3D, 4K, Mobile DTV and workflow efficiencies for multiplatform production and distribution were among the main themes at the 2011 NAB Show and the STAR Award recipients reflected the advances in these technologies. Attendees seemed to have shaken off the apprehension and caution of the past several years, reacting with enthusiasm to the latest developments in professional audio and video production gear. Congratulations to this year's winners of TV Technology's STAR Award—now in its 11th year of recognizing technical excellence!
Jim Guerard from Adobe Systems accepts the STAR Award for Adobe Creative Suite 5.5, which targets multiplatform distribution with tools to create content for smartphones, tablet computers and HD displays. HTML5, Flash authoring and digital publishing are supported.
AJA's Jon Thorn accepts the STAR Award for the AJA Video version 9.0 driver software for KONA 3G. The latest version supports true 4K playout and monitoring. KONA 3G is a multiformat SD/HD/dual-link/3G and 2K video I/O system with 4K playback in YCbCr and RGB, at resolutions up to 4096x2160. Mac and PC versions are available for download.
Alteran Technologies' Tyler Purcell (L) and Jean Paul Claude accept the STAR Award for the company's ViTaDi-ExPack, a portable plug-and-play digital capture system using standard computer components. It comes in two or four-channel SD or HD versions, integrates with pre-existing tape libraries, and supports several output file formats.
Angus Mackay from Avid accepts the STAR Award for PhraseFind. PhraseFind enables phonetic searching of a non-scripted recording to help find multiple takes of any given shot. Avid says a free trial is coming soon. It works on Media Composer, Symphony and Newscutter, both Windows and Mac versions.
Stephen Lampen, (R) from Belden, accepts the STAR Award from James O'Neal, TV Technology's technology editor for Belden's HD Brilliance BNC Connectors. They cut terminating time, as it's not necessary to locate, handle, and attach center pins. The new design makes BNC terminations as easy as attaching an "F" fitting.
Jerry Gepner, with the Vitec Group, accepts the STAR Award for Bexel. Bexel's Hercules HD Flypack incorporates 3ality Digital's 3D acquisition system in a compact flypack. It's constructed around a Sony switcher, Calrec Artemis mixing console, Pesa Cheetah router and DRS audio router; multiple EVS LSM XT[2] DDRs and Sony SRW-5800 HDCam SR VTRs.
Grant Petty (L) and Doug Clarke of Blackmagic Design accepts the STAR Award for HyperDeck Studio. The 1RU next-gen VTR packs uncompressed 10-bit HD capture into dual solid-state disk slots that can be alternately filled for uninterrupted recording. It features SD/HD-SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs.
Larry Thorpe, with Canon U.S.A.'s broadcast and communications division, accepts the STAR Award for Canon's PL-Mount Digital Cine Zoom Lenses. They are cost-effective, handle 4K, and are more compact and lightweight than contemporary PL-mount lenses. They also feature a new Canon optical design that virtually eliminates focus breathing.
Cineventions' Dan Vance (R), accepts the STAR Award from James O'Neal for the company's ZoomCrane, a scissoring camera support device that collapses to a short length, but quickly and smoothly extends the camera forward and the counterbalance rearward. It provides smooth shots and can be set up in less than 45 seconds.
(L to R): Tom Harnett, Yeasah Pell, Steve Richardson, Kris Bobo Specht and Chris Crump accept the STAR Award for the Comrex LiveShot, wireless H.264 video-over-IP transmitter. It uses 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, BGAN, and other IP data circuits and offers a store and forward feature that sends higher resolution video to the decoder when the live shot is done.
Dalet Digital Media System's Andrea Miani (L) and Thomas Bairl accept the STAR Award for Dalet Sports Factory, which provides highlights delivery, live coverage, distribution and archiving. Instant replay metadata is held in the Dalet enterprise class MAM, allowing distribution to multiple platforms.
Greg Wright accepts the STAR Award for Decimator Design MD DUCC, a multi-definition up/down/cross converter that auto detects 26 different formats, offers 16:9, 14:9 and 4:3 conversion support and 16-channel metering. It features multipoint interpolation, motion-adaptive de-interlacing, and allows conversion between any of the supported formats.
