LAS VEGAS—Even though the plush carpet is rolled away and cappuccino makers are bubble wrapped back in storage, the flurry of conversations, questioning, test driving and demonstrating that took place during NAB 2017 reaffirmed some irrefutable facts.

That the cloud is a force unto itself. That IP technologies are on the upswing. That UHD, HDR and ATSC are technologies with a devoted following. That 8K and wider consideration of virtual reality are on the horizon.

And, that 4K has the opportunity to inspire new generations to get a high-def look at an astronaut’s pores.

It’s not the first time that someone has claimed that this is the year of IP, or HD, or HDR, or 4K. For many of these technologies, signs of some solidification were there. Yet one analyst put it succinctly: there’s a lot of talk, but we still await to see how much real-world action comes from those conversations.

NEXT GEN TV

One area that did garner a lot of positive attention was ATSC 3.0. Since the last NAB Show, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., had begun broadcasting with the new next-gen television standard, while stations in Baltimore, Cleveland, Portland, Ore., and Las Vegas have been involved in the testing process. At the show, research and consulting firm Devoncroft Parnters hosted a media technology business summit, where network and station group CFOs were wildly supportive of the new technology.

“There’s a lot more to ATSC than I think people are seeing,” said Josh Stinehour, Devoncroft principal analyst and moderator at the summit. Events and announcements at the NAB Show spoke to that support, including live ATSC 3.0 broadcasts during the show, buzz around the ATSC 3.0 Pavilion, regulatory support from commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, and wide support from the advanced emergency alerting and targeted advertising communities.

For an industry that historically takes the long, slow and steady path to new technology adoptions, the support could be seen as unusual. “I was taken aback by the enthusiasm so many had for ATSC 3.0,” Stinehour said.

FINALLY CLOUD-READY?

Hanging over other discussions was whether the industry was ready for what some say will be a steady progression up into the cloud.

Debate reigned about the merits of cloud-native versus cloud-enabled, and why 2017 might be the year that more mainstream operations begin in earnest to transition their operations to virtualized environments. Citing boosts in agility, scalability and flexibility, a number of media companies are looking into the benefits (as well as the drawbacks) of moving processes like ingest, playout, encoding, OTT streaming and ad insertion into the cloud.

Benefits include monetization opportunities for media companies, new scalability features, the efficiencies that come from cloud workflow operations, and what real-world loopholes exist for media companies jumping into a pay-as-you-go model.

MOVING TO IP

True, the phrase “improved workflow” is bandied about so often it’s nearly lost its punch. Yet it was in full force across the show: from free, new open source codes that propose to smooth media operations to better content management solutions. Many conversations at NAB this year circled around new data management and workflow solutions for modernizing media facilities. “Media companies are challenged to find a balance between tried-and-true production approaches and designing global architectures for the future," said Jason Danielson, media and entertainment solutions manager at NetApp, one of many companies at the show talking about workflow management.

Likewise, everywhere one turned, there were new solutions touting the benefits of an IP infrastructure: when building a new TV news program in Brooklyn, for controlling production switchers via an IP-connected simple tablet, to the benefits of across-the-board IP capability for live productions.

“It was imperative that we adopt a technology platform… that would give us the flexibility and responsiveness to deliver the type of content our audience expects of us,” said Charlie Travis, vice president with Vice Media, a New York media facility that announced its adoption of an IP production infrastructure prior to the start of NAB.

“If we look back at the former transitions of SD to HD, those trends occur gradually,” said Scott Barella, chief technology officer for Utah Scientific, when talking about the move torward a hybrid infrastructure for IP and SDI workflows. “It’s key to show the blend between IP and SDI because this hybrid mix is one way to facilitate the transition.”

Barella is also on the board of directors for the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), a consortium of broadcast technology vendors and media companies promoting interoperability in the IP broadcast environment. Since forming in late 2015, the organization has added more than 75 companies and is a strong advocate of the SMPTE 2022 standard for sending digital video over IP networks. The standard is nearly complete and numerous vendors were showing new compatible gear at the show.

Barella discussed the goal of AIMS and the importance of interoperability in the transition to IP, using the decades-old SDI as the model.

The focus of AIMS was to make sure that HD-SDI had the same sort of behavior in the IP environment,” he said. “What I mean by that is when you plug an HD-SDI cable into a monitor or server, there’s no mistaking what that signal is. And it doesn’t matter what vendor is making that equipment. ‘If they say it’s HD-SDI and I plug it in, I know I’m going to get a picture.’ Imagine that same thought in IP.”

SPACE FOR 4K

A 4K Connection: NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer made mundane tasks here on Earth — like passing a mic around in zero gravity — look otherworldly when the two connected to the show via a 4K live broadcast.

Even technology formats themselves got a high-profile 15 minutes of fame (more than that, frankly) when astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) connected via a live 4K video stream from space.

During the aptly named “Reaching for the Stars: Connecting to the Future with NASA and Hollywood,” ISS Commander Dr. Peggy Whitson and astronaut Jack Fischer made mundane tasks here on Earth — gulping down a bubble of water from mid-air, passing a mic back and forth — look otherworldly.

Following a conversation about the essential role video plays in facilitating the missions of NASA, the astronauts demonstrated experiments made possible in a zero-gravity environment.

“Because we’re going once around the world every 90 minutes, we get to see all over the world,” Whitson said. “There’s an amazing amount of data, [and video technology] allows us to capture that in high resolution.”

Whitson floated the mic in zero gravity over to fellow astronaut Fischer, who said that 4K and Ultra HD is allowing NASA to not only use higher resolution and higher frame rates to capture different science experiments, but “even more important is the inspirational aspect,” he joked, leaning closer to the camera and urging the audience to get a good look at his pores.

“Granted, nobody wants to go there, but everybody wants to see the Earth from this vantage point,” he said. “And by looking down at the Earth with these amazing new technologies, we’re able to inspire an entire new generation of explorers.”

The biggest impact from these new technologies is that it gives viewers the opportunity to see these amazing sites that astronauts see every day, he said. “It inspires us to push beyond just living on Earth.”

The show also highlighted the increasing demand for 4K/UHD back on the ground. “The demand is there [for Ultra HD], and the industry is excited to fulfill it,” said Madeleine Noland, a consultant with LG Electronics, during a UHD session at the show, pointing to predictions from the Consumer Technology Association that 24.5 million UHD sets are expected to be sold in the U.S. by the end of 2020.

ADVOCATES FOR BROADCAST

Despite the ongoing influence of OTT and cable at the show—seen in the decision to welcome CEOs from cable and video streaming companies to headline keynote events—NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith zeroed the focus back to broadcasting during the show’s State of the Industry address.

“When we talk about broadcasting, it’s very easy to talk about change—both in the way consumers access content and the way broadcasters are delivering it,” he said. “But there are some things technology will never change: Listeners and viewers will always want that local connection that broadcasters provide—with the weatherman who tells them if a storm is approaching, or with their favorite DJ who warns them of the traffic building up ahead.” 

NAB CEO Gordon H. Smith’s advice for broadcasters is to embrace their strengths: "We are live, local and targeted,” he said during the 2017 Opening Keynote address.

“The highest-quality content will always find its way to broadcast TV because of its unparalleled reach,” Smith said. Even in this era of unprecedented competition, he said, TV and radio have ongoing appeal: Broadcast TV airs 90 of the top 100 most-watched television shows every week, with 268 million people tuning into AM/FM radio every week, he said.

We are in the midst of a world that will not stop changing, Smith said. Broadcasters must believe in the virtuous cycle of adopting new distribution platforms to build its overall audience and continue to engage with them.

“[We] need to embrace our strengths: We are live, local and targeted,” he said.

Broadcasters also received key support from one very public figure at the show: New FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. At a session during the show, Pai laid out a regulatory philosophy that broadcasters have waited a long time to hear. “The last thing broadcasting needs is outdated rules to stand in its way,” Pai said to a full house during the show. “That’s why I’ll work aggressively to modernize the FCC’s rules, cut unnecessary red tape and give broadcasters more flexibility to serve their audiences.”

There’s a starting date for those changes: the FCC’s May meeting, in which the commission plans to tackle issues such as the main studio rule and media ownership rule.

The show has completed an arc in terms of attendance. The recession of 2007 to 2009 slashed NAB Show attendance figures by more than 22,000 between 2008 and 2009. In the years since, those number began to climb again. The NAB said there were 103,400 registered attendees for the show in 2017.

The 2018 NAB Show will take place April 7-12 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS—Evolution Digital and Conax announced seven additional deployments of Evolution’s eVUE-TV IP VOD solution with pre-integrated Conax multi-DRM.

Evolution Digital President/CTO Brent Smith

The seven operators deploying eVUETV on the National Cable Television Cooperative’s VU-IT! platform include Docomo Pacific, Antietam Communications, Frankfort Plant Board, Orbitel Communications, Easton Utilities, MTC Cable and Wyandotte Cable TV. eVUE-TV enables these operators to deliver IP VOD programming and is used as a back-office solution for integration with OTT apps and the TiVo user interface and functionalities.

At the Conax booth, the company is showing its collaboration with Evolution on eVUE-TV. Through eVUE-TV, operators can add IP VOD, IP linear and network DVR content, as well as grow IP video services.

Rohit Mehra, SVP Americas for Conax, said the company offers support for Google Widevine, Microsoft PlayReady and Apple FairPlay Streaming, along with a next-generation Conax Connected Access IPTV security client that combines CA/IPTV/DRM functionality in one.

By supporting multiple DRMs, Conax’ solution helps cable operators delivering IPTV services via eVUE-TV to reach viewers on any connected device type, Mehra said.

“Using the complete, pre-integrated and high-security solution, operators can easily migrate to IP at a price point that makes sense,” said Evolution Digital President/CTO Brent Smith.

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LAS VEGAS—Monday’s MAXON press conference, which doubled as a luncheon at the Renaissance Hotel, was the first opportunity for NAB Show attendees to see Release 18 of MAXON’s Cinema 4D 3D animation, graphics, VFX and rendering software. Release 18, announced last year, offers tools tailored to the needs of creative professionals to help master the challenges of digital production for television, film, games, advertising and design.

From left, Lorcan O’Shanahan, Jayse Hansen, John LePore and Robyn Haddow

At the briefing, MAXON President Paul Babb was joined by 3D artists John LePore, Russ Gautier, Robyn Haddow and Lorcan O’Shanahan to showcase fictional user interface, graphical user interface and heads-up display motion graphics and 3D content for film, television and real-world digital interfaces.

The artists participated in a lively discussion of the art of designing UIs of the kind seen in Marvel movies, as when Tony Stark designed his Iron Man suit by manipulating holographic icons in mid-air. Additionally, they discussed the trends they were seeing using Cinema 4D for motion graphics in these kinds of environments.

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LAS VEGAS—“The point of tonight’s press conference is to show that our Unreal Engine is fast enough to enable graphics that are not just real time, but fast enough to be involving, photoreal and immersive in both games and also for high-end entertainment,” said Marc Petit, general manager, Unreal Engine Enterprise at Epic Games.

Marc Petit, general manager, Unreal Engine Enterprise at Epic Games

During the Monday evening event, Petit showed an image rendered in Unreal Engine of the French president’s office used during the French election broadcast.

Ross Video recently released Frontier by The Future Group, a virtual studio graphics rendering platform that uses Unreal Engine to generate lifelike scenery for broadcast shows such as Fremantle’s “Lost In Time.”

“We’re very excited about Frontier,” said Gideon Ferber, director of marketing and product management for Ross Virtual Solutions. “Utilizing Unreal’s superior graphic capabilities in a virtual studio environment while maintaining the ease of use our UX control platform offers is a game-changer in the virtual solution market space.”

“Real-time rendering and compositing to produce final pixels is the holy grail for content producers, and Unreal Engine is the technology that can bring those workflows to life,” Petit said. “It’s helping us bring real-time performance from the gaming world into broadcast, film and commercial entertainment.”

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LAS VEGAS—TVLogic, a manufacturer of video displays, made a strong statement about the future of organic light-emitting diode displays: Count TVLogic in.

Wes Donahue, director of channel sales and marketing for TV Logic, explains a feature on the company’s VFM-055A OLED monitor.

The company unveiled two OLED displays ranging in size from 5.5 inches to 55 inches, both showing the high contrast and wide viewing angles associated with OLED devices. These are the VFM-055A camera-top 5.5-inch display with 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution and the LEM-550 55-inch monitor.

