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News
Stevens seeks to hoist broadcast flag
Jan 30, 2006 10:13 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who oversees broadcast industry issues in the Senate, said the broadcast flag is necessary in order to prevent piracy of TV shows over the Internet.
Stevens, taking a hard line in support of the Hollywood content industry, vowed to promote legislation that would impose the flag technology upon makers of digital television devices even if negotiations with public interest groups fail.
The National Journal reported that draft legislation was recently released by Senator Gordon Smith, (R-OR), that would grant the FCC authority to impose the broadcast flag requirement upon all manufacturers of digital tuners.
Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, said the subject requires an act of Congress.
The FCC approved the broadcast flag rule in November 2003, ordering a halt to the manufacture of non-compliant TV tuners. However, a federal appeals court that found the commission did not have the authority to order the copy protection system overturned the decision. The entertainment industry then turned to Congress for help.
Stevens contended that his committee could “enact a bill that would eliminate some of the problems the FCC tried to work out” with regard to the right of consumers to copy television programs for personal use.
However, public interest groups continue to oppose the flag as an infringement of consumers’ right to make fair use of copyrighted material.
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) said he is strongly opposed to the federal government mandating either the broadcast flag for over-the-air TV or the audio flag for radio.
As new technologies such as TV, videotape and CDs appeared, Sununu noted, “we didn’t need to step in with a significant statutory government-regulated mandate.” Instead of passing legislation, he added, Congress “ought to be at least a little bit more skeptical than we are now” of claims of economic ruin from the entertainment industry.
IPWireless announces technology to enhance TV over 3G
Jan 30, 2006 10:22 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
A technology that will allow mobile operators to deliver large volumes of live TV over their existing 3G wireless spectrum has been developed by a small start-up company, News.com reported.
IPWireless, manufacturers of chips and wireless equipment for the cellular industry, developed the technology, called TDtv. It provides enough capacity over the existing 3G spectrum so that mobile carriers won’t have to rely on separate bandwidth-hogging overlay networks to carry live TV programming.
Though mobile operators have spent billions of dollars over the last few years building new 3G wireless networks in order to deliver new services, those networks are not equipped to handle high volumes of live TV signals.
A report by News.com said that 3G wireless networks are designed for unicast, which means signals are transmitted between a single sender and a single receiver. The same content has to be retransmitted over the network every time a different user wants to view it, consuming bandwidth with each transmission.
Qualcomm, through its MediaFlo subsidiary, and Crown Castle International, through its Modeo division, are building broadcast overlay networks to the 3G network. They plan to sell wholesale capacity on their network to cell phone carriers who want to carry live TV programming.
IPWireless has taken a different approach. Instead of the overlay network, it has adapted the standardized Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) TD-CDMA technology, which provides high-speed wireless access for laptops and other Internet devices, so it transmits wireless signals in multicast instead of unicast.
To take advantage of the new TDtv technology, operators will have to upgrade cell towers with additional radios. When upgraded, the video using the TDtv technology will be comparable to what MediaFlo and Modeo promise. They estimate it will be able to deliver up to 50 channels of TV for standard mobile phones, or about 15 high-quality channels over 5MHz of unpaired 3G spectrum.
IPMobile in Japan has announced plans to test TDtv, while it’s expected that Sprint Nextel will soon join them.
UPN, WB networks become one
Jan 30, 2006 10:28 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
CBS and the Warner Brothers Entertainment unit of Time Warner have joined their UPN and WB television networks to create CW, a new venture designed to attract young viewers.
CW will select the most popular shows from UPN and WB and try to lure viewers under 35. The move, the New York Times reported, comes at a time when television networks are experimenting with ways to reach viewers, from DVDs to downloads to computers and iPods — technologies disproportionately used by younger consumers.
CBS President Lesley Moonves emphasized CBS’s role as content provider, saying the network intends to be a supplier of programming, whether it be delivered to homes free via television or through paid downloads. CW will remain a niche network devoted to serving only young adult viewers.
