Each year the National Association of Broadcasters holds its trade show in Las Vegas and manufacturers trot out their latest professional gear. Here are the highlights from this year’s show…
1 May 2008
On February 17, 2009, TV’s old analogue signal ends in the USA and a digital future begins in one of the world’s biggest broadcasting markets. TV screens in nearly 20 million households will stop receiving free-to-air signals and make the transition to DTV.
No surprise that high definition is the buzz word at NAB 2008. It was also clear that the day of the classic “big” cameras, like the Betacam, are at an end. With stations having to offload standard definition analogue equipment, many will elect to go with the affordable professional cameras such as the Sony EX and the Canon XH-G1 for field and studio use.
Overall it’s exciting times in the world of acquisition, however, the editing world remains stationary with no major announcements at NAB 2008. Developments in editing applications are yet to come in the near future or these products have been refined to the point that manufacturers have to work harder than ever to find something new to offer.
Sony showed off the PMW-EX3 and Red showed prototypes of the 3K Scarlet and 5K Epic, while Panasonic showed the upgraded HVX 200A/201A and the completely tapeless DVCPro HD 170/171.
Panasonic AG-HPX170 offers three 16:9 1/3-inch CCD sensors, 14-bit A/D conversion, 19-bit processing, a 13x optical zoom lens with a wide 28mm-equivalent at its widest setting, and can record at up to 1080i or 720p in the DVCProHD format, as well as a number of other HD and SD formats.
The kicker is that this camcorder records to solid-state memory in the form of Panasonic’s P2 cards, which are available at the 32GB size right now for up to 64 minutes of recording, though 64GB P2 cards will arrive in the 3rd quarter and offer double the recording time.
The Sony EX3 is very nice for those who need interchangeable lenses. The body is around US$13,000 list with the same Fujinon lens that comes with the EX1. It also is a semi-shoulder-mounted camera with many nice improvements and refinements over the EX1. Expected release date is the third quarter of 2008.
Canon introduced a new upgrade to its XL line. The XL-H1S is the same design, but has added some new features such as an improved lens, and the ability to zoom and focus at the same time. Canon has a winner with the HV30 HD camera, which comes with an improved HD wide-angle adaptor.
The LCD panel has been changed with a wider color range and improved viewability, longer-life batteries that can completely charge in one pass, and an improved zoom control. The new VIXIA HF10 High Definition camcorder has a 16-gig internal hard drive that is capable of delivering two hours of HD video in a 17 mps mode which translates into a 1920x1080 AVHD image.
Among the low-priced professional cameras, the JVC200 series is popular in broadcast as well as among filmmakers. It is slimmer than most Pro HD camcorders, but is packed with all sorts of add-ons. JVC also showed their new MRHD200 Video Media Recorder, which is a removable hard drive that docks right onto the camera and can record 100 gigs of media. The unit will be available in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Red Digital Cinema held out the promise of NAB 2009 but still attracted a big crowd at its booth to view mockups of coming cameras and more: the 5K Epic (employing a new Super 35 Mysterium X Sensor), and Scarlet, aimed at the lower range of production (with a projected US$3,000 price point), but promising substantial 3K resolution - it uses a smaller 2/3-inch chip that can run from 1-120 FPS.
Matrox’s MXO2 turns good quality consumer computer monitors into colour accurate broadcast grading monitors, while providing frame accurate, genlockable HD/SD scan conversion for flicker-free video output of computer desktop. Inputs include HD SDI, component, composite, S-video, HDMI, AES/EBU audio, and two channels of XLR. Outputs bump the audio to four channels of XLR and six RCA.
When you have DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg waxing on at the show (albeit via satellite) about a product introduction, something big is going down. That’s how it was with HP’s DreamColor Technology computer display, a joint venture of HP and DreamWorks to develop displays with true 30-bit colour and a “simple colour management process” that will lead to an LED-backlit LCD that is claimed will equal studio-quality LCD displays at a fraction of the cost.