“This is our first large-format OLED monitor,” said Wes Donahue, director of channel sales and marketing for TVLogic, referring to the LEM-550. With 4K resolution, 750 nits peak white and 10-bit processing, the LEM-550 is targeted at users who need a large-screen display with the precision of OLED colors and contrast.

For broadcast and QC display, the company introduced the LVM-171S/171G 17-inch broadcast display. The LVM-171G version is 4K capable.

Inside a darkened space, Donahue discussed TVLogic’s new LUM-310R, a 31-inch reference monitor for the most demanding applications. Capable of 4K resolution and HDR display, the LUM-310R is aimed at film editing and grading specialists. The model will be available in 2018.

In addition to its latest displays, TVLogic also showed off new product lines, including two pan/tilt/zoom cameras and a 36×36 routing switcher.

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LAS VEGAS—Z CAM/ImagineVision and ASSIMILATE, creator of SCRATCH, used their Monday afternoon press conference to announce they have joined forces to simplify VR content creation. Their technology collaboration, the Z CAM S1/SCRATCH VR Z Bundle, offers an end-to-end 360 VR solution — from image acquisition with Z CAM’s S1 VR camera and stitching with Z CAM’s WonderStitch software to postproduction with ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH VR Z tools.

“The current state of the industry is that every production is a science project, taking the images from one company’s cameras and running them through another company’s software,” said Jeff Edson, CEO of ASSIMILATE. “For VR to take off, the need to be a technician needs to be pared away, and content creators need to be able to grab the camera and shoot.”

ImagineVision CEO Kinson Loo said, “Our goal is to empower all content creators with a user-friendly and affordable process for creating high-impact, high-quality VR experiences and 360 content. The ease-ofuse and price/performance value of the integrated S1/SCRATCH VR Z Bundle opens the doors to all content creators and professional users in a wide variety of markets.”

This bundled solution from the two companies provides not only live stitching/streaming of 360 VR with amazing effects, but also professional post workflows like color grading and special effects, making it a complete end-to-end solution. The bundle package is complete and available for sale, the companies said.

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LAS VEGAS—Phabrix has shown its hand at the 2017 NAB Show with three new hybrid IP, 4K/UHD and HDR test and measurement systems: the Qx 12G, Qx IP and Sx TAG units.

The Qx 12G is a rack-mounted system that performs signal generation, analysis and monitoring across SMPTE 2022-6 IP and HD, 3G, 6G and 12G-SDI formats. Advanced IP and HDR tools are available, as well as 12G-SDI eye analysis with Real-Time Eye technology. The system is expected to add software upgrades for additional support of IP and HDR standards later in 2017.

An entry-level sister product to the the Qx 12G, the Qx IP is an alternative for hybrid IP, 3G-SDI and HDR generation, analysis and monitoring and provides all the HDR and IP features of the Qx 12G for 3G-SDI and IP applications.

Phabrix has also released its handheld hybrid IP, 3G-SDI and analog test and measurement system, the Sx TAG. This portable model supports SMPTE 2022-6 IP and features Dolby E, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus bitstream generation and analysis, as well as video status logging and remote operation over Ethernet.

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LAS VEGAS—Ravenna was all about IP at the 2017 NAB Show, hosting an IP Showcase that demonstrated full IP interoperability based on ST2110 and that was supported by a number of organizations, including AES, AIMS, AMWA, EBU, IABM, MNA, SMPTE and VSF.

The demonstration featured an audio section that included 15 Ravenna-based devices, all of which were fully interoperable with other AES67/ST2110 gear from various manufacturers. Part of the demo saw a Lawo console receive more than 20 audio streams generated by Ravenna/AES67 devices and video equipment from Grass Valley, Imagine and Panasonic. There were also examples of timing and synchronization (ST2059) and on ST2022-7 redundancy and NMOS IS04 discovery and registration.

The Ravenna booth also highlighted ST2110 and AES67 interoperability, like interoperability with a Dante-based TF-1 console from Yamaha. Attendees got to see stream redundancy between two Lawo A_Line analog-to-IP interfaces built on ALC NetworX’s COMi.MX 2x64ch Ravenna SoM boards.

Ravenna is planning on having similar presentations at the upcoming AES show in Berlin and the Network Technology Seminar hosted by the EBU.

LAS VEGAS—“It’s been a really great year for Flame,” Colin Cupp, industry marketing, film & TV at Autodesk, told the assembled crowd during the company’s Sunday night press conference at Joe’s Seafood in Caesars Palace. “We’ve had a lot of subscription growth, opened up the platform and even lowered the price.”

Colin Cupp, Industry Marketing, Film & TV, Autodesk

Cupp discussed Autodesk Flame Family 2018 update 1 for VFX, which includes new action and batch paint improvements such as 16-bit floating point depth support, scene detect and conform enhancements.

There are also enhancements to character creation tools in Autodesk Maya 2017 update 3, among them interactive grooming with XGen, an all-new UV workflow and updates to the motion graphics toolset, including a live link with Adobe After Effects.

Arnold 5.0 delivers significant updates including better sampling, new standard surface and volume shaders, Open Shading Language support, light path expressions, refactored shading API and a VR camera.

Shotgun updates accelerate multi-region performance and make media uploads and downloads faster, regardless of location.

Autodesk 3ds Max 2018 offers Arnold 5.0 rendering via a new MAXtoA 1.0 plugin, customizable workspaces, smart asset creation tools, Bézier motion path animation and a cloud-based large model viewer (LMV) that integrates with Autodesk Forge.

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LAS VEGAS—Evertz arrives at NAB Show making sure to address a range of key industry topics, but with a particular emphasis on IP and cloud service products.

Mo Goyal, director of product marketing, addresses the Evertz press conference.

The IP workflows Evertz has on display at the show feature its Software Defined Video Network, including its new 25 GbE range of products, evEDGE FPGA accelerated compute blades and the 5700MSC-IP IP-based grand master clock and video master sync generator.

For the cloud, Evertz offers its inSITE big data analytics engine for real-time centralized operational intelligence with support for cloud-based systems, such as Amazon Web Services. The data collected through the system provides more alert information for broadcasters on the video chain. Other cloud products include the Overture RT Live VM playout system and Mediator-X MAM platform.

In addition, Evertz is showcasing updates to its DreamCatcher playout system that boost live editing and content management; quad-link 3G-SDI, 12G-SDI and IP UHD/HDR products; its 570ITXE on-ramp IP gateway; the 3482TXE-HEVC software-defined accelerated platform; XPRF14 128×128 RF router; the ezBlade-5210-HW compute blade; and evRemote and 3606FR media gateways.

On the business side, Evertz has announced product deals with Turner and the Weather Channel, as well as for Dome Productions and SBS mobile production trucks.

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LAS VEGAS—Fifteen and a half years after the events of Sept. 11 and four and a half years since the Durst Broadcast Organization took up the endeavor, broadcasting is on the eve of returning to lower Manhattan. The broadcast site on top of One World Trade Center will begin broadcasting in May.

It was the trio of Durst, Myat Inc. and Radio Frequency Systems as well as the broadcasters of New York that made this return possible. “We found the best partners to do this, and it’s just about done,” said John Lyons, director of broadcast communications for Durst.

Not that it was easy. There were many challenges involved in the process, from the physical limitations of transporting the antennas, cables and other necessary equipment the 1,776 feet to the top of the building, to the future technical requirements of ATSC 3.0 and the spectrum repack. “We future- proofed the facility so whatever came through, we’d be ready for it,” explained Phil Cindrich, president of Myat Inc.

While there is no confirmed date for broadcasting to begin, the participating broadcasters — WNJU, WNBC, WCBS and WNET — will begin test broadcasting on May 8. Once finalized, it will be full steam ahead.

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LAS VEGAS—At a Sunday press conference, Ericsson announced a multi-year strategic partnership to deliver TV services at web speed to China and launched a new open content discovery ecosystem that brings together a broad range of TV and movie data sources and applications.

Kris Hardiman, head of product marketing, media, Ericsson

The China deal sees Ericsson partnering with cloud computing and big data service provider Inspur to develop a cloud-enabled TV platform for operators in the Chinese market using Ericsson’s end-to-end MediaFirst suite.

Shandong Cable Network, the largest operator in the Asia Pacific region and one of the largest in the world, will be the first to deploy the TV platform in China. The service will deliver live and on-demand TV content to 20 million subscribers across Shandong Province.

The open content discovery ecosystem will be delivered through a single API in real time and includes a network of partners, including universal search and deep linking specialist ColorTV, content-as-aservice provider IVA and data enrichment, content discovery, recommendation and targeted services provider XroadMedia.

“Data is such a strong philosophy and part of how our customers compete today,” said Kris Hardiman, head of product marketing, media, for Ericsson. “This is what it takes to compete today.”

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LAS VEGAS—Thomas Riedel, founder of Riedel Communications, kicked off a midday Monday press conference by describing the increasing popularity of the company’s MediorNet technology and the decentralized routing it enables. He then introduced Lars Höhmann, Riedel’s MediorNet product manager, who presented the MediorNet Multiviewer app, the first of three Riedel products being introduced at NAB Show. It enables fast setup of multiviewer screens and can be located anywhere on the network.

Thomas Riedel, far right, poses with the company’s “spacemen” product management team (from left) Jake Dodson, Lars Höhmann and Karsten Konrad.

The next product introduced was the Riedel “Smart Panel,” which can serve simultaneously as a MediorNet router control panel and an intercom key panel. It features a hands-free interface and support for AES67, AVB and AES3.

Director of Product Management Jake Dodson presented the final new product entry, Bolero, a next-generation fully Artist-integrated wireless intercom station. It operates over an AES67 IP network and can function as either a beltpack or a desktop unit; because it includes a microphone and speaker, it can also be used as a walkie-talkie.

In his presentation, Dodson insisted that, despite the “space suits” he and other product personnel were wearing, reports about extraterrestrial involvement in the development of Bolero were untrue.

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LAS VEGAS—Emphasizing the importance of virtualization and making it viable for broadcasters, ChyronHego showcased its VPX virtual production server at the company’s Sunday press conference. Designed for hosting end-to-end live production workflows, VPX allows broadcast news operations to run content creation and playout software in a virtualized, IT-based environment.

Click Effects PRIME user interface

Acknowledging that the potential for virtualization has existed for some time, ChyronHego Chief Marketing Officer Jesper Gawell said, “We asked ourselves, ‘Why is this not a reality for broadcasters?’”

Gawell continued, “With the VPX platform, we’re going to the next phase in IT-based broadcast operations by enabling these solutions to run in a virtualized server environment. With VPX, we clearly show the transformation from SDI to IP to IT is here.”

Also new from ChryonHego is Click Effects PRIME, a turnkey graphics authoring solution for live arena and stadium A/V presentations. Combining the authoring, rendering and data binding power of ChyronHego’s PRIME graphics ecosystem with the graphics generation and custom digital display control of its Click Effects CrossFire and Blaze solutions, Click Effects PRIME features realtime integration with ChyronHego’s new Live Assist Panels for user interface creation and scripting, as well as the Live Compositor software-based video switching system.

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LAS VEGAS—At its NAB Show press conference Sunday, Panasonic announced a restructure of its corporate B-to-B division with the creation of the Media and Entertainment Solutions Company, which targets sports and entertainment. The division will be one part of Panasonic’s new Connected Solutions Company. The change reflects Panasonic’s strong growth in its business-to-business division, as well as a new emphasis on connectivity via the Internet of Things (IoT).

Masaki Arizono

“Panasonic sees its business-to-business solutions as a growth driver for the entire Panasonic group,” said Masaki Arizono, executive officer, Panasonic Corp., adding that “you can expect to see Panasonic take an increasingly visible role in designing solutions that make full use of the power of IoT.”

Panasonic also discussed the installation of its video production gear and LED displays at the recently opened SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves.

At the show, Panasonic is debuting the 360-degree Live Camera System AW360C10 and AW-360B10, which can produce 360-degree video in uncompressed 4K/30p. Also new is the AW-HR140 outdoor integrated pan/tilt/zoom FHD remote camera and AU-XPD3 expressP2 Memory Card Drive, equipped with Thunderbolt 3, as well as the AV-HLC100 Live Production Center. The company also hinted of a new “light cinema camera” to be released by CineGear.

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LAS VEGAS—Grass Valley is highlighting IP-based media facilities and its “Broadcast Data Center” approach, which it is using with BBC Wales. The BBC Wales broadcast center, under construction now in Cardiff, is being built around Grass Valley’s Broadcast Data Center components, which work over a commercial-off-the-shelf IP fabric.

