Business highlights from broadcast and production

In the Crown Media system, Sony videotape players handle long-form programming, while interstitial material plays from servers. Sony's Systems Solutions Division, based in San Jose, Calif., integrated the entire playback center.

Lobo & Associates, internationally known as a producer of large-format films, television productions, and high-end corporate films, has just finished shooting a corporate high-definition video project for the Saudi Aramco Oil Company of Saudi Arabia using Panasonic camcorders and Fujinon lenses.

The production team used Panasonic’s high-performance AJ-HDC20A DVCPRO HD 2/3-inch 2.2 million pixel FIT 3-CCD camcorder with Fujinon’s HA10x5BERM and HA15x8BERM HDTV ENG high definition lenses.

The shoot deployed the Circlescan 4D system, a patented camera attachment to allow video and film cameras to capture images with unmatched depth and realism. No special cameras or projectors are required, and there is no reduction of the stereo video effect with duplication.

Saudi Aramco is one of the world’s largest oil producers. Sixty and thirty minute versions of the high-definition production, “Growth of An Industry: Future of A Nation” (working title), will be produced.

In post-production, Lobo will downconvert to standard definition, and do an off-line edit on an Avid 9000 NLE system. The on-line work will be done at Liberty Live Wire/Digital Image in Burbank, CA, producing a 1080i master with 5.1 Dolby surround sound. Saudi Aramco plans to premiere the video at its headquarters within three months.

The Circlescan 4D attachment consists of a series of strategically placed mirrors that rotate in front of the camera lens at approximately 1 RPM. The scene being captured is shot in individual frames with each frame shot from a different point of a partial circle. The system captures the same shot in 24 individual frames from 24 different points in a partial circle every second. In one minute, a complete circle has been shot. The scene can therefore be relayed from different views very quickly.

The 15-pound AJ-HDC20A offers high mobility, high-definition field acquisition. The 10-bit digital signal processing camcorder offers 46-minute recording in 1080i, two channels of 16-bit/48KHz digital audio, low power consumption of 35 watts, uses standard 2/3-inch bayonet lenses, and comes equipped with an HD-SDI (SMPTE 292M) output for full-color live and tape playback, and a PCMCIA memory card for storing camera setups. The AJ-HDC20A provides a wide range of field production functions including Super Gain to boost gain by a full +30 dB for high-quality shooting in dim lighting, customized set-up buttons, and an electronic shutter (1/100 –1/2000 sec.) featuring Synchro Scan to reduce flicker when shooting CRT displays.

Scopus Network Technologies have been selected by Korea Telecom to provide the digital transmission of the FIFA 2002 World Cup games from Korea.

Scopus will equip Korea Telecom with end-to-end broadcasting systems to digitally transmit the events related to, and including, the 2002 World Cup games due to take place in Korea during May and June.

Scopus equipment will also be used at the Opening Ceremony on May 31st.

Scopus broadcasting equipment will transmit nearly 20 digitally compressed channels from each of the 10 stadiums across Korea where the games will be played. These live feeds will be transmitted via SDH links to the International Broadcasting Center located in Seoul. There they will be routed and re-transmitted via SDH links to three earth stations in Korea and then up-linked to a satellite for broadcast around the globe.

The International Broadcasting Center will be able to simultaneously transmit 200 digitally compressed channels. Transmission between the sites and the international broadcasting center in Seoul will be via existing Korea's Telecom optical link.

Scopus will provide Korea Telecom with complete end-to-end systems based on its CODICO product line including E-1000 Professional 4:2:2 Encoders, RTM-3800 Statistical Multiplexers, Scopus De-Multiplexers and professional Integrated Receiver Decoders.

ARKEMEDIA Technologies has purchased Pazap, a broadcast specialist digital asset management company. ARKEMEDIA is an independent company created to provide broadcasters and content owners with asset management solutions.

