Track Continues the NAB Show BEIT Conversation

NEW YORK—New this year to NAB Show New York is “Best of BEIT,” a track of sessions that will highlight some of the sessions presented at the spring NAB Show during the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference.

“'Best of BEIT' will provide in-depth explanations and examples of how traditional broadcast engineering functions continue to merge with information technology,” said NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny. “We look forward to providing an additional platform to showcase the world-class research presented at the NAB Show BEIT Conference.”

Kicking off the “Best of BEIT” track will be a number of discussions in “BEIT Engage!” roundtables. There will be six tables, each focusing on a different topic: “Implementing Practical IP Playout Systems” with Andy Warman of Harmonic; “Voice Activated Media” with Pat Higbie of XAPPmedia Inc.; “Audio Loudness Management for OTT and Video Services” with NBCUniversal's Jim Starzynski; “Drones for Broadcast” with Lisa Ellman and Matthew Clark from Hogan Lowells US LLC; “Immersive Media” with Caitlin Burns of Caitlin Burns & Associates; and “Podcasting” with iHeartMedia's Chris Peterson.

The roundtables will take place simultaneously from 12:15-1 p.m. on Oct. 18.

A session on IoT security will focus on how data can be stored, delivered and managed securely.

The traditional sessions will begin later that afteroon, with an update on the status of Next Gen TV. “Next Gen TV—The ATSC 3.0 Standard” will be led by Dr. Richard Chernock, chief science officer at Triveni Digital and chairman of ATSC's 3.0 standard development committee. he will offer attendees a look at what has been achieved so far, and what new opportunities are available to broadcasters to engage their viewers.

“It's really about the technology, but rather than talk about bits and bytes and plumbing, I'm going to step through the layers of the system and do it in terms of what kinds of new capabilities and functionalities broadcasters are going to have at hand by using ATSC 3.0,” said Chernock. “It's important to come and listen to it, learn what the possibilities are and start thinking about what kinds of services can be provided and how to get into the game.”

Another session on Next Gen TV will be presented Oct. 19 by Gerard Faria, TeamCast CSO and co-founder. In his sessions, “Next Gen TV—The ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Explained,” Faria will cover the fundamentals of COFDM, the modulation scheme rooting the ATSC 3.0's physical layer.

The session “Ultra HD” will be presented by Madeline Noland, a consultant for LG Electronics and chair of the Ultra HD Forum's Guidelines Work Group. Noland will describe Ultra HD in the new Next Gen TV standard and offer perspectives on Ultra HD in today's deployments from the Ultra HD Forum.

“I'm trying to help the over-the-air broadcasters understand that this is real; it's here; it's today; and it's doable; and that there are even more interesting things coming down the pike as we wrap our arms around what we have,” Noland said.

Two other sessions are also planned for the “Best of BEIT” track. The session “IoT Killed the Video Star” will features Akamai Technology's Dave Lewis with a focus on IoT security and how data can be stored, delievered and managed securely.

IBM's Xiaomei Wang will present the session “Personalized Viewer Experience Leveraging Cognitive Media Analytics at Scale,” which offers and account of how a Chinese network operated used cognitive technology.

All “Best of BEIT” sessions will be heldon Tech FWD Stage 1. The “BEIT Engage!” roundtables will take palce at the Focus FWD Keynote Stage.