LDX C86n

The GV Node for IP routing and processing is a key component, along with the GV Convergent v1.3 SDI/IP control system, both SMPTE ST 2110-compliant; new Kaleido multiviewers with support for 4K UHD HEVC and ST 2022-6, that also come in a virtualized version; the Densité uHD-3901-UC and UHD upconverter that also supports HDR.

Additionally, Grass has a “handshake with Cisco” to integrate Cisco’s NX 9K switches, which comprise the core of Grass Valley’s Broadcast Data Center architecture.

Grass also extended its LDX camera line with native HDR-out on the 82 series, and a new compact LDX C86n series with a new UXF cradle that supports baseband, 12G SDI and IP functionality in one hybrid device.

The K-Frame V-series 3RU production switcher is new and aimed at houses of worship, educational organizations and the corporate sector and reflects the larger K-Frame switcher frames; and finally, a new “advanced” GV Matrix SDI routing and multiviewer platform is on deck.

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LAS VEGAS—Snell Advanced Media is continuing to grow and prosper as television continues to evolve on new technological fronts. Neil Maycock, executive vice president and general manager of the company’s Media Software Solutions division, announced the news at a Sun- day morning NAB Show press conference.

Neil Maycock

“We’re seeing record growth,” said Maycock. “In 2016 … we grew 20 percent in overall revenue. In a market that is close to being flat overall, according to statistics and reports … we think we’re really bucking the trend.”

Maycock also detailed the expansion of SAM’s product lineup. “We’ve had a lot of firsts,” he said, noting the introduction of more than 60 products in the past year.

In particular, Maycock observed the launch of VIBE, a news production system. “It is truly format-independent,” he said. “We’re looking to do great things in the news area.”

Other introductions include the Morpheus UX playout system, which allows customers to create their own user interfaces, and LiveTouch, a sports production and replay system.

SAM is also marketing new IP-based products, including a new MC switcher with 50 GbE interfaces.

SAM is not neglecting the SDI sector, rolling out new conversion products, routers and production switchers supporting 12 Gbps operation. Of particular interest is a converter that performs cross-conversion among all HDR formats.

Also announced Monday, SAM has agreed that its Digital Fact Book can be used to create a new industry-wide glossary by IABM. The result of 30 years of ongoing dedication to keeping the industry up to date with new technologies, standards and terminologies, the contents will form the backbone of the new IABM Glossary. The IABM Glossary is an online living resource, and will continue to build on the solid foundations of SAM’s Digital Fact Book, using IABM’s own technology experts to add definitions and explanations as they happen across the industry.

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LAS VEGAS—At its NAB Show press conference, LAWO introduced “Broadcast 3.0,” which the company said describes the broadcast and content creation industry’s shift to IP- based production and content delivery to manage the delivery of video, audio, metadata, ancillary data and control data as elementary streams or transport streams utilizing IP networking technology and COTS hardware.

Andreas Hilmer, marketing and communications director for LAWO, used a bavarian pretzel to illustrate the concept of “broadcast 3.0.”

“The term recognizes the current industry transition as the third transitionary step in technology, after analog broadcast baseband signals, which could be derived in Broadcast 1.0; after digital signals, which could be derived as Broadcast 2.0, and now to broadcast 3.0 IP technology, which enables new possibilities for work- flows,” said Andreas Hilmer, director of marketing and communications.

LAWO’s new products reflect that commitment to this concept, including the debut of its Seamless Orchestration and Unification Layer (SOUL) orchestration service for IP-based production. LAWO also announced an IP-based flagship audio production console for its MC2 series for applications requiring very large format mixing and routing functionality.

Also new is a virtual multiviewer module for its V__matrix IP-native video routing and processing infrastructure solution, as well as a new toolkit to combine and man- age multivendor solutions for its VSM workflow and orchestration solution. LAWO also introduced ruby, a mixing console for radio broadcasters with sup- port for AES67 and high-density MADI.

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LAS VEGAS—Many in the industry wondered what Blackmagic Design, best known for its technologies related to video production and post, had in mind when it acquired professional audio company Fairlight last fall.

Resolve 14 on a Fairlight console

At a press conference Monday, CEO Grant Petty put speculation to rest when he unveiled the incorporation of Fairlight’s toolset into the new Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 14. While Resolve has regularly made significant upgrades to its color grading and editing capabilities and efficiencies in each release, this expansion into audio has been developed, Petty explained, to enable “a historic leap forward in post production workflow.”

A series of Fairlight mixing consoles adapted to work within the Resolve ecosystem will offer all the mixing, editing and processing capabilities that audio professionals have come to know from Fairlight, including 5.1, 7.1 and 22.2 surround.

“Film and television [post] has always been confined within these [pre-existing] boundaries,” Petty said. Picture edit- ing and grading can be done in one place. “We see Resolve breaking through the stagnant toolsets used in post- production.”

Among other new BMD products at the show are the ATEM Television Studio Pro HD live production switcher, UltraStudio HD Mini Thunderbolt 3 capture and playback solution, as well as the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K camera and updated DaVinci Resolve panels.

Copyright NAB 2017 

LAS VEGAS—Imagine Communications is releasing the source code to Zenium, its pure microservices technology for building smarter media operations. The new Open Zenium program is part of a program to accelerate customers’ evolution toward a microservices-powered, cloud-native future.

Imagine Communications Chief Product Officer Brick Eksten

“This is collaboration on a scale that’s never been seen in the media and entertainment industry,” said Imagine Communications Chief Product Officer Brick Eksten at the Sunday announcement. “The time is now to leverage the amazing work being done in the broader computer industry and to bring together best-of-breed virtualization with proven broadcast technologies.”

Eksten said the initiative represented a new era for the industry and reflected the way Imagine has approached its business. “This is how Google and Netflix and Facebook run their networks. We saw the future, and we invested in this framework.”

He said the adoption of a microservices-based architecture does not require media companies to make wholesale changes to their networks. Instead, Zenium’s component-based, highly granular composition enables media companies to make the transformation from monolithic to cloud-native applications in a gradual fashion.

Imagine is also holding a Zenium master class Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Imagine Communications also announced that it had just shook hands on a deal where Imagine will provide the Versio cloud play-out platform and Zenium Microservices to Al Jazeera.

Copyright NAB 2017 

LAS VEGAS—“Stories are the glue that connects us all,” Avid Chairman and CEO Louis Hernandez Jr. told the assembled Avid Connect crowd in the Lafee conference room at the Wynn hotel. “They reflect our hopes, our dreams, our fears, and they have the power to move people.”

Avid reaches for the cloud.

To help tell those stories, Avid is looking more than ever to moving its systems into the cloud. It is empowering MediaCentral with new cloud-based applications and announced Microsoft as its preferred public cloud partner while showcasing end-to-end 4K/IP workflows.

Avid is also giving Pro Tools native Dolby Atmos mixing capabilities and reviving the beloved ScriptTools and PhraseFind phonetic editing utilities. The new Avid Illuminate provides a file-based quality assurance system for verifying captions, video descriptions and languages, and it has brought out a powerful new video interface, DNxIQ, with SD to 4K and universal mastering support.

Avid NEXIS storage now offers greater bandwidth scalability and extended work- flows with Pro Tools, and the new IPLink for Avid MediaCentral | UX will enable Avid users to browse and search with EVS media on the MediaCentral platform in live sports and news.

Perhaps most exciting to aspiring professionals, Avid Media Composer | First will give young artists free access to Media Composer-style editing to learn how to tell those stories Hernandez says are so inspiring.

Copyright NAB 2017 

LAS VEGAS—Harmonic is expanding in the cloud and compressing some iconic blue beings into virtual reality with a singular concept in mind.

Ian Trow, Harmonic’s senior director of emerging technology and strategy, introduces the company’s blue man Group VR vignette. “Harmonic’s been focused on improving video ‘quality of experience,’” said Bart Spriester, senior vice president of video products and solutions.

Harmonic is incorporating this QoE concept into three key areas: OTT, ATSC 3.0 and playout.

On the playout front, Harmonic extended its VOS Cloud and VOS 360 platforms with its Spectrum playout technology, complete with Harmonic graphics, branding, DVEs, codecs and embedded automation.

For OTT, Harmonic’s QoE approach is about reducing latency while preserving video quality with its EyeQ compression optimization technology. EyeQ is said to be able to reduce the bitrate requirement of live streaming by up to 50 percent, thereby reducing latency to match that of live broadcasting.

With regard to ATSC 3.0, Harmonic will first focus on channel-sharing with Electra X encoding and ProStream X processing to enable migration from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 with a software license activation.

On a blue note, Harmonic visited the Luxor to capture the Blue Man Group in 360-degree immersive video. The performance, produced in 8K and compressed with Harmonic’s PURE codec, is being featured in the vendor’s booth to highlight its VR efforts, including reducing the bit-rate necessary to stream VR.

Copyright NAB 2017 

LAS VEGAS—Emphasizing the importance of interoperability, flexibility and compatibility, AJA Video Systems President Nick Rashby previewed the FS-HDR frame synchronizer and converter, developed to provide users with real-time processing of 4K/UltraHD and 2K/ HD, including HDR conversions and 4K/UltraHD HDR downconversion to HD HDR.

AJA Video Systems FS-HDR frame synchronizer and converter

Utilizing video and color space algorithms from developer Colorfront, the FS-HDR enables the conversion of camera formats from multiple vendors into the HDR space, as well as conversion to and from BT.2020/BT.709.

Also new from AJA is the Ki Pro Ultra Plus, now capable of one-, two-, three or four-channel simultaneous HD recording up to 1080 50/60p and full HDMI 2.0 up to 12- bit capture and output. (“We listened to our customers,” Rashby said.) The Ki Pro Ultra Plus offers I/O flexibility and connectivity options, including 3G-SDI, HDMI 2.0 and fiber connections.

In addition to offering support for HDR and JPEG 2000 workflows for the latest release of Adobe Premiere Pro CC, AJA is introducing 12G-SDI and fiber Mini-Converters, the KUMO CP2 control panel for KUMO routers and a range of firmware and software.

Copyright NAB 2017. 

LAS VEGAS—Sony kicked off its NAB Show press event by introducing Katsunori Yamanouchi, its new president for Professional Solutions Americas, Sony Electronics. He noted that Sony’s slogan, Go Beyond Definition, “describes our passion to always exceed customer expectations in every way.”

The company highlighted innovations in imaging, High Dynamic Range (HDR), IP and media solutions that enable the creation of dynamic content and increase workflow efficiencies. The dramatic effect of 4K HDR images captured by Sony equipment was seen on a 32-foot-wide, by 9-foot -high Crystal LED Integrated Structure screen.

Visitors to Sony’s booth in the Central Hall can see demonstrations of IP Live Production including live, high frame rate (HFR) production servers and switchers, and media solutions including storage, cloud and media asset management.

Another area of emphasis is content management over a Share Play-enabled network, allowing users to save time from production to air.

The company also announced that Sony has acquired Crispin, a developer of master control automation and asset management solutions for broadcasters, cable operators and other television and media operations. The two companies have worked together recently on the Public Media Management master control and cloud-based distribution service for PBS and TEG- NA’s Media Clearinghouse project.

Copyright NAB 2017 

LAS VEGAS—If it’s Ross Video during the NAB Show, there’s a big reveal; this year there are several.

Ross Video CEO David Ross holds up the Carbonite card used in the new Graphite production platform.

Ross turbocharged Furio; added CamBots; 12G-upgraded Xpression and Carbonite; cloudified Inception; rolled out a mid-range Mira replay system; created an “all-in-one” production platform called Graphite; and virtualized Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Moore, whose avatar took over his presentation like Robby the Robot gone rogue.

CEO David Ross launched the presentation with the new Furio SE, with twice the lift speed and 33 percent more track speed.

The chief was particularly proud of Graphite, which includes a Carbonite production switcher on a card, two channels of Xpression clips, “Ross Rave” audio and a choice of control options, starting at $24,995.

Several of the Ross intros paid homage to mid-market operations. The two new CamBot roaming pedestals were scaled-down versions of the original at lower price points. The new Ross Mira Express replay system targets the mid-market at $36,900. The compact Carbonite Black Solo, introduced last year,has a built-in media player for playing back clips stored in a connected USB media de- vice. The free software update is coming in the fall.

Ross continues to support both IP and SDI with, among other products, the new Ross Raptor media processing engine, an SDI-IP gateway that supports SMPTE 2022- 6 as well as 2110.

Copyright NAB 2017.