CBS and Warner Brothers will be 50-50 owners of the venture, which will broadcast 30 hours a week, including prime time, some daytime shows, and the Kids’ WB children’s block.
Barry Meyer, chairman of Warner Brothers Entertainment, told the paper the new network could be profitable in its first year. That would be a significant turnaround for both existing networks, which executives said had been losing $25 million to $75 million a year.
The CW name is a combination of CBS and Warner. It will begin operations on a new lineup of stations made up of the UPN group owned by CBS, and outlets owned by WB’s station partner, Tribune Broadcasting. Tribune, which is part owner of WB, will become the principal affiliate group. Those stations will reach about 48 percent of the country, and the new network has agreements with other affiliates to extend distribution to 95 percent of the country.
The Times reported that a senior CBS executive also suggested that CBS and Time Warner might get together again on a joint venture, saying that CNN and CBS News might make good partners.
For UWB wireless, the path is not so clear
Jan 30, 2006 10:36 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
A wireless technology touted to replace the cables behind TV sets and entertainment centers appears to be headed for a format war, after two industry organizations formally broke off their collaboration, the Associated Press reported.
The UWB Forum and the WiMedia Alliance voted to shut down a working group that sought to create a common standard for a radio technology known as ultra-wideband, or UWB. Utilizing UWB allows data transmission at extremely high rates, more than enough for high-definition TV signals, at ranges up to 30ft.
Samsung Electronics and chipmakers Intel and Texas Instruments support the UWB Forum, led by Motorola spin off Freescale Semiconductor and the WiMedia Alliance. It had been trying to unite on a single standard since forming a task group with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2003.
Freescale got a head start on UWB in 2003 by buying Xtreme Spectrum, a company that already had a working prototype chip, and wanted that chip to be the basis of the standard. The WiMedia Alliance, on the other hand, wanted to go in a different direction. Neither side has compromised.
The UWB Forum and Freescale are now promoting a personal-computer-centered approach to introducing usage of UWB, emphasizing it as a replacement for the USB cables that connect computers with their peripherals. It’s called Cable-Free USB. Belkin and Gefen announced two products that use Cable-Free USB at CES this month.
The first products using the WiMedia Alliance’s technology are expected by the end of the year. Its products will carry the Certified Wireless USB logo. Two of the standards are incompatible. Both have FCC approval.
FCC & Industry Updates
FCC responds to New York request for interference waiver
Jan 30, 2006 10:47 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
The FCC has asked for comments on whether to let New York operate a new emergency communications system with less spectrum separation from analog and digital television stations than required under normal rules.
Last November, New York asked the FCC for a waiver to create the system in the 700MHz band for emergency use. The state prepared an engineering study that concluded the service would not cause significant interference to off-TV reception on channels 62, 63, 64, 67, 68 and 69. Whatever interference caused would be minimal and would end after the switch to DTV, the study said.
New York argues that it needs the communications system for public safety due to obsolete facilities that operate on incompatible frequency bands.
Comments to the FCC are due by March 28.
WPXI buys land for new broadcast facility
Jan 30, 2006 10:58 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Outgrowing its current 49,000sq ft building in Fineview, PA, WPXI, the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh, has purchased 17 acres in Pittsburgh’s Summer Hill neighborhood, where it will build a new television studio and office building.
The company will begin construction on the $30 million, 66,000sq ft facility in March, with plans to move in by the fall of 2007.
WPXI started pursuing the new site in 2003, but ran into complaints from neighbors over plans to build an 800ft tower. It has since decided to continue using its existing tower rather than building a new one.
The station recently took over production of the 10 p.m. newscast on FOX affiliate WPGH/Channel 53. The station also operates two Web sites.
WPXI also operates local cable news and weather channels, and is owned by Atlanta-based media conglomerate Cox Communications.
Super Bowl XL on ABC Sports in SD/HD simulcast
Jan 30, 2006 11:04 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
ABC Sports will present live and exclusive HD and SD coverage of Super Bowl XL, pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Seattle Seahawks from Ford Field in Detroit, MI, this Sunday.