Imagica’s new line of O-gi image quality enhancement plug-ins works with Autodesk systems. The set of filters include noise reduction and cleanup. Quality stuff from the demos, subtle effects, with lots of tweakability, just like the company’s highly regarded Primatte keying technology.
Lots of high-end developments at Thomson: while the company competes with UK-based FilmLight, which has also developed a high-end scanner to challenge the Thomson Grass Valley Spirit, the two companies are collaborating to enable FilmLight’s BaseLight colour grading system to control a Spirit.
Turns out the well-thought-out control interface panel of the BaseLight unit is a hit, converting high-end colourists around the world to using BaseLight.
Quantel had lots of announcements at the show. It was interesting that one of their new products was also a well-thought-out control surface for colourists. Neo colour correction control panel for the Pablo colour corrector is a clean simple panel to sit in front of; even the choice of the colours and the product “feel” on the buttons and knobs seem pleasant and carefully chosen so as to sooth eyes and fingers over long days. Ergonomics and interactivity seem well matched here, with dedicated one touch controls for all major functions, an integrated keyboard, and glide pads for maximum comfort in long grading sessions. For those that hate going through levels of drop-down menus, Neo gives one-button access to all menus, e.g. HSL, RGB high/low, DVE, and shapes.
Autodesk, Inc. announced a slew of updates to its collection of tools Inferno, Flint and Flame, designed to improve the creation of high-value content. Marc Petit, Autodesk’s senior VP for media & entertainment, said the updates added new creative tools, including effects for blurs and glows. The tools’ 3D compositing capabilities were also enhanced, and format support had been expanded to include compressed media, P2, QuickTime and audio formats. Autodesk also displayed Smoke 2009, its upgraded effects-centric finishing system with expanded creative capabilities, including the tree-based Batch FX, which marries Smoke’s editorial timeline with the 3D compositing environment. Format support has been expanded to include Panasonic P2 MFX files and common professional QuickTime codecs.
Over at Blackmagic Design Inc. a new Broadcast Videohub was announced, making it the world’s largest, affordable SDI router with 72 inputs, 144 outputs, 72 deck control ports and switchable SD/HD, all in a compact eight rack unit chassis less than an inch deep. Broadcast Videohub is large enough for the biggest post-production studio, and includes advanced technologies such as 3 Gb/s SDI. Priced at under US$15,000, it is the first time a large SDI router has been affordable even for smaller post-production studios. Bright Systems Inc., developer of disk recording and data infrastructure technology, demonstrated its new BrightClip intelligent data recording technology at NAB 2008. Along with BrightClip, da Vinci’s Resolve digital mastering suite and Revival restoration system were also presented. BrightClip provides superior disk recording and media playback by eliminating the need for disk optimization, using advanced technology to ensure media is laid out logically onto the disks. “By integrating BrightClip into our product line, we are providing customers with increased predictability and performance,” said Bill Robertson, general manager of da Vinci Systems.
Shelton, Connecticut — Anton/Bauer, part of Vitec Videocom, has introduced its QRC-CA940 Gold Mount solution for the new Canon EOS C300 camera. This latest introduction furthers the company’s commitme…
Beijing, China - Blackmagic Design today released a new version of its HyperDeck Shuttle Solid State Disk recorder. HyperDeck Shuttle 2 replaces the existing model and adds broadcast quality 10-bit re…
During the making of Indian cinematographer Sabyasachi Patra’s newest film "A Call in the Rainforest", he worked with the 1030HDs fluid head from OConnor, a Vitec Group brand, for the first time. …
Eastman Kodak Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York after years of falling sales related to the decline of its namesake film business as digital cameras have taken over the market…
Canon Singapore showcased the Cinema EOS System in Asia for the first time as part of the Cinema EOS South East Asia Tour with Vincent Laforet, which will also cover Indonesia and Thailand. The second…
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