Ensemble Designs' David Wood, Mondae Hott and Cindy Zuelsdorf accept the STAR Award for the company's Avenue Flexible Matrix Router, which features a scalable and flexible design, with ports designated as either sources or destinations. The 1RU router control panel has a real-time, built-in LCD monitor to preview sources and destinations.
Spencer Rodd (L) and Roger Heath from Evertz accept the STAR Award for the Evertz Mediator content management and workflow system. It integrates Evertz's new video server platform and the Pharos content management system, providing an end-to-end system that's tightly integrated with the company's other products.
FOR-A's J.R. Kitahara accepts the STAR Award for the FOR-A VFC 7000 super slo-mo HD, 3D camera system. The first of its kind, the system, which features solid-state recording, combines two VFC-7000 cameras and syncs frames at rates from 50 to 700 fps. It features SDI out and records in 1080i and 720p.
Stephen Nunney with Hamlet accepts the STAR Award for the DigiScope DS900. The DS900 puts four HD test sets in a single half-rack, 1RU package. With three LCD screens and touchscreen navigation, it provides test displays for four signals simultaneously on an external monitor.
Harmonic's Tricia Justice accepts the STAR Award for the company's Omneon MediaPort 7000. The MediaPort 7000 series of I/O devices support DV, MPEG and AVC-Intra, mixed-format and -resolution playout, as well as up/down/cross conversion and simulcast on every channel.
Paul Eisner with Harris accepts the STAR Award for the Harris Selenio. It takes the place of several pieces of gear in TV station operations, including ingest, A/V processing, transcoding and IP networking. With a easy-to-use browser, Selenio interfaces with external feeds, converts video for streaming and manages audio level—all in 3RU.
Tom Favell, managing director of HiTech Systems, accepts the STAR Award for the company's AVITA modular server and device control system. It comes with up to four control modules with configurable buttons that can be mixed and matched to suit individual needs. It may be operated with a browser in connected PCs or tablets.
Litepanel's Ken Fisher accepts the STAR Award for the Litepanels H2, which uses high-intensity LEDs, allowing fixtures to be placed 20 feet or more back from scenes that ordinary LED fixtures can't reach. The 100 Watt H2 fixtures provide light equivalent to a 1,000 Watts of legacy lighting fixture, and uses just 10 percent of the energy.
Robert Kulesh (L) and Linda Swope from Matthews Studio Equipment with the STAR Award for the DC Slider, a counter-balanced, multifunction, multi-angled camera platform providing effortless camera movement from horizontal to vertical. It provides 5.5 feet of camera movement, and can be equipped with an accessory motor for remote operation.
Ian Fletcher with Miranda accepts the STAR Award for Miranda VOD Publisher. Integrated with Miranda's iTX-IT-based automation and playout system, VOD Publisher allows the same assets, workflow and scheduling system to be used for on-demand and linear content.
Bernard Wanko (L) and Ted Langdell accept the STAR Award for the MWA Nova GmbH Laser Shrinkage Detector. It's used with the flash transfer system for migrating archival motion picture film to digital. The special laser detector continuously measures film stock shrinkage and offers dynamic correction.
Joe Facchini, vice president of sales and product management, media & production services for Panasonic, accepts the STAR Award for the AG-3DP1, a 3D shoulder-moount camcorder with dual 1/3-inch, full-HD 2.2 megapixel 3-MOS 3-chip imagers, 10-bit color depth, AVC-Intra recording to P2 media and EFP-style shooting.
Simon Larn (L) and Peter Daffarn with the STAR Award for the Photon Beard PhotonSpot Nova. It uses light-emitting plasma to deliver 14,000 lumens, and has a useful lifetime of about 20,000 hours. Power consumption is just 273 Watts, and the unit can be mains- or battery-powered. No fans are required and it focuses from 12 to 55 degrees.