The 40th Super Bowl will be ABC Sports' seventh production of the event. This year it will use 36 cameras: 20 Grass Valley LDK 6000 Worldcam HD cameras, including six Grass Valley LDK 6200 Super Slo-Mo units; seven handheld LDK 6000s, including two Super Slo-Mos, two RF and one SteadyCam; five robotic cameras, including two fixed on the goal lines; two remote pan-and-tilt cameras on Field Goal posts; a Sky-Cam camera suspended above the playing field, and several unmanned cameras mounted throughout Ford Field.
Other equipment includes use of the “1st & Ten” electronic first down marker; 40 digital video replay sources; three Telestrator systems; a digital post-production facility on site; 60 microphones, including 12 on-field parabolic microphones; 29 mobile vehicles; more than 500 monitors in control trucks, announce positions and offices; 90 miles of camera and microphone cable; and more than 400 production, technical, administrative and support crews.
NEP Supershooters will be onsite to cover the action. The mobile production company will produce the game with seven trucks that all feature Grass Valley digital production equipment. These trucks are relying on Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk II Worldcam HD cameras, XtenDD and Kalypso SD, HD and 4000 series SD switchers, as well as the Trinix and Concerto, and SMS 7000 Series routing switchers.
Among the trucks, NEP will send its 53ft SS-26 to produce the actual game telecast, while its SS-18 and SS-20 will handle the pre- and post game shows. SS-26 carries 22 Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk II Worldcam HD cameras and base stations, as well as an XtenDD 35 switcher with 90 inputs. The truck is based around a Grass Valley Trinix 160x128 HD video router, a Trinix 256x256 SD router, and a Concerto Series 256x256 analog/AES audio router.
NEP’s Silver HD truck, which features numerous LDK 6000 mk II Worldcam HD cameras, a Kalypso HD switcher, and SMS7000 Series routing switcher, will produce the game’s halftime show.
Nokia, Motorola, Intel unite for mobile TV
Jan 30, 2006 11:15 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Nokia has joined Intel, Motorola, Texas Instruments and Modeo to promote DVB-H technology for mobile telephones.
Called the Mobile DTV Alliance, the partnership aims to encourage open standards for TV broadcasts, mobile devices, and other technologies focusing on the North American market, Reuters reported.
DVB-H technology bypasses mobile networks and broadcasts directly to handsets from broadcast TV antennas, allowing millions of phone users to access the service at the same time. It also allows subscribers to use interactive services and order on-demand programs via mobile networks.
More than 10 DVB-H network trials are underway or have been completed, including in Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States. Most major U.S. markets are expected to have DVB-H infrastructure ready for use by 2007.
DTV set to explode in Europe
Jan 30, 2006 11:20 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Digital television services, including TV, Internet access and telephony, will dominate Europe’s digital economy by the end of the decade with 60 percent of households connected, according to a new study by Reuters.
Predictions are that more than $122 billion in related investments, including more than 100,000 new jobs, are expected from next-generation television services. The findings came from strategy and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
Based on market data and interviews with industry participants, the study said that digital services will shift away from services focused on broadband access toward comprehensive communication and entertainment services centered on digital TV that also delivers Internet and telephone calls.
Verizon to start TV service in NY, MA
Jan 30, 2006 11:24 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Verizon Communications is expanding its fiber optic television service for the first time to Massachusetts and New York. The company has started taking orders for its FiOS TV service in Woburn, MA, and Massapequa Park in Long Island, NY.
FiOS TV is already available in 14 towns in Texas, one in Florida, and one in Virginia, the Associated Press reported.
Verizon hasn’t confirmed how many subscribers it has for its TV service so far but said that 20 percent of the homes in Keller, a suburb of Dallas, that were eligible for the service had signed up between the launch on Sept. 22 and the end of the year.
The telco has been building out a fiber optic network in several states to replace its copper wires for telephone and Internet service. Verizon’s technology is similar to traditional cable service, with the company broadcasting programming through the fiber-optic cables.