LAS VEGAS—NAB Show attendees who swung by the JK Audio booth got an early look at the company’s new Interchange LTD intercom phone bridge. This 1U rack-mount interface is designed to allow remote access to existing party-line intercom systems and features a digital hybrid for connection to analog phone lines.

The Interchange LTD features a front panel headset interface jack that provides a 3.5mm TRRS headset jack to a wireless phone, tablet or computer, which allows remote access through a phone call or conferencing app. There is also a front panel DTMF keypad and headset jack for call setup on landlines through a digital hybrid that connects intercom audio to a standard analog telephone line; its DSP continuously monitors both the phone line and audio signals. The unit also has a Listen-Always design for both the phone hybrid and mobile phone headset interface to monitor the intercom.

Additional features of the Interchange LTD include male and female three pin XLR intercom loop jacks; send and receive LED metering on both intercom and phone line; front panel screwdriver level controls; front panel channel select; front panel mobile phone interface; auto-answer; line and aux RJ11 phone line jacks; and a male XLR mix line out for monitoring.

JK Audio will officially release the Interchange LTD in June.

LAS VEGAS—Throughout the 2017 NAB Show, Chinese broadcasters were able to share their country’s radio, television and film industries by visiting the China (Beijing) Broadcasting Technological Innovation Pavilion. The pavilion was sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, and organized by the Organizing Committee of CCBN.

The goal of the pavilion, and the events and demonstrations held at it, was to promote China’s products and technologies, as well as improve communication and cooperation with international broadcasters, industrial organizations and institutions.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau reports that during the NAB Show it met with representatives from organizations like IABM, NAB, IBC, IEEE, InterBee, SCTE, HIS, Future TV and the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television.

LAS VEGAS—TV Technology has announced the Best of Show Award winners for the 2017 NAB Show.

NewBay Media’s Best of Show Awards are judged by a panel of engineers and industry experts on the criteria of innovation, feature set, cost efficiency and performance in serving the industry. The winners will be featured in TV Technology magazine, read by thousands of broadcast professionals in the United States, around the world and online. TV Technology is the industry’s leading magazine for technology news and reviews. Only a small number of products were selected to receive a Best of Show Award from among hundreds of new products in competition. Companies pay a fee to nominate a product.

Product details will be posted shortly. The winners are:

Accelerated Media Technologies - ENGenesis for Video Field Communications

Accelerated Media Technologies - Nissan/Ford High Top Conversion

Akamai - Media Services Live TV Streaming System

Audio-Technica - 6000 Series High Density Wireless System

AudioVideo BrandBuilder - WonderLook Pro Color Management Software

Autoscript - Intelligent Prompting

Axon Digital Design - Studio.One Ultra High-res camera system

BB&S Lighting - Pipeline 2' 2Bank Remote Phosphor Light

Bexel - Bexel Clarity 800 Live POV Camera

Bitcentral - Core News All In One News Production

Bittree Patchbays - 12G+ Mini-WECO Coaxial Video Patchbay

Black Box - Boxilla AV & KVM Systems Manager

Blackmagic Design - ATEM TV Studio

Broadcast Pix - BPswitch video production switchers

Canon USA - Canon EOS C700 CINEMA CAMERA

ChyronHego - VPX Virtual Production Server

Cineo Lighting - Quantum c80 full-gamut lighting fixture

Cobalt Digital - FAST-Stream OTT insertion & streaming

Continental Electronics - CTX Series UHF Solid State Transmitter

Core SWX - Fleet Micro Charger

Cuescript - CueScript PTZ Prompting System

D2D Technologies - D2Flex 6000 Video Processor and Gateway

Dalet Digital Media Systems - Dalet Orchestration

EditShare - EditShare Single Node Storage Solutions

Embrionix - emSFP-GATEWAY-DMI IP to HDMI converter

ENCO - enCaption3R4 Automated Captioning System

Evertz Microsystems - DC-LIVE-EDIT video/audio editing tool

Evertz Microsystems - evREMOTE & 3606FR IP transport platforms

Flanders Scientific - DM240 Color Critical Production Monitor

Fluotec - VEGALUX 300 12” Tunable LED FRESNEL

Grass Valley - Densité UHD-3901 UHD Up-converter w/ HDR

Grass Valley - XCU XF Fiber Base Station

Hitachi Kokusai - Z-HD5500 studio/field camera with HDR

Ikegami - SHK-810 8K Ultra HD Camera System

Imagine Communications - Selenio One XC software-only transcoder

Interra Systems - BATON Next-Generation Hybrid QC Solution With ABR Checks

iZotope - RX 6 , Audio Repair

JVCKENWOOD USA - PB-CELL200 ProHD Portable Bridge

LEMO - Anglissimo Connector

Leyard -Leyard LED MultiTouch

LiveU - LU600 Portable Transmission Unit w/HEVC

Logitek - Helix TV Audio Console

Lumens Integration - VC-A50P HD PTZ IP Camera

LYNX Technik - greenMachine titan signal processing

Marshall Electronics - OR-185-3GSDI Master Confidence Monitor

Miller Camera Support - Skyline 90 Fluid Head

MultiDyne - VB Series

Net Insight - Sye True Live 360˚ OTT Streaming Solutio

NewsMaker Systems - NewsCaster Control Live News Automation

Newtek - Tricaser TC1-4K IP Video Production

ONEtastic - MULTITASTIC C2 VHF 7+1 ATSC transposer

Paywizard and Genius Digital - Genius Digital powers Paywizard Agile

Persistent Systems - MPU5- Mobile Ad Hoc Networking

Point Source Audio - CM-i5 Patented In-Ear Broadcast Headset

Prime Focus Technologies - DAX Production Cloud

Pronology - StreamFile Core

Quantum - StorNext 6 Workflow Storage Platform

Rohde & Schwarz - R&S PRISMON monitoring and multiviewing

Ross Video - Graphite Live Event Production System

RTS Intercom Systems - ROAMEO wireless intercom system

Shure - Axient Digital Wireless System

Silvus Technologies - StreamCaster 4400 wireless connectivity

Snell Advanced Media - SAM VIBE – News Production

Snell Advanced Media - IQMIX25 - Multi-Channel IP Transceiver

Sony - HDC-P43 4K/HD POV Camera

Studer - DIOS I/O Routing Automation Software

Switchcraft - Ultra VideoPatch Mid-Size 24GHz Patchbay

TeamCast - VORTEX II Dualcast ATSC 1.0/3.0 Exciter

Telemetrics - PT-HP-S5 Robotic Pan/Tilt Head

Telestream - Wirecast Gear, Live Streaming Production

Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group - Linear Acoustic AMS

TradeCast.tv - TradeCast.tv: your own online TV channel

TVU Networks - TVU One with HEVC mobile transmitter

Verizon Digital Media Services - Verizon Media Xperience Studio

V-Nova - PERSEUS 2

Wheatstone - AirAura X4 Digital Spectral Processor

zLense (Zinemath) - zKey 3D Keying System

ZOO Digital - ZOOdubs dubbing platform

LAS VEGAS—The Virtual and Augmented Reality Pavilion in the North Hall has been a packed space since exhibits opened Monday. It’s an exciting time for those who are dabbling with or have jumped in head first to publishing immersive 360-degree product.

Working in virtual reality (VR) is not for the timid. To paraphrase former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, there are known unknowns, and there are unknown unknowns to VR.

From left: Julina Tatlock, co-founder of 30 Ninjas, and Matt Apfel, director, VR Video at Google

A packed Tuesday session “Google at NAB Show: VR Video — Building a Better Mousetrap for Creators” set out to help those starting in VR to learn from others’ experiences.

“We failed a huge amount of times,” said Julina Tatlock, co-founder of 30 Ninjas. She said her team actually measures how much they’re learning by how many times they fail. There were two different general areas of failure discussed during the panel: technical failure and artistic failure.

For those with little or no exposure to producing VR, there are the usual production steps of planning and/or scripting the shoot: the actual shoot, editing and finishing. Then there’s a tricky little step between acquisition and editing called “stitching.”

Stitching in VR is the process of seamlessly combining video from multiple cameras with slightly overlapping fields of view into a 360-degree panorama. A viewer wearing head-mounted goggles can then look at the video in any direction. Matching the cameras and the stitching software gradually has gotten easier. There were and are other technical problems.

Panel moderator Matt Apfel, director of VR Video at Google, noted that it used to take engineers with technical skills at a Ph.D. level to solve the issues of VR production. “That has been reduced down to maybe an undergraduate level of technical skill,” he said.

“The best part of experience was tech and story,” Apfel said. “Storytellers were telling engineers what they needed and taking advice from engineers on how to shoot those shots.”

He said it’s been helpful in educating the engineers on what kind of tools need to be developed to simplify the process. “You have to have a team that’s both creative and technical,” said Tatlock. Tech problems aren’t the only things that have to be worked out in VR production.

There are also artistic decisions. As an example, in a normal motion picture or television program, the audience doesn’t have the option of turning to look behind them. “We shot, edited, tested, saw what works and then went back and shot again,” she said.

In the motion picture and television fare most of us are used to, editors have well-established techniques for guiding the viewer through the story. VR provides some new challenges. Tatlock said they were initially afraid that cutting between 360-degree scenes might disrupt the optical flow for the viewer. “However, many things that we thought would break the optical flow actually didn’t.”

VR productions can be separated into two different types, post-produced and live. Apfel said that while live productions don’t provide the opportunity to be saved in post-production, the audience’s expectations for a live production generally are lower.

Sessions at the VR Pavilion continue through Thursday.

Copyright NAB 2017. 

LAS VEGAS—Today there are more options to receive and consume video content than ever. Whether it is viewed on the big screen in the living room or on the smartphone, chances are satellite played a role in its delivery.

During today’s conference on Satellite Technologies, the role that the satellite industry plays in broadcasting and delivery of high-quality video content from virtually anywhere to any place on the planet will come into sharp focus.

Susan Irwin

The session will feature a satellite industry keynote speaker as well as three panel discussions that address the role that satellites high above the Earth continue to play in the delivery of ultra HD content, satellite broadband technology and even delivery of in-flight satellite entertainment and connectivity for the aviation industry.

The Satellites Technologies conference will feature the “Roundtable on Satellite Technology Innovation: Satellite Conquering the Challenges of Mobile Connectivity,” moderated by Susan Irwin, president of Irwin Communications and longtime satellite industry consultant.

This will include discussions on how the industry is addressing the technical challenges of delivering broadband from space and providing terrestrial-based Wi-Fi performance to mobile customers in aircraft at 40,000 feet as well as to those on the ground or at sea.

“The confluence of mobile and fixed satellite services, the proliferation of smallsats, NGSO constellations and HTS, and the evolution of innovative antenna technologies like Kymeta’s are the factors contributing to mobility becoming the hottest growth market for the satellite industry,” said Irwin.

Along with the opportunities that satellites bring in delivery of content to viewers, so, too, will the conference spotlight efforts to resolve issues that the industry has faced.

“Satellite interference is a persistent problem facing broadcasters across the globe,” said Martin Coleman, executive director of the Satellite Interference Reduction Group (IRG), who is moderating the panel “Is Technology Actually Solving Interference for the Broadcasters?”

“Although it only affects a minor number of services, the effects are naturally detrimental to the broadcasters when it does occur, especially if it affects live transmissions,” said Coleman, who will be joined by other solution providers and broadcasters. “This is indeed why it was the broadcasters who asked the satellite industry to resolve it several years ago.”

Coleman will discuss ways the industry is already tackling the problem, and the session panel will offer insight into the real challenges that broadcasters face as well as the tools and techniques that are being employed to solve the problems.

“We have an increasing range of tools at our disposal, and one of the biggest barriers when it comes to resolving interference for broadcasters is getting the broadcasters on board to do their bit,” said Coleman. “This session will be about setting down the gauntlet for broadcasters to adopt the available technology and help the operators help them.”

Satellites will continue to fly high and deliver the content to virtually any part of the world below. This will be addressed in sessions including “Satellite’s Growing Role in Over-The Top Content Delivery,” which will look into distribution of Ultra HD 4K, 8K and beyond; and “Satellite Broadband — New Constellations and High-Throughput Satellites Pointing to a Market Revolution, which will discuss global distribution strategies.

“The role that satellites play in the delivery of media and content is on the verge of a massive renaissance,” said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association.

“Enormous technological innovation in high-throughput data and antenna technology combined with revolutionary changes in low-cost, high-volume satellite manufacturing, the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) delivery, plus the continued development of interference reduction technologies will impact the way broadband services and content are delivered on land, sea and in the air,” Stroup said. “Plans for literally thousands of new spacecraft are being developed that will change the way consumers will receive content and services — some in ways we cannot even begin to conceive.”

Copyright NAB 2017. 

LAS VEGAS—During his first NAB Show appearance as FCC chairman, Ajit Pai laid out the regulatory philosophy broadcasters have waited for decades to hear.

“The last thing broadcasting needs is outdated rules to stand in its way,” he said to a room full of broadcasters Tuesday. “That’s why I’ll work aggressively to modernize the FCC’s rules, cut unnecessary red tape and give broadcasters more flexibility to serve their audiences… Under my chairmanship, broadcasters won’t be seen as a speed bump.”

He said there are nearly 1,000 pages of media regulations on the FCC’s books and that he’d circulated a public notice among his colleagues that morning to clear out the regulatory cobwebs.

“At the FCC’s May 18 meeting, we will vote on a proposal to start a comprehensive review of FCC regulations” that will include broadcast, cable and satellite, he said.

He proceeded to enumerate some of the regs he considered obsolete, including the main studio rule requiring broadcasters to maintain a studio in their communities of license. The World War II-era rule was crafted to give the public access to station personnel and their public inspection files. Those files are now online, and Pai noted that the primary mode of public communication is now electronic. The chairman also called out media ownership rules.

“Do you take seriously any assessment of the market for news that says, ‘That internet thing — just ignore it?’ Going forward, we’re going to have a much more fact-based discussion about where our media ownership regulations rules are and where they should be.”

Ever the radio guy, having connected to the wider world through the medium as a kid, Pai addressed AM revitalization. Nearly 1,100 AM broadcasters applied for FM translator licenses during the FCC’s first window making them available on the secondary market. Nearly 95 percent were granted, he said, giving one-fifth of the nation’s AM stations the opportunity to extend coverage. Two new FM translator application windows are on deck, and unresolved mutually exclusive applications will proceed to auction as early as this year for Class C and D stations.

Pai said the FCC has made several proposals pertaining to the AM band that he hopes to take up soon, and he gave a shout-out to his colleague Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for her leadership on AM issues.

The chairman then moved on to the recently completed incentive auction. He said while he didn’t agree with all of the policy decisions therein, the endeavor took a tremendous amount of work by FCC staff, whom he credited.

“Having seen their work up close, I can say that they represent the best of public service,” he said. “But we also recognize that this process is far from over.”

Specifically, 987 TV stations now have to move to new channel assignments within a 39-month timeframe. “Part of that involves making sure that no protected television broadcaster is forced to go dark due to circumstances outside of its control,” Pai said. “Obviously, we have a lot of work ahead of us, and to get it done … the FCC, broadcasters and wireless carriers will need to work together closely.”

Pai wrapped up his remarks with an observation from Broadcasting Hall of Famer Vin Scully: “I try to call the play as quickly as I possibly can and let the crowd roar.”

“That’s sound advice for a regulator,” he said. “So long as I have the privilege of serving as FCC chairman, you can be sure that I’ll do my best to get unnecessary rules out of the way so that broadcasters can rev that engine.”

And with that, the crowd roared.

Copyright NAB 2017.

LAS VEGAS—103,443 people registered for the 2017 NAB Show, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. The number, which is the total preliminary registered attendance, tops the final numbers from the 2016 NAB Show of 102,513.

Of the 103,000+ attendees there were 26,714 international attendees from 161 countries. News media attendees topped out at 1,518.

On the exhibition floor, NAB reports that 1,806 companies were featured across 1,091,792 net square feet of exhibit space.

All numbers are based on pre-show and onsite registration and subject to an ongoing audit.

The 2017 NAB Show ran from April 24-27 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS—Mass consumer adoption of Ultra HD is still out on the horizon, but the various facets that make up the broadcast and video industries are busily preparing today for what they see as a promising future for the next-gen video format.

“The demand is there [for UHD] and the industry is excited to fulfill it,” said Madeleine Noland, consultant with LG Electronics and an executive representing the Ultra HD Forum, during Monday’s Super Session “Ultra HD Broadcasting Comes of Age.”

From left: Hanno Basse, Pete Sockett and Madeleine Noland

“UHD is going to take off. The signs are all there,” she said.

Among those signs are the raw numbers and adoption forecasts. The Consumer Technology Association announced earlier this year that the rate of adoption of Ultra HD-capable TVs has already surpassed that of HDTV sets. The CTA expects 15 million UHD sets to be sold in the United States by the end of 2017, and 24.5 million by the end of 2020.

Other organizations, media giants and broadcasters are already putting their weight behind Ultra HD and the various next-gen video and audio aspects that will underpin it, including 4K resolution, wide-color gamut and high dynamic range.

But UHD devices, UHD distribution ecosystem and content must all work together hand in hand.

UHD TV adoption is growing, but there’s a “little bit of a lag” when it comes to the amount of content that is available in the format, said Hanno Basse, chief technology officer of 20th Century Fox Film Corp., and president and chairman of the UHD Alliance. “But we’re working hard to close that gap.”

Fox, he pointed out, is trying to bridge the chasm by providing pixel-packed movies and other titles for UHD Blu-ray players.

He pointed to recent data from The NPD Group showing that there were almost 140 titles available in the format, including 27 from Fox including “Deadpool,” “Trolls” and “Independence Day: Resurgence.”

“We’re really pleased with how that’s going,” Basse said.

He also pointed out that creating and distributing UHD titles is easier for movie studios than it is for broadcasters.

For movie studios, he said, it’s fairly straightforward because the content is already captured that way, and the visual effects are already produced in HDR. There’s also limited backwards compatibility issues for physical and video-on-demand created in the format.

By comparison, broadcasters require new cameras, switchers and updated graphics, which require a multimillion-dollar investment to get the full chain of technologies linked together.

“That creates a huge investment burden,” he said, adding that consensus for HDR formats for broadcasters is still lacking. “That’s why the movie industry is leading the pack here.”

But that hasn’t stopped some broadcasters from pushing ahead and experimenting.

Capitol Broadcasting Co., for example, has been dabbling in UHD for about three years, explained Pete Sockett, the company’s director of engineering and operations. Capitol Broadcasting, which owns three stations and an over-the-top channel, obtained an experimental license for UHD and ATSC 3.0 in 2016, and has been involved in several 4K projects that include the creation of documentaries shot in the format and support for NBC’s 4K feeds from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sockett said he had his “aha moment” with 4K when the broadcaster shot a documentary about the Durham Bulls (they own the minor league team) in which the details of a dark tunnel at the team’s home ballpark could be clearly seen.

Capitol’s WRAL has also shot 14 episodes of “Out & About,” a 30-minute show featuring local businesses and locations in the market.

As for what’s on tap, WRAL plans to feature some of its video handwork via a UHD section for its OTT channel for devices such as Roku players and Amazon Fire TV boxes, and will be exploring how the format might fit into its newsgathering operations. That OTT-focused UHD offering will launch later this year.

Noland also discussed the complementary aspects of UHD and ATSC 3.0, the nextgen broadcast standard.

ATSC 3.0, she noted, will cover UHD resolutions, higher-frame rates and HDR. On the audio side, it will support two new, immersive audio formats: Dolby AC-4 and MPEG-H.

The core elements of ATSC 3.0 were approved in 2016 and final approval is expected in the second quarter of 2017, she said, adding that all eyes are on the Federal Communications Commission as it pushes ahead on a rulemaking that will determine when ATSC 3.0-based signals will be permitted on air. South Korea has already accepted ATSC 3.0, with launches expected “imminently,” Noland said.

Copyright NAB 2017.

LAS VEGAS—Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, is showcasing its new DAX Production Cloud software at NAB Show 2017. Based on DAX with Digital Dailies and part of the company’s flagship product CLEAR Media ERP, DAX Production Cloud vastly improves workflow efficiency by centralizing assets into a single repository which can be securely accessed by authorized stakeholders throughout the content lifecycle. DAX Production Cloud allows the use of same system for both Dailies and Post Production workflows. It enables editorial, creative agencies, VFX and localization vendors – all stakeholders within the production supply chain to collaborate, service and distribute media, all on the same software.

PFT CREATE

In addition, PFT has announced the launch of CREATE, a mobile-first solution for end-to-end production management from screenplay to production on one software, with a connected supply chain. A production module of CLEAR Media ERP Suite, CREATE as a single software will help creators digitize end-to-end the pre-production and production phases of the content creation process. It will allow all stakeholders engaged in creation--writers, creative teams, cast, technicians, vendors including location managers, art directors, costumers, make-up artists, day players and producers--to collaborate in real-time on a mobile device so that they can plan and manage production better, and make higher quality creative decisions more quickly.

PFT has also unveiled IMF support including an IMF Player and Mastering Automation solution as part of its flagship product, CLEAR Media ERP. CLEAR’s IMF solution includes an IMF Player that provides the ability to preview, playback, review and distribute over a streaming proxy a Composition Playlist (CPL) with all its essences including video, audio and captions. This enables collaboration and decision making in the workflow without having to necessarily access the original IMF package each time a CPL has to be played back, thereby easing content transfer loads and optimizing storage consumption across streaming locations.

Prime Focus Technologies is showcasing all of this at booth SL9605 at NAB Show 2017.

When it comes to managing and promoting the health of over-the-air broadcasting in the nation’s largest media market, it would be hard to find a bigger advocate than John Lyons, the recipient of this year’s NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award.

John Lyons with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai at the 2017 NAB Show

As the assistant vice president and director of broadcast communications for The Durst Organization, a New York City-based office tower and residential building management company, John is responsible for the communications needs of the entire 13 million-square-foot Durst commercial portfolio. John has held various positions within the communications industry for over 50 years and has received numerous awards for his work with broadcasters and first responders.

John played an important role in getting broadcasters back on the air in New York after the fall of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. He also spearheaded the design and implementation of the redesigned master antenna at 4 Times Square and more recently the new broadcast transmission facility at One World Trade Center.

I had a chance to talk with John recently about his career, what drove him to enter broadcasting and his reflections on the aftermath of 9/11 on the broadcast industry and plans to bring television and radio broadcasting back to a new World Trade Center.

Technology has always played an important role in John’s life, ever since he chose the electronics and broadcast class regimen at Brooklyn Technical High School. After graduating with a first class radio telephone operator’s license, he began looking for a job while attending college in the city.

“I was taking the subway back and forth and I would pass this antenna tower not too far from where I lived, so one day I stopped by to see if they had any openings,” John said. “I asked ‘do you have any openings where you have to have a license?’, they said ‘yes, do you have any experience?’; I said ‘no,’ and they replied ‘when can you start?’ I started working midnight that night.”

So on Sept. 15, 1966, John went to work for WRFM-FM (now WWPR). Over his 50-year career, he gravitated from radio to television, before landing with The Durst Org. in 2002. But as the go-to guy for managing the broadcast transmission facilities atop One World Trade Center, John works with both radio and television.

It’s a question he often gets, but I couldn’t help ask him about that fateful day when the towers collapsed, killing thousands, (several of which were dedicated broadcast personnel), and crippling over-the-air broadcast in New York for several months.

John was asleep when the planes hit, having spent most of the previous evening testing at Times Square. He was awoken by a phone message from a colleague on the west coast, asking “Hey John, it’s Ron, what’s going on at the World Trade Center? We’ll keep you in our prayers.’

“I knew it had to be something more than just a little incident,” John said. “It’s one [message] I’ll never forget.”

At the time, John was consulting for Durst but soon thereafter, found himself in the middle of coordinating a massive transition to install backup broadcast antennas at the Empire State Building. It was shortly after that that he took the full-time position at Durst.

“[After 9/11], I spent the next couple of weeks living at the Empire State Building, literally day and night, trying to get the stations back on the air, doing whatever I could get the FMs and some of the TVs on,” he said. Two-and-a-half years after the opening of One World Trade Center, over-the-air television broadcasting is set to commence with WCBS, NBCUniversal-owned WNBC and WNJU and WNET all committing to 1 WTC.

Although some lessons were learned in the aftermath of 9/11 about protection against future attacks, John is realistic. “It’s still in the back of my head as something that could happen again,” he said. “Anybody who was in the city at that time, that thought is never going to vanish.”

John will receive his award at the NAB Show Technology Luncheon, Wednesday, April 26.

LAS VEGAS—National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Gordon Smith gave his annual opening keynote at the 2017 NAB Show on Monday, preceded by a live streamed message from the International Space Station, where he talked about the changes, choices and principles that are defining the broadcast industry. Here is the full transcript of Smith's speech:

Thanks again to our friends in NASA and astronaut Peggy Whitson for that special message.

