a TV station’s service area in a vehicle, the DSS5800 collects signal strength information and records numerical values for total in-channel power, peak power, bandpass tilt, in-band notches, total tap energy, SNR and SER.