Vendors’ heads in the cloud (and elsewhere) at NAB 2011
Apr 13, 2011 8:00 AM, By Michael Grotticelli
At NAB 2011, a shared optimism was apparent in the wide variety of eye-catching exhibit booths that had to cost tens of thousands of dollars to design and construct.
There was a lot of pent-up enthusiasm for better times ahead at this year’s NAB Show, and a larger crowd than last year’s gathering, but unfortunately most of the excitement was based on technologies and concepts that have little value for local broadcast stations struggling to keep up with competition coming from a number of alternate delivery platforms.
For a convention that relies on buzz words and pie-in-the-sky technology to spur interest in individual exhibit booths, 3-D, clouds and numerous versions of service-oriented architectures (SOA) seemed to dominate, while low-cost HD news production, wireless (WiFi and 3-4G) ENG delivery and controlling audio loudness appeared closer to stations’ pocketbooks.
Indeed, 1/3in sensor HD cameras, automated production and playout systems, audio signal analyzers and processors, and upgrading routing infrastructures to 3Gb/s signals appeared to garner the most interest. According to many vendors of these technologies and systems, stations have begun to buy in healthy numbers, after two years of scarce capital and reduced budgets.
“It’s been a difficult and tricky period the past two years, but that period is behind us,” said Michael Wellesley-Wesley, president and CEO of Chyron, regarding the revenue from his company’s cloud-based services and traditional hardware graphics technology. “We’re in the best shape we have been in many years.”
“There’s a wave of optimism across the industry,” said Carl Dempsey, president of Wohler Technologies. “However, the market remains lumpy.”
That optimism was apparent in the wide variety of eye-catching exhibit booths that had to cost tens of thousands of dollars to design and construct. Looking around the show floor, it seemed like an exhibit booth designer’s playground. This new investment had not been apparent the past few years, as the tough economy caused many to make the most of what they had.
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