AT&T, its competitor, has opted for newer IP technology, which has caused delays in its deployment.
FiOS TV costs $44.90 a month for a set-top box with a basic lineup of 180 channels, including at least 20 in HD. Installation is free for up to three television sets.
Harris opens Miami office
Jan 30, 2006 11:28 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
As part of its global strategy and to better serve Latin American and Caribbean broadcasters, Harris’s Broadcast Communications Division is opening a new Miami office this week.
Overseeing the new office is Nahuel Villegas, regional director for television and radio, Harris Caribbean and Latin America. The new facility will feature a showroom area to display various end-to-end content delivery value propositions as well as products and solutions from all business units within the Harris Broadcast Communications Division.
The new office is located at 703 Waterford Way, Suite 810, Miami, FL 33126. The office can be reached by phone at 786-437-1960.
For more information, visit www.harris.com.
New Products & Reviews
New Grass Valley Kayak HD switchers for NAB
Jan 30, 2006 11:36 AM
 Among several new features, the Kayak HD switcher now offers the new Grass Valley MatchDef option that provides a series of internal video input scalars. |
Grass Valley has expanded its family of Kayak HD switchers with new features and functionalities to meet a variety of multiformat SD and HD production requirements.
The Kayak HD switcher now offers the new Grass Valley MatchDef option that provides a series of internal video input scalars and allows users to:
- Insert SD sources into an HD production;
- Insert HD sources into an SD production;
- Cross-match dissimilar HD formats into either an HD or an SD project.
MatchDef processing enables the switcher to cross-scale from 720p sources to 1080i, while simultaneously up-scaling SD sources into the 1080i production.
The Kayak HD product line, whose models offer 10-bit video processing and are switchable between HD (1080i and 720p) and SD (525-line NTSC and 625-line PAL) formats, now includes seven different models. The models range from 1- to 3M/E in a compact or mid-sized footprint. At NAB2006, the company will also introduce several SD-only Kayak systems that can be upgraded to multiformat SD/HD production with a simple board swap.
Grass Valley has several products now shipping including the Kayak HD 100C, a 1M/E production switcher; the Kayak HD 150C, a 1.5M/E switcher; and the Kayak HD 200C, a 2M/E switcher with 2M/E control panel.
For more information, visit thomsongrassvalley.com.
Ascent Media Network Services selects Doremi Labs’ video servers
Jan 30, 2006 11:50 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Doremi Labs’ V1-HD and MCS video servers are being utilized for time zone delay functions at the Discovery Television and Technology Center in Sterling, VA, and at Ascent Media Network Services Asia, in Singapore. Thirty-one video channels are delayed in total: 19 video channels in Virginia and 12 in Singapore.
Fifteen Doremi MCS-2r2p video servers perform time zone delay of 30 SD video channel feeds. In addition, a Doremi V1-HD server delays a single HD video feed. The V1-HD uses high-quality JPEG2000 video compression and features independent record and play operation.
The MCS-2r2p features four independent channels: two record and two playback. Each MCS-2r2p can delay two video channels. The MCS server features high quality MPEG-2 4:2:2 video compression up to 50Mb/s.
The delay operation can be set from the front panel or via serial RS-422 for remote operation. The Doremi servers installed by Ascent Media are configured with dual-redundant power supplies and external RAID 5 or internal storage. The MCS server can delay SDI, YUV, S-video or composite video and up to eight channels of audio embedded on SDI. The V1-HD delays HD-SDI video and up to eight channels of audio.
For more information, visit www.doremilabs.com and www.ascentmedia.com.
Bexel to send upgraded EVS technology to Winter Olympics
Jan 30, 2006 11:55 AM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
EVS Broadcast Equipment’s latest technology platform and software suite is being configured into a variety of flyway packs at Bexel for travel to the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.
Bexel's packs include: 18 HD Live Slow Motion XT[2] live and studio broadcast production servers, three XFile archiving and gateway servers, XHub network routing hubs, and 25 IP Director video production management software suites.
Bexel has upgraded its XT servers for ingests and playout, combined with the EVS’s latest software production tools, such as IP Director. The EVS IP Director software is used for logging, browsing and control of the networked content being captured on EVS XT[2] servers.
For more information, visit www.evs.tv and www.bexel.com.
Ikegami joins with Telecast Fiber to target specialized HDTV acquisition
Jan 30, 2006 12:05 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 The Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension offers high-quality 1080i/60i or 720/60p image capture, and a variety of connectivity and control features for unique POV shots. |
The Ikegami HDL-40 offers high-quality 1080i/60i or 720/60p image capture, and a variety of connectivity and control features for unique POV shots, robotic surveillance, weather/traffic cameras, medical imaging, and studio camera use. The system eliminates the use of copper wires for interfacing the HDL-40 camera, and instead uses fiber optics for transmission over long distances (more than three miles).
The HDL-40 offers one-connector operation for HD/SDI camera output, as well as all camera controls and genlock. A bi-directional fiber optic link, the Telecast HD/POV module is designed to maintain the quality of the HD signal while providing multiple channels of high speed, duplex data for robotic pan-tilt-zoom and camera control, as well as tri-level sync signal to the camera.
The HDL-40 is box-type HDTV camera with 2/3in native 1080i CCDs, 720pCCDs, and multiformat CMOS sensors. It incorporates a 3.3 million-gate ASIC and can output two HD-SDI signals without a camera control unit.
For more information, visit www.Ikegami.com and www.telecast-fiber.com.
Public Broadcaster goes digital with SeaChange
Jan 30, 2006 12:15 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 SeaChange's MediaLibrary 24009e 45TB system |
KCET, the second largest PBS affiliate in Los Angeles, has upgraded its operations to a tapeless, file-based storage system from SeaChange International. SeaChange’s IP-based MediaClient architecture has supplied the station with massive centralized storage, content archiving and on-air transmission capabilities.
KCET has the ability to scale to more than 340TB of digital storage throughout its facility. KCET also integrated Harris automation software with SeaChange’s MediaClient architecture.
KCET centralizes multichannel on-air playout of its programming by using a SeaChange MediaLibrary 24009e 45TB system. In addition, SeaChange’s SATA-based MediaLibrary X12004 provides KCET with 12TB of near-line archive support.
For more information, visit www.schange.com.
German public broadcaster expands Chyron graphics systems
Jan 30, 2006 12:23 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Chyron has signed a contract with German public broadcaster, Südwestrundfunk (SWR), to provide training, commissioning and support via Chyron in Wiesbaden, for a number of new systems being installed in three locations across Germany.
SWR has added to its existing Chyron infrastructure by installing four of Chyron’s Duet HyperX CGs and three Chyron Duet LEX CGs with the Lyric compositing application. In addition, Chyron will supply 17 sets of the Lyric application for use with SWR’s Avid nonlinear editing suites.
Installed in SWR’s Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz facilities, the Chyron Duet HyperXs and Chyron Duet LEXs will enable SWR to create live 2-D and 3-D on-air graphics for its sports and news operations.
For more information, visit www.chyron.com.
Proposal approved to update 802.11g WiFi standard
Jan 30, 2006 12:27 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
The 802.11n task group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers approved the first draft of a new WiFi standard at a recent meeting in Hawaii.
Final vote was 184-0, with four abstentions. Final ratification of the standard is not expected until next year, and several revisions are expected to take place before that final standard is ratified.
The 802.11n WiFi update will allow notebook users to connect to wireless access points at much faster speeds than currently available with 802.11g technology. It will use a technology called multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO), which allows the use of multiple antennas that can each handle more than one data signal at a time.
This technique is expected to improve the range and throughput of 802.11n products to the point where they should be able to send video content around a house without interrupted playback. Products with 802.11n chips will be able to work with older 802.11a/b/g products at their slower speeds.
Production company chooses Fujinon lenses
Jