Bruce DevlinQ: What broad technology trends do you think will be front-and-centre at IBC2009?
We will see a continuing focus on the importance of central storage in the design of new facilities, and the importance of ingesting to that storage rather than ingesting at the point of playout.
Q: Any thoughts on how the current economic climate will affect the show?
Although things are starting to look up, I think the show will be slower than usual and the number of U.S. attendees will be limited to serious attendees who are there for a specific reason. That means the customers who come will be positively looking for new solutions and the manufacturers that will have a successful show will be those who can answer the questions 'how can this make me money' or 'how can this save me money.'
Q: What's new that you will show at IBC2009 and that broadcasters should look for there?
AmberFin will preview AmberFin iCR Version 5.0, the latest version of its award-winning ingest, automated QC and transcoding software solution, at IBC 2009. The latest iCR software release introduces MXF AS02 support and JPEG 2000 workflow, which is rapidly becoming a format of choice for high-quality mastering. Version 5.0 also enables the application of closed captioning for U.S. and European broadcast delivery requirements during the transcoding process.
Q: How is your new product offering different from what's available on the market?
AmberFin's leading integrated quality control, automation and asset management integration both set it apart from other products on the market and offer low cost of ownership and low operating costs for customers. These are unique benefits that, together with the ability to work with standard storage, drive down the costs associated with managing and distributing media on multiple revenue-generating platforms for content owners and their partners.
Q: Where are you based, and how many employees do you have? Anything else we should know about your company?
We are based in Basingstoke in the United Kingdom; have offices in Burbank and Hong Kong; and have 35 employees. We also have a worldwide dealer network that reflects the quality of our ingest, transcode and QC products. We're more than a year old and growing strongly with a global customer base including Sony, NBA, Turner Broadcasting, BT, Channel 4, RTM and Warner Brothers.
Q: How many years have you been going to the IBC show and what's your fondest memory? What's your favourite restaurant or pub?
I've been going to the IBC conference since 1988. My fondest memory is winning my second Peter Wayne award from the IABM for MXF Desktop. My favourite restaurant has to be the Lieve Belgian restaurant where you eat your meal in the Medieval style with a dozen wines to sample.