Back here on Earth at the NAB Show, we are witnessing the thrilling innovations taking place in 4K UHD and Next Generation Television, along with new technologies bringing radio to every device.

Indeed, the story of broadcasting is one rooted in innovation, inspiration and imagination.

From Orson Welles’ 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast to the live television broadcast of man’s first steps on the Moon, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the tragedy of 9/11, America’s broadcasters have brought us the indelible moments that have touched our lives.

No doubt, the world has changed since the very first radio and TV broadcasts.

In fact, the media landscape seems to be changing at the blink of an eye, along with the world at large.

And, these changes can seem both unsettling and exciting.

Change is a fact of life... except if you’re like comedian Steven Wright who once noted, “Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.”

Or, the late George Carlin who said, “I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.”

When we talk about broadcasting, it’s very easy to talk about change – both in the way consumers access content and the way broadcasters are delivering it.

But there are some things technology will never change: Listeners and viewers will always want that local connection that broadcasters provide – with the weatherman who tells them if a storm is approaching, or with their favorite DJ who warns them of the traffic building up ahead.

The highest-quality content will always find its way to broadcast TV because of its unparalleled reach.

Even in this era of unprecedented competition for eyeballs, broadcast TV airs 90 of the top 100 most-watched television shows every week.

And 268 million people tune into broadcast radio every week to discover new music and artists.

Communities know their local broadcasters will always offer a lifeline in times of crisis, when it matters most.

And, the public will always depend on broadcasters to be the bedrock of our democracy to fiercely defend our First Amendment rights, and relentlessly pursue and report the facts without fear or favor.

No... technology hasn’t changed our commitment to serving our communities.

What has changed is the way we deliver our highly-valued content and services.

We are discovering these exciting changes right here at the NAB Show, which was recently recognized in the list of top 10 trade shows in the world.

Kudos to Chris Brown and his entire Conventions and Business Operations team for this achievement.

A whole new generation of content creators and distributors are experiencing The Met effect at this event.

From mixed reality, to autonomous cars and the future of cinema, we are witnessing the convergence of media, entertainment and technology that is enriching all of our lives.

Broadcasters have been at the core of this ever-changing landscape, bringing together all of these dynamic partners to deliver content consumers seek anytime, anywhere.

As my late friend, former professor and author of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey, said, there are three constants in life – change, choice and principles.

The same could be said for broadcasters.

We face change.

We have choices to make.

But we must always be guided by our principles.

Let’s begin with change.

Our world is, at the same time, both more connected than ever and more untethered than ever.

People can access virtually anything from virtually anywhere – and there are millions of sources of information.

In addition to radio and TV station broadcasts, Americans also get the information they need from stations’ websites, digital apps and social media pages.

The way people access broadcast content is changing rapidly, as we’ve seen with over-the-top, streaming and NextRadio.

Many of the challenges and opportunities our industry faces are being driven by new technologies, and primarily the rise of internet protocol – or IP – distribution in its many forms.

All of these things are rapidly changing our business.

This leads us to choices.

What do we do in this ever-changing world?

We need to believe in the virtuous cycle – the idea that adopting new distribution platforms serves to build our overall audience and engagement with them.

And with our core service, we need to embrace our strengths: We are live, local and targeted.

We are the most trusted source for news and information for those events that shape the world and our communities.

We have a one-to-many architecture that is the envy of other media platforms.

In fact, TV stations turned down $38 billion during the recent spectrum incentive auction, choosing to keep their channels, compared to speculators and wireless companies that paid $19 billion for a portion of the TV band.

I think we now know what the highest and best use of spectrum is.

When we take our strengths and combine them with new technologies like IP distribution and greater connectivity, broadcasters can leverage the combination to make us even stronger.

This brings us to the very exciting development of Next Gen TV.

This is the world’s first broadcast standard that offers the advantages of broadcast and broadband.

Through Next Gen TV, broadcasters can deliver the benefits of ultra high definition TV to viewers, as well as interactive features and customizable content.

Viewers can also look forward to more choices, more channels and more flexibility, along with improved reception and building penetration.

Perhaps Next Gen TV’s biggest promise is to revolutionize how we stay connected in times of emergency with devices that can “wake up” to warn viewers, and public warnings that are geo targeted with rich media, interactivity and mobile.

With Next Gen TV, we see the seamless convergence of over-the-air and over-the-top.

In other words, increasing the efficiency and value of our remaining spectrum.

We are pleased that the FCC is carefully considering our request that broadcasters be permitted to voluntarily adopt Next Gen TV – just as the wireless industry is permitted to move from 3G to 4G to 5G, as technology improves.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has said he hopes the Commission can issue a final authorization of the standard later this year.

Meanwhile, NAB continues to lead the effort to educate U.S. policymakers about the great benefits to viewers in expediting the approval of Next Gen TV.

The best place to see what’s possible is right here at NAB Show at the Next Gen TV Hub: Powered by ATSC 3.0 in the Grand Lobby of the Convention Center.

And while there are a lot of exciting developments in television technology, radio’s future also lies in being available on every device and making choices that support its innovations.

Broadcasters have worked tirelessly to promote access to radio receivers in smartphones.

Virtually all smartphones are manufactured with hardware capable of receiving free FM radio signals, but not all phones have this feature activated, either by choice of the phone’s manufacturer or the wireless carrier.

We applaud the major U.S. carriers – Sprint, AT&T, T Mobile and Verizon – for unlocking FM capability in their Android phones.

NAB is also urging Apple to provide its customers with this feature, but they have not done so yet.

The former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate has said activating FM radio in smartphones would “ensure if all else fails, you can still get information from the broadcasters” during times of emergency.

We hope our friends at Apple are listening and will soon make this potentially lifesaving technology available to their customers.

Additionally, many radio stations are broadcasting in digital using HD Radio and streaming online.

We are also ensuring radio continues to evolve to retain its rightful place in the automotive dashboard of the future.

Radio continues to be the dominant choice for audio entertainment, despite the proliferation of numerous streaming options.

We will leverage this strength to continue offering the interactive experience that radio listeners desire wherever they may be.

We are seeking to create new and engaging experiences for radio, working with Ford and General Motors, among others, on various software development projects for radio in the connected car.

We look forward to hearing from one of Ford’s top executives on the future of radio in the car at tomorrow’s Radio Luncheon.

Because all innovation begins with an idea, we launched the PILOT Innovation Challenge last year to encourage and gather the best ideas for broadcasters to better serve their communities.

It was a huge success with over 150 entries.

This year, we are delighted to grow this competition with the support of a $200,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.

It goes without saying, but let me say it anyway: Broadcasting is a great business, and this an exciting time as new technologies are giving us the ability to improve the delivery of our content.

And that brings us to the third and final “constant” according to Stephen Covey… our principles.

The choices broadcasters make as we innovate through new technologies must be based on our core principles –

…Providing a lifeline during emergencies and keeping our communities safe…

…Raising awareness of important health and social issues that impact our lives…

…Providing good jobs and essential information that come from advertising and contribute to our local and national economies…

…And, defending our democratic ideals, the right to speak freely without fear of incrimination, and the right of the press to challenge the government and root out corruption in high places, public or private.

Thomas Jefferson once said: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

When it comes to defending our core principles, broadcasters are standing as a rock.

Broadcasters carry the torch of freedom and integrity, and we must use this to question those in power, to expose those who abuse their positions and to find the truth.

Whether it’s the people in charge of our government, or innovations that are changing the way consumers access their content, change is a constant for us.

John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

I invite you to join me as we continue to embrace this law of life… and all the future opportunity that comes with it. 

LAS VEGAS—Accelerated Media Technologies has rolled up to the Las Vegas Convention Center with its line of Ford and Nissan high top conversion ENG/DSNG vans. The company has also announced an agreement with SAF for studio-to-transmitter technology.

The Ford and Nissan model vans were designed with roof capacities of more than 2,000 pounds while also increasing the interior work weight. The vehicles do still remain under 10 feet. These trucks offer full OEM certification.

Meanwhile, AMT has tapped SAF Tehnika’s point-to-point microwave radios as the studio-to-transmitter backhaul unit for the ENGensis LTE ENG system. The SAF technology has the ability to transmit the bi-directional signals that are produced by the ENGensis without interruption. This is enables full remote control of IP devices in the field from a centralized studio.

AMT will have the new trucks and transmitter system on display at its booths, C3636 and OE1309, during the 2017 NAB Show.

LAS VEGAS—The DTV switchover in the U.S. put the 700 MHz band largely out of bounds for many wireless audio product users. The Federal Communications Commission’s Incentive Auction, now moving through its latter stages, will eventually take away access to much of the 600 MHz band. With the available spectrum continuing to shrink, this year’s NAB Show will see the rollout of numerous new wireless audio products and services that can help operators cope with an RF environment that is changing not just in the U.S. but also worldwide.

Lectrosonic's DBa transmitter

Wireless product manufacturers have been raising awareness of the industry’s RF spectrum issues with the FCC for years, in collaboration with the DTV Audio Group and other organizations and individuals. Shure, one of the companies spearheading that initiative, has created an online Incentive Auction Resource Center to keep users informed of the evolving regulations and spectrum availability.

“It has been difficult for wireless users to find information that is accurate and timely, yet easy to understand,” says Mark Brunner, Shure’s VP of corporate and government relations. “The Incentive Auction Resource Center is designed to keep them up to date and let them know what Shure is doing to address their wireless needs, now and in the future.”

Like other manufacturers, Shure has been addressing the shrinking spectrum for some time (RF micmakers could see which way the wind was blowing a decade or more ago). The new GLX-D Advanced Frequency Manager, for example, enables users to operate up to nine simultaneous GLX-D Advanced systems in typical conditions, or 11 channels in optimal conditions. Shure has also updated its v6.12 Wireless Workbench system control software to include a new logging utility designed to capture essential channel status information and a new set of frequency coordination enhancements, specifically targeting applications with high-channel counts.

Shure has also announced that its ULX-D and QLX-D digital wireless systems will be available for operation in the VHF bands—out of range of the currently threatened UHF bandwidth. ULX-D, QLX-D and PGXD systems are also available for operation in the 900 MHz band, and Microflex Wireless and GLX-D are available for unlicensed operation in, respectively, DECT and 2.4 GHz. Shure additionally supports ULX-D and QLX-D systems with a variety of new VHF-ready antenna, distribution and in-line amplifier products.

In September 2017, Audio-Technica announced the formation of a subsidiary company, Alteros, dedicated to providing solutions that address an evolving RF landscape in which usage is increasing yet available spectrum is shrinking. At NAB 2017, Alteros will unveil its first product, the fully digital GTX Series Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Wireless Microphone System, which operates above 6 GHz, well beyond the TV bands or the need for an operator’s license, database registration or special temporary authority (STA).

Research and development of the GTX system reportedly began seven years ago and has undergone extensive professional real-world testing. A system of up to 32 GTX32 transceivers, connected to the GTX3224 control unit over Cat 5 cable, and 24 low-latency channels—plus 24 simultaneous talkback channels from the GTX24 body-pack transmitters—can apparently be deployed in a scant few hours. MADI, Dante and AES67 outputs, available simultaneously, enable integration with IP network infrastructures. A single-mode fiber output supports long-distance runs.

No frequency coordination is necessary, not least since the GTX Series does not cause interference or create intermodulation products. In fact, says Jackie Green, Alteros president and CTO, “Every channel of wireless that is deployed utilizing the GTX system over traditional methods actually cleans up the RF noise floor and improves intermodulation and coordination efforts for any remaining vintage wireless in use.”

Sennheiser has just started shipping its Digital 6000 wireless system, which was announced late last year. According to product manager Tom Vollmers, “It brings the benefits of the Long Range mode of our benchmark Digital 9000 system to a two-channel receiver, while allowing the use of standard UHF antennas and existing Sennheiser capsules or microphones.”

The system is said to eliminate intermodulation, enabling more channels to operate in less spectrum. Features such as true bit diversity, transmission error correction and intelligent error concealment further ensure signal continuity, even in tricky RF environments.

The system supports up to eight daisy-chained EM 6000 receiver units to be cascaded from a single pair of antennas. Digital 6000’s onboard frequency-selective input filters allow operation with existing standard active and passive wideband UHF antennas, maximizing return on investment. Integration with analog or digital system infrastructures is made possible via AES-3 and transformer-balanced XLR and quarterinch jack outputs; an optional Dante-enabled version is available.

The system’s auto-setup feature enables scanning and frequency distribution to all connected devices directly from the receiver’s LCD display. Alternatively, Digital 6000 may be configured and monitored with Sennheiser’s WSM (Wireless Systems Manager) software.

Lectrosonics has been at the forefront of wideband tuning with its products, enabling users to find operable frequencies even in dense RF environments. Most recently, the company introduced the DBa, a digital belt-pack transmitter tuning from 470 MHz to 698 MHz that also incorporates a highly linear RF output stage for reduced intermodulation distortion.

Late last year, Lectrosonics unveiled a product that, while not strictly addressing the RF spectrum, does offer wireless operators a novel solution in certain circumstances. The PDR is a personal digital recorder in a belt-pack transmitter form factor that records 48 kHz/24 bit Broadcast WAV format files to a Micro SD card (HC type). The input connection and wiring is compatible with microphones pre-wired for use with Lectrosonics professional wireless microphone transmitters with servo bias-type inputs.

DPA Microphones may not make wireless transmitters or receivers, but its products are frequently paired with third-party RF gear. Further extending that capability at NAB 2017, DPA will introduce the MMPG modular active cable, which the company says is “an ultra-transparent preamplifier with active drive for impedance balancing to reject frequency interference.” The MMP-G permits DPA’s modular d:dicate capsules to connect to wireless systems via its fixed MicroDot connector.

Christopher Spahr, VP of marketing and sales for DPA Microphones, says, “The addition of new accessories that allow our microphones to become wireless, opens up more choices for our customers who need flexible solutions. Our R&D department has also been hard at work to develop a new solution for our mobile journalist customers. We look forward to debuting this new solution at NAB 2017.”

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Pro Sound Network. 

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.—Telairity has upgraded its flagship BE8600 H.264/AVC contribution video encoder with a new 10-bit 4:2:2 mode. The encoder is designed for backhaul, broadcasting, cable casting and IPTV.

4:2:2 encoding preserves high-color fidelity in source video by keeping twice as many color bits as are retained in 4:2:0 compression. Holding other factors constant, the extra "chroma" bits boost bitrates by one-third. Raising RGB (Red-Green-Blue) primary color channels from 8-bits to 10-bits multiplies the available color palette by a factor of 64, from about 16M "mixed" colors to over a billion. This improvement requires a further 25 percent increase in bitrates.

For example, a 15Mbps 4:2:0 stream needs to be raised to 20Mbps to accommodate the additional chroma bits retained in 4:2:2 encoding, then further increased to 25Mbps to enable "giga-color" 10-bit mode.

Other new NexGen features now under development include passing RP188 time code triggers and KLV metadata, and an upgrade from 8 to 16 channels of audio per video channel.

Telairity partner Primecom Technologies LLC will demo both the half-width BE8600 contribution encoder and full-width BE8650 paired encoder/modulator system at its booth, N3233SUL. Video Clarity will also demo Telairity's BE8740 4-channel distribution encoder at its booth, SU12413.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon will have a full slate of new and updated products to show attendees at this year’s NAB Show. The company has announced its new Compact-Servo 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens; a Canon log update for the EOS 5D Mark IV camera; and firmware upgrades for its 4K professional display models.

Compact-Servo 70-200mm

The new Compact-Servo 4K lens serves as a bridge between Canon EF lenses and CN-E cinema lenses. The cinema style Compact-Servo lens features a servo drive unit as standard and incorporates Image Stabilization, AutoFocus and Auto Iris functionality. The lens can maintain brightness across the entire focal range at T4.4. Additional features include a nine-blade iris aperture diaphragm and can be controlled through EF-mount communication. Canon is expected to release the Compact-Servo 70-200mm lens later in 2017.

The new upgrade to the EOS 5D Mark IV enables users to record with Canon Log. The Canon Log feature uses the image sensor’s characteristics for a wide dynamic range, minimal loss of detail in shadows and highlight areas, and an increased range of choices for color grading. Canon Log works with EOS 5D’s 4K shooting, dual pixel CMOS AF, 119.9 HD shooting and 59.94 Full HD shooting. Current EOS 5D Mark IV users can add Canon Log starting in July; it will also be offered as a pre-installed feature on new models as of July.

Canon is also providing free firmware upgrades for its DP-V1710, DP-V2410 and DP-V2420 4K displays. The new firmware offers enhance connectivity with Canon digital cinema cameras; improved connectivity with Arri digital cinema cameras; and expanded shooting-assist functions for HDR video. Canon will release the firmware upgrade in June.

In addition, at its NAB Show booth, Canon will offer lectures and panel discussions, live demonstrations from its HDR Suite and a Virtual Reality experience. It will also have a service and support consultation area.

Canon will be located at booth C4325 during the 2017 NAB Show, which runs from April 24-27 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS—There will be more than enough products and technology developments scattered across the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2017 NAB Show to keep attendees busy, but many of the broadcasters in attendance already have some things high on their must see list that they shared with TV Technology. While displays of the continuing development of UHD and HDR technologies and the “shiny new toys” of virtual and augmented reality will draw plenty of eyeballs, according to Turner Sports Vice President of Operations Tom Sahara, a general consensus has IP technology among the most anticipated elements going into the show.

IP has been a hot topic over the last few years at the NAB Show, but it is the recent progress on the standards front that has many broadcasters eager to see what companies will have on display.

“We are very interested to see the bump we are expecting in IP for high bit-rate video now that the industry has converged on SMPTE 2110,” said Eric Pohl, CTO for National TeleConsultants. “I expect the flood gates to open in terms of seeing products.” (see “AIMS: SMPTE ST-2110 Products to Ship in 2017”) Pohl’s belief comes from what he says is a reduction of interoperability risk thanks to manufacturers consolidating on SMPTE 2110, and that consensus leading in turn, to “more sources and destinations embracing IP as the native I/O.”

Sahara is also in the camp that IP is ready to have a major impact on the industry, especially when combined with the cloud to help remove geographical boundaries. “From new consumption patterns enabled by mobile devices, to customized content personalization through targeted data analysis, to natural language user control of apps, the influence of the cloud and IP technology is transforming every facet of the broadcast business,” he said.

Not far behind IP is another potentially game-changing standard, ATSC 3.0. Now that the FCC has given the greenlight for broadcasters to start testing the Next Gen TV standard, what they will be able to learn from the NAB Show will have an impact on deployment (see “ATSC 3.0 Tech Getting Spotlight at NAB Show”). For Michael Saffell, director of engineering for WMUR in Manchester, N.H., a Hearst Television station, it’s “reality setting in that even though we aren’t to ATSC 3.0 yet, we will need to plan to compete in a 5G world.”

“The rapid pace of change across technology is affecting all aspects of the industry” Sahara expressed, and there will be more of that development on hand at NAB than IP and ATSC. Livestreaming, virtual set technology, workflow automation, studio display technology and other advances are sure to make it a busy show.

The 2017 NAB Show will take place from April 24-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

ARLINGTON, VA.–Marking its one-year anniversary, the AWARN Alliance provided a preview of advanced emergency alerting capabilities via Next Gen TV that will be demonstrated at the 2017 NAB Show.

(L to R): John Lawson, executive director, AWARN Alliance, Fiona James, AWARN Alliance deputy director, and Sam Matheny, NAB CTO
The demonstration of the Advanced Warning and Response Network—held at Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA-TV—was designed to show how the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, which will be approved within the next several months, will allow broadcasters to dramatically upgrade the content, pervasiveness, and reliability of disaster warning and recovery information to TVs and mobile devices, according to AWARN Alliance Executive Director John Lawson.

AWARN will leverage other powerful features of Next-Gen TV, including the ability to “wake up” devices, robust indoor and mobile reception, personalization, and integration with hybrid networks. AWARN alerts can also be delivered to mobile devices even if the cellular network is overloaded or the electric grid is down.

“Geo-targeted, rich media AWARN alerts will give people a whole new level of life-saving information, literally at their fingertips,” Lawson said. “AWARN has the ability to deliver not only text, but photos, surveillance video, storm tracks, plume models, evacuation routes, shelter-in-place instructions, hospital wait times, power outages, and many other forms of vital content.”

These capabilities will far exceed emergency systems available to the American public today, primarily the Emergency Alert System (EAS), rooted in the Cold War, with its familiar tones and bars for radio and television, and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) text messages, currently limited to 90 characters, distributed by wireless carriers. “Because of the flexibility of ATSC 3.0, AWARN can easily transmit multilingual and accessible media as well,” Lawson said. The WEA, which was initiated after 9/11, will be expanded to provide over 300 characters in the future.

Lawson noted that AWARN can be used in conjunction with WEA when cellular networks can become overwhelmed. “I think [broadcasters] and wireless and going to be able to work together on this,” he said, adding that the advantages of broadcasting’s one-to-many transmission approach, coupled with ATSC 3.0’s hybrid IP/broadcast technology, will provide a more comprehensive emergency alert network. He used the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (iPAWS), which was created in 2006 to illustrate this cooperation.

“[The concept of] iPAWS is an excellent one in that alerting should be a ‘network of networks’ and wherever one network touches another in a mesh, then that alert should be relayed across the new network,” Lawson said. “So eventually we think the Wireless Emergency Alert and what we’re doing can work together. But because we’re using the television airwaves to send the alert directly to the device, whether it’s in your living room or in your hand, we don’t need the cellular network. But if the cellular network is available, we can embed urls, or we can embed the right hashtag, for example.”

NAB SHOW DEMOS
A key goal of the Alliance is to develop models that can be adopted seamlessly as ATSC 3.0 is launched by early adopter stations in 2018. Lawson said the Alliance is making steady progress toward that goal, including the following demonstrations at the NAB Show:

• AMBER: With the support of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, WJLA in Arlington, Va., and LG Electronics and its Zenith affiliate, the Alliance has produced an advanced AMBER alert demo.

• Tornado: With ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Ala. and LG/Zenith, the Alliance has produced a tornado warning based on the real events of April 27, 2011, a “super outbreak” that claimed more than 250 lives in the Birmingham-Tuscaloosa area of Alabama.

• Chemical spill: And with WJLA, LG/Zenith, and Digital Alert Systems, the Alliance has produced a “HazMat” chemical spill alert, loosely based on the May 2016 CSX train derailment in Northeast Washington, DC.

Triveni Digital also supported production of each demo. Currently WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., with the support of UNC-TV in Chapel Hill, is producing an active shooter alert that includes encrypted content for first responders.

The three prototypes encoded by LG for ATSC 3.0 can be viewed at the Next-Gen TV Hub, booth L11, in the Grand Lobby of Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

AWARN will include several demos of its alert system at the Next-Gen TV Hub, booth L11, in the Grand Lobby of Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the NAB Show.
To test and demonstrate broadcasters’ flexibility in implementing advanced alerting, NAB PILOT has re-encoded two of the alerts as HTML5 apps that can be broadcast through the ATSC 3.0 signal and received on tablets via a home gateway device. Those demos can be viewed at Futures Park in NAB PILOT booth N1838FP in North Hall.

The Alliance will host an executive breakfast on Wednesday, April 26 from 8-9 a.m. in Westgate Conference Rooms 1-2 that will focus on synergies between AWARN alerts and Next Gen TV business models. Contact AWARN Alliance Deputy Director Fiona James to register.

AWARN ALLIANCE EXPANDS
Lawson also used the anniversary to announced the expansion of membership into the AWARN Allliance, which is a coalition of commercial and public broadcasters, consumer electronics and broadcast technology companies, national trade groups, and service providers who have come together to develop and deploy AWARN. Membership in the Alliance has more than doubled since its founding just one year ago, adding public broadcasters, national groups, tech companies, and law firms.

The Alliance, along with the Consumer Technology Association, the National Association of Broadcasters, and America’s Public Televisions Stations, is a signatory to the April 2016 “joint petition” to the Federal Communications Commission requesting rules to allow broadcasters to begin transmitting in the ATSC 3.0 standard on a voluntary basis. The FCC approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for that purpose in February.

STOCKHOLM—Ericsson will unwrap two of its latest products at the 2017 NAB Show that assist with IP and cloud native delivery models, the MediaFirst Management Controller and MediaFirst Encoding Live 8.1.

The MediaFirst Management Controller is designed to simplify the transition to software-based architecture, offering a unified access point for Ericsson MediaFirst Video Processing products, including Encoding Live, On Demand, Packaging and Stream Processing. The system streamlines application management and deployment across many services and clusters and features centralized visibility, configuration and control, flexible failover and licensing management for MediaFirst Video Processing applications.

The MediaFirst Encoding Live 8.1 system offers users faster content deployment, operational efficient delivery and immersive consumer experiences. Its features include a unified microservice architecture across all platforms, centralized management, integral failover and dynamic licensing benefits. When deployed with Intel’s Quick Sync Video’s video hardware core, the system offers faster video transcoding and high density.

These new additions to the MediaFirst Video Processing portfolio assist users with services for UHD, virtual and augmented reality, and can be operated on software, COTS server hardware, or private and public cloud.

Both platforms will be featured at Ericsson’s booth, SU720, during the 2017 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND—The 2017 NAB Show will serve as a demonstration for Yospace and SpotX to spotlight their collaboration for programmatically-sold Dynamic Ad Insertion for live online television. Combining Yospace’s ad insertion technology with SpotX’s decisioning capability allows users to place ads with the quality of the original broadcast, per the companies’ press release.

Tim Sewell, CEO of Yospace, says that the relationship with SpotX “promises one-on-one user engagement with a robustness at scale to suite major online television audiences.”

Yospace has other partnerships that it plans to highlight while at NAB, including one with Japan’s ITOCHU Cable Systems Corporation for DAI for live online channels. Yospace has also written a joint paper with Adstream that will be presented; “Translating Broadcast Ad Copy Management Principles to the Dynamic Ad Insertion Age” outlines the steps for hyper-targeting and full programmatic delivery in an online broadcasting environment. Yospace technology has also been integrated with Keepixo for an end-to-end monetization system for live online TV channels; this will be shown at Keepixo’s booth, SU9120CM.

The rest of Yospace’s demonstrations and technology can be seen at its booth, SU5803.

PORTLAND, ORE.—There’s a new brand in town, as AWS Elemental has announced that it will make its official debut at the 2017 NAB Show. The new brand reflects the combined resources and cloud computing capabilities of Amazon Web Services with the video processing acumen of Elemental Technologies.

“AWS Elemental combines deep video processing expertise with the virtually limitless resources of the cloud to power our customers’ video processing workflows and give them the tools to perfect the media experience,” said Keith Wymbs, chief marketing officer for AWS Elemental, in the companies official press release.

Under its new banner, AWS Elemental will feature some of its new workflows and technologies, all of which work in the cloud. These will include technologies for HDR, live channel playout, managing VOD libraries, frame accurate live-to-VOD functionality and cloud-based ingest services.

The company will also take part in sessions scheduled throughout the conference, including “Reaching for the Stars: Connecting to the Future with NASA and Hollywood.” AWS Elemental’s Sam Blackman and Khawaja Shams will take part in the panel that will include the first 4K live stream from the International Space Station.

In addition, AWS Elemental is still sponsoring the annual 4K 4Charity Fun Run that takes place on April 25.

AWS Elemental will be located at booth SU2202 during the 2017 NAB Show, which runs from April 24-27 in Las Vegas.

NEW BERN, N.C.—Wheatstone will use the NAB Show floor as a chance to showcase its virtualized audio services through a live remote production in partnership with Artel.

The demonstration will see foosball players playing a simulated sporting event on one side of the Wheatstone booth. The camera feed will be picked up on the other side of the booth for final mixing and production using the Dimension Three (Touch) IP audio networked console. Audio routing, control, mixing and processing will all be done over the wide-area network through Wheatstone’s WheatNet-IP network of virtual audio services made up of I/O Blades.

Each I/O Blade features two stereo 8x2 utility mixers and audio processing tools to mix sources from the network and process the resultant mixes. Blades also provide cross-point control for the signal matrix. For the demo, one Blade will be used to retrieve SDI audio directly from the camera, de-embed it and send it as discrete audio, while another will ingest the audio feeds. The M4IP-USB mic processor is also available as a Blade, allowing mic adjustments to be made locally or remotely. In addition, an Ethernet Cisco edge switch is included in the demo’s rack system to network it all together.

The goal of the demonstration will be to show how to control levels remotely from the studio IP console, as well as trigger IFBs and turn mics on or off.

Attendees can see the demonstration at either Wheatstone’s booth (N6531) or Artel’s (N4511).

LAS VEGAS—Grass Valley says it’s got its customers covered when it comes to building and distributing “content your way,” which is the Montreal-based company’s theme as it heads to the 2017 NAB Show.

“It’s a strategy that helps our customers create and control and connect content to viewers, and to differentiate platforms for all different steps, scenarios and applications,” said Dave Cohen, marketing and communications executive for Grass Valley.

THE KEY DENOMINATOR
One thing Grass Valley has noticed when talking to customers—whether they’re still transitioning to HD or to 4K, or focusing on the best means of getting programming to multiple consumer devices—is that content is the key denominator, Cohen said. “It’s all about acquiring content and moving it efficiently.”

How, for example, do you get to 4K without breaking the bank? How can you create a 4K acquisition environment that handles up and down converting, and make sure that scenario matches your existing production workflows?

High dynamic range is another big issue for Grass customers, according to Cohen.

“Many folks are realizing that they can create a very visually pleasing experience with viewers by adding HDR to HD telecasts that, in many ways, is improving the viewer’s experience in a way that’s superior,” he said. “But what are the best ways to enable that?”

And yet another giant query: how do you move smartly into IP and realize cost savings at the same time?

“Long term, there’s going to be huge savings,” Cohen said. “You can keep growing and stay flexible. You spend with that in mind, because you’re not going to want to tear down the walls every 5–10 years. You want to set up an opportunity to move beyond that.”

Grass Valley has an answer in the form of its Broadcast Data Center, which works to bring IT into a broadcast workflow via IP. “We’ve created and already installed many different deployments where we’re allowing folks to have full-native IP workflows using off-the shelf IP switches,” Cohen said. “This allows for increased flexibility; a certainty that there are workflows that will remain interoperable as this trend continues.”

The new IP-capable 3RU Grass Valley K-Frame V-Series targets houses of worship and education. The newest solutions are taking stock of the hybrid nature of working in both IP and SDI. “Today we’re able to create broadcast environments that rely on IP but operate in the ways that SDI workflows occur,” Cohen said. “It’s a less daunting transition.” For customers, they are considering phased approaches, such as updating one studio or one regional workflow to be able to adjust the operational culture that comes along with it.

HYBRID ROUTING
One of Grass Valley’s newest solutions falls in the midst of that discussion. The company’s GV Convergent is a hybrid IP/ SDI router control and configuration system that can manage facility routing as a facility from SDI to IP. The system maintains familiar control interfaces for the customer and introduces intuitive new GUIs for configuration, management and control, Cohen said.

What’s most exciting for the company is that it’s no longer talking about IP as a future technology, he said. “It’s not future-tense any more, we’re taking orders, we’re putting IP workflows in place from camera through to delivery.”

The company is also looking to take its switcher expertise to smaller markets. A new, smaller frame will be introduced as part of the Korona switcher panel known as the K-Frame V-Series. Grass Valley switchers have historically operated off the footprint of the company’s original K-Frame, which required investment in a 6RU or 9RU frame. The new IP-capable K-Frame V-Series is 3RU, a size that gives markets such as houses of worship or education, that have not traditionally had the budget or space for a larger Grass Valley switcher model to invest in a smaller version.

The company will also introduce the LDX 82, an HD-only camera series designed to complement the rest of the Grass Valley acquisition line. “This is our highest dynamic range camera,” Cohen said. “It can upgrade and downgrade as production dictates.”

The company will also show v10 of its Ignite automated production system, designed to be more user-friendly and visually similar to newsroom computer systems that customers are familiar with.

Grass Valley will also be looking at VR, with virtualization options for its Kaleido multiviewer platform, as well as for its integrated playout platform.

“The ability to operate these systems [in this way] creates flexibility and workflow efficiencies for those who are looking to deploy more and more services via the cloud and therefore invest less in hardware-based platforms,” Cohen said. “The more that workflows shift to software environments, the more that applications like these will become available.”

The company plans to highlight its integration with Cisco networking technologies as well. Grass Valley is using Cisco technology as an IT core within Grass Valley’s Broadcast Data Center. “It’s about creating an IT core for a broadcast workflow,” he said. Integrated technologies include Grass Valley’s GV Node, GV Convergent and IPG-3901 along with Cisco’s Nexus 9000 series IP switches.

Grass Valley will be in booth SL106.

AUBURN, MASS.—Accelerated Media Technologies will make its presence known during the 2017 NAB Show with demonstrations of its new ENGensis technology and representation from its Director of Sales Steve DeFala during a planned session.

DeFala will take part in “The Evolution of ENG: Beyond One-Way Legacy Microwave to Bi-Directional IP-Newsgathering.” Moderated by Michael Englehaupt, vice president and CTO of Graham Media Group, the session will feature four speakers tackling specific approaches in using IP transmission technologies, of which DeFala is one. The session will take place on April 24 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the North Hall Meeting Room 258 at the Sands Convention Center.

At the AMT booth, the company will show its ENGensis bi-directional 2/7 GHz BAS band system. The product handles remote connectivity of bi-directional video and IP data between broadcast trucks and television stations, with the ability to cover ranges over 45 miles with panel antennas. The company will also feature its MultiPlus Vehicle Power system, which employs a 12-28V Mil-Spec high amp alternator, two-four 12V Mil Spec AGM or Lithium batteries, a Premium critical Inverter/Charger and real time LCD control/monitoring system for displaying power load and capacity data. Features of the system include output power of 3.0-8.0kW, integration with OEM Power System seamlessly with no warranty issues or CEL light, full UPS backup and power conditioning and real-time LCD monitoring.

AMT will be located at booth C3636 during the 2017 NAB Show.

LAS VEGAS—At the 2017 NAB Show, Xendata will debut the new FX-Series, which combines shared disk storage and archive on a single server. The all-in-one server simplifies collaborative media production workflows by avoiding storage boundaries associated with multiple shared disk or archive storage volumes.

The FX-Series offers two independent storage volumes suitable for 4K or greater workflows, and an archive volume that supports an attached LTO library, optical disc archive library, or Microsoft Azure cloud storage. Presented as a single standard NTFS volume, the shared disk storage comes available with 120TB, 180TB or 240TB of usable capacity, and the 120TB or 180TB volumes are upgradeable. The archive volume is presented as a single file system that’s expandable to multiple petabytes.

Since the shared disk storage and archive are local to a single FX server, high data transfer speeds can be achieved when moving content between the two volumes, while avoiding the typical loss of performance when transferring over a network.

With the API-driven data mover that allows file transfer between the shared disk and the archive volumes from the user interface of third-party applications, content creators can easily capitalize on the faster transfer speeds between the volumes. CatDV from Squarebox Systems, MXFserver from Film Partners, asset management systems from CISTECH and axle Video’s MAM are among the third-party products that already support Xendata’s API.

With a network attached storage (NAS) architecture, the FX-Series runs on a Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system, which is compliant with the Microsoft security model, making it easier to integrate into a Windows domain or workgroup. It also comes with 10 GbE copper or SFP+ optical network ports that can be bonded for increased performance.

The 2017 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 24-27. Xendatawill be in boothSL14213. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

LAS VEGAS—To support the broadcast industry through several critical technological transitions, Tektronix will be demonstrating new IP/SDI, 4K/HDR and ABR monitoring products at the 2017 NAB Show. For the SDI to IP transition, Tektronix will demonstrate PRISM, which provides real time monitoring and analysis of IP streams and associated content, particularly for early identification and diagnosis of network or content issues, such as intermittent loss of video, audio, or data content.

PRISM

The PRISM demo will cover analysis of PTP synchronization timing, SMPTE ST 2022-7 redundancy support, IGMP V3 and API support for system integration into network management systems, and IP stream capture for deep dive analysis.

With growing demand for 4K/UHD content with HDR picture quality, the Tektronix WFM8000 series of 4K HDR waveform monitors enables 4K HDR content creation, from acquisition through post-production. With the ability to view new HDR capabilities, WFM/WVR8000 products ensure that high-quality content with HDR images deliver a highly realistic viewing experience.

For the transition to adaptive bit rate (ABR) delivery models, Tektronix Sentry ABR and Aurora file-based QC solutions provide Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) measurements that detect video compression artifacts that affect the viewer’s quality of experience. The Sentry ABR adds an end-to-end view of the Quality of Experience (QoE) for all profiles by decrypting and decoding the live video and audio from origin or caching servers for both encrypted and unencrypted content.

The 2017 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 24-27. Tektronixwill be in boothSU5006. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.