The company will now share the name with its core product, ark-e-media. ark-e-media is a browser-based content management system. It is modular in construction and allows systems to be built from ingest through archiving, search, playout and re-purposing.

The company will be headed by Managing Director Vincenzo Roberti.

In addition to the name change, John Phipps will join ARKEMEDIA as the Business Development Director. He was previously vice president of EMEA operations at the Grass Valley Group.

Meridian Design Associates has aligned with DPX Architects, Geneva, Switzerland, to form MDA/DPX. The new venture extends 20 years of expertise in architectural services to international companies with operations on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Geneva, MDA/DPX is led by Swiss native Francois de Marignac, who worked with Meridian Design Associates for seven years in New York. To introduce MDA/DPX to the European production community, the American and Swiss principals will host consultations at a Media Facilities Design Center at MITIL, Vevey, Switzerland, June 12th and 13th, 2002.

As experts in analyzing and designing the full content creation workplace for the production of tv, film, radio and news broadcasting, MDA/DPX undertakes long-term planning to site selection, political approvals, and all phases of project management. Current projects of DPX Architectes include an office building in Geneva, a 30-room hotel, and a luxury mall in the Ukraine.

Dolby Digital 5.1 surround is now being heard on every Showtime channel.

The network which launched Dolby Digital 5.1 on its HDTV signals in 2000, has now brought the audio technology to every one of its standard definition and HDTV channels throughout all time zones. The result is 32 Dolby Digital 5.1 enabled channels.

Since launching the audio format Showtime has aired more than 190 movies including theatricals and Showtime Original Pictures, and 145 series episodes in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.

Jefferson Pilot Sports, has upgraded its flagship Unit 4 truck with the addition of eight new Ikegami HK-388W cameras.

The group bought both SDTV studio HK-388W and portable HK-388PW cameras.

The upgrade combines Ikegami 388W’s instant 4:3/16:9 switchability and newly developed 640,000 pixel 2/3-inch FIT CCDs. A 10MHz ultra-wideband component triax system delivers high-resolution pictures.

Panasonic HD cameras were used to chronicle a Jazz musician's 60th birthday party.

Directors at Colossalvision, an HDTV production and post-production facility in New York City, shot with five Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam Variable-Frame HD Cameras to document jazz pianist Chick Corea's four decades in music.

The AJ-HDC27 VariCam captures film-style 24-frame high-definition progressive scanned images. In addition, a new option provides a wide range of variable frame rates (4 to 60-fps with the ability to change the frame rate in single-frame increments) to “overcrank” and “undercrank” the camera to achieve fast or slow-motion effects, and provides extended gamma control that permits high definition video to more closely match the dynamic range of film.

Editing of the project is being done in Colossalvision’s hybrid linear/non-linear suite that features Apple/Pinnacle’s HD NLE system.

Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) has unveiled its new product catalog. RFS Products 2002 will be available both in hardcopy and electronic formats.

Products are divided into the six major RFS product lines: transmission lines, base station antenna systems, microwave antenna systems, wireless distributed communication systems, broadcast and high frequency (HF) antenna systems, and RF conditioning products.

Meridian Design Associates will build a new broadcast production facility for Studio City New York (SCNY). The 700,000 sq. ft., 15-story building will be built from the ground up on a one-acre plot on 11th Avenue.

This will be one of Manhattan's first purpose-built omni-media content creation facilities.

The new building will include five television studios, adjacent production support space and 90,000 sq. ft. of "Media Flex Space."

Designers plan to build SCNY as a "flexible, speculative building, similar to a spec office building."

The University of of North Carolina Public Television Network (UNC-TV) has chosen Harris digital transmitters to begin its FCC-mandated transition to digital broadcasting.

Harris has signed a contract to provide solid-state DiamondCDÔ UHF and Sigmaâ CD-II UHF transmitters for the 11-station network.