Nick Wright (L) and James Gilbert accept the STAR Award for Pixel Power's ChannelMaster, which integrates storage, graphics, effects, subtitling, master control, live feed and video playout within a single dedicated hardware platform. A single 3 RU system can deliver "a single complex" or "two simpler" channels.
James Cain (L) and Simon Rogers of Quantel accept the STAR Award for Quantel's QTube. Qtube offers metadata editing, quality downloads and frame-accurate editing; all over the Internet, with low latency and full security.
Andres Hilmer of Reidel accepts the STAR Award for the company's MediorNet Compact. The unit provides transmission of signals, including audio, video, control, and intercom communcations from one node to another node at 50 Gbps.
David Ross accepts the STAR Award for the Ross Video Carbonite, a cost-effective compact, self-contained video production switcher with up to two M/Es, built in 20-window multiviewer and available with either 16 or 24 inputs.
Snell's Neil Maycock accepts the STAR Award for Snell & The Application Store's Screentoo partnership. Morpheus automation is used to drive metadata from ScreenToo to second-screen apps on iPads and mobile platforms. It's available for media and broadcast organizations to distribute as their own branded apps for voting, polls, chat, and more.
Sony's Gary Mandle with the STAR Award for the BVME170 Trimaster EL OLED Master Monitor. This new OLED 17-inch professional monitor delivers full HD resolution OLED panels with 10-bit drivers and uses a newly developed Sony Professional Display Engine.
Sound Devices' Jon Tatooles (L) and Matt Anderson accept the STAR Award for the company's Pix 220 & 240 video recorders. The Pix 240 has HD-SDI and HDMI out, Pix 220, HDMI out only. They support Apple Pro res 422 or Avid DNxHD codecs onto solid state, CompactFlash or external eSATA.
Dan Duffell with SSL accepts the STAR Award for C-Play, a new user interface/storage system for existing SSL digital audio consoles. It allows users to automatically or manually retrieve frequently used audio clips, including musical bridges, openings and closes, without additional storage systems or controllers.
Telairity's Harlan McGhan accepts the STAR Award for the SES3200 Mobile Video Encoding System. The modular unit supports multiple channels of mobile video and eliminates the need for separate multiplexers, routers, switches and cabling. Any video input can be internally connected to any encoder.
Wes Donahue from TVLogic accepts the STAR Award for the VFM-056W/WP 5.6-inch HDMI on-camera monitor, which features an LED backlit LCD display, and comes in two models. A magnesium-alloy case houses a 5.6-inch display with a full set, including DSLR scale, focus assist, and audio level metering with speaker and timecode display.
Paul Shen from TVU Networks accepts the STAR Award for the TVUPack TM8000, a mobile newsgathering backpack with an H.264 encoding engine, variable bit-rate technology and inverse statmuxing for bandwidth efficiency. It features SDI, HDMI and composite video inputs, iPod wireless monitoring and a wireless hotspot.
(L to R) Utah Scientific's David Burland, Jeff Levie and Tom Harmon accept the STAR Award for the Flex-I/O Option for Utah-400 Routers. These are self-contained interfaces that plug into the router backplane, replacing BNC or optical connectors, and allowing users to switch from analog to SDI in SD or HD flavors, and to also convert from copper to fiber.
Steve Ward (L) and Chris O'Neill accept the STAR Award for the Vinten Vision Blue. It provides DSLRs or other small cameras with a Vinten head that has performance features familiar to users of Vinten Vision head products. These include infinitely adjustable "Perfect Balance" and LF drag technology.
(L to R): Wheatstone's Brad Harrison, Phil Owens and Paul Picard are congratulated by TV Technology Editor-in-Chief Tom Butts on receiving the STAR Award for Wheatstone Dimension One, a space-efficient audio console with faders that control two sources, spill functions out onto separate faders, and can be paged together or separately.
Wohler President Carl Dempsey receives the STAR Award for the Wohler Pandora Loudness Analyzer, which monitors up to eight channels of audio embedded in 3G/HD, SD-SDI and discrete AES signals, using a touchscreen interface that runs on a user's iPod.