Harris has also been awarded a contract for phase one of the master control integration project for the UNC Public Television Network which includes: WUNF-TV, Asheville; WUNC-TV, Chapel Hill; WUND-TV, Columbia; WUNG-TV, Concord/Charlotte; WUNK-TV, Greenville, NC; WUNM-TV, Jacksonville; WUNE-TV, Linville; WUNU-TV, Lumberton; WUNP-TV, Roanoke Rapids; WUNJ-TV, Wilmington; and WUNL-TV, Winston-Salem.

Axcera has signed an agreement with Saga Communications to supply DT400A and DT800A series VHF and UHF television transmitter systems for the Group’s digital television (DTV) stations.

Under the terms of the agreement, Axcera will provide Saga with low power DTV transmitter systems for its new digital installations in Missouri, Texas and Mississippi.

Saga will build four DTV stations with low power systems, initially providing coverage to each station’s city of license and then increasing power as market demand for DTV increases.

Munich, Germany, based Recording Studio "Arts of Toyco" have installed a 64-fader Soundtracs DPC-II in its main studio facility.

The DPC-II is equipped with 3 Digi I/O racks providing 168 I/O's to 160 full processing channels.

The new Soundtracs DPC-II encompasses this latest digital audio mixing technology. It provides 160 channels of comprehensive digital audio processing, precisely controlled by an intuitive worksurface.

All conversion is 24-bit with future proof 96kHz resolution and 7.1 operation built-in. DSP allocation is unnecessary and user configuration of inputs and bussing is straight forward.

It also features worksurfaces from 16 to 96 motorised faders.

Its new delivery channels, including DVD, satellite, cable, digital TV and the internet, are providing an increase in the number of routes available to deliver material.

Cathay Consultants founder, Kevin Dauphinee, will collaborate with Claydon Gescher Associates., a strategic consultancy firm, based in Beijing, China.

This new collaboration will bring additional depth to Claydon Gescher’s practice, enhancing the support that the firm provides to clients in technology analysis and choices.

Claydon Gescher Associates provides a range of consulting services to leading multinationals, funds, investment banks and industry associations trading in China and greater Asia in rich media technology and services.

The firm assists international media, information, entertainment and communications businesses in developing effective PRC entry strategies and provides a range of support from government relations, regulatory and policy advice and industry appraisals to partner identification, transaction assistance and business establishment. Claydon Gescher’s expertise covers all aspects of the digital industries from the creation of content, the development of services and the deployment of technologies, across the delivery spectrum.

Cathay Consultants is based in Beijing, providing strategic planning, marketing and selling services to both local and overseas suppliers of broadcasting, teleproduction and rich media solutions in the top five Asia markets - Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Kevin Dauphinee brings over 25 years experience in broadcast technology and distribution management to Claydon Gescher Associates.

NTL Broadcast has completed its UK tests of mobile digital terrestrial television.

In the UK trials, which took place in the Oxford area over the last few months, a multi-channel service was broadcast over a single-frequency network. It was received in a vehicle equipped with seat-back TV screens. Different transmission modes were evaluated and the performance of various demodulator chips were assessed in order to identify those most suitable for use in mobile receivers.

Here's a list of the DVB-T parameters used in Oxford trial:

• COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation scheme: both QPSK and 16QAM were used

• 2000 carriers

• Forward error correction (FEC): 1/2 rate

• Guard Interval: 1/4 (equivalent to 56 microseconds in a 2k FFT system)

• Single Frequency Network transmission on Channel 55 (centre frequency 746 MHz)

• MPEG-2 multiple program transport stream containing two live services:

• Service 1: ITN video news (requiring no audio content)

  Service 2: SIX TV - the Oxford Channel (video and audio content)

• Transport Stream total bit rate: 5 Mbits/s (QPSK), 10 Mbits/s (16QAM)

The ISIS-Group introduced a new range of modular, compact presentation and live event routing switchers at NAB2002.

The INNOVATION by ISIS series accommodates the RGBHV signal format through native HD15 connector I/O matrix sizes ranging from 8x8, 16x16 and 32x32. With its modular construction, users can expect complete configuration and an upgrade path capable of meeting future system requirements, including the addition of analog or digital levels for audio switching.

The INNOVATION by ISIS includes a comprehensive selection of control panel options and accessories. Control panels are operable locally at the routing switcher frame or remotely with the ISIS control panel cradle assembly.

Only a single cable is routed to each remote control panel because of ISIS'10 base-2 Ethernet control system design. The product also features the availability of an RS232 control port allowing systems integrators and users to interface other remote control architectures.

Chyron announced that CNN has installed Pro-Bel routing and signal conversion equipment in the new London Bureau and Production Center - the largest CNN bureau outside the U.S.

An Eclipse SDI router 128 x 128, a Freeway Audio Router configured AES 96 x 96 and Analog Audio 32 x 32 in the same frame are controlled by an Aurora system. 32 ICON System Builder frames house various conversion modules - with COSMOS network management employed throughout.

The equipment is in use daily for the provision of TV news feeds and production contributions to CNN headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The Pro-Bel routers and conversion modules provide the core requirement in terms of central routing and distribution of all video and audio signals.

The equipment forms part of a highly integrated system - combining digital incoming and outgoing circuits with a DSNG dish farm, digital intake/editing/feed facilities, two fully redundant production control rooms with two studios, translation and voice over facilities. Analogue audio requirements are handled automatically in the Pro-Bel Freeway router.

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA), the Iberoamerican Federation of Acoustics (FIA) and the Mexican Institute of Acoustics (IMA) will mail a Call for Papers to all members and interested persons in May 2002 for its upcoming December conference.

The first joint meeting of the ASA, the FIA and the IMA will be in Cancun, Mexico, December 2-6, 2002.

The conference will bring together experts from all fields of acoustics. The meetings will include plenary lectures, invited and contributed papers, poster sessions, exhibits and tutorials on all aspects of acoustics and standards. A series of tutorial lectures covering the general field of architectural acoustics and noise is also being planned.

Miranda Technologies has entered into a purchase agreement with ADC Telecommunications to buy NVISION, the Grass Valley, Calif.-based manufacturer who produces routing switchers and signal processing equipment for the broadcast, post production and production industries.

The acquisition will allow Miranda to expand its product offerings of large-scale video and audio routing, audio signal processing and conversion as well as fiber optic interfaces.

The purchase agreement covers all NVISION assets. The deal is expected to close in April.

EAV Technology has been appointed the Australian distributor for the Sonifex line of products. Melbourne-based EAV Technology is a broadcast electronics supplier, which has supported the Australian broadcast industry for more than 20 years.

Pinnacle Systems and CNN have signed a master agreement for CNN's purchase, license and installation of Pinnacle products, including Vortex News solutions. While the Master Agreement does not currently include any firm purchase orders, the companies are in discussions refining system configurations to provide Vortex News Systems to meet the quality and speed needed by CNN, for its "Feeds & Edit" project at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia as well as the CNN News Bureau in New York City.

Vortex is a comprehensive solution that integrates all aspects of news ingest, editing, and playback of video into a single environment built on Pinnacle Systems media server technology.

Within seconds of ingesting material from a source, Vortex enables everyone involved in the production of a story to begin working. Editing can take place from virtually any PC on the network.

Comprehensive management capabilities ensure elements come together to create ready-for-air stories and maintain access to the original elements for archival and repurposing applications.

The Palladium Architecture and Vortex News Systems demonstrate Pinnacle's commitment to open systems. Pinnacle's file system and file formats will comply with industry standards and be open for use by other application providers.

What camera company made the “Polychrome” color camera? What feature made it unique? Correct entries will be eligible for a drawing of the new Broadcast Engineering T-shirts. Enter by e-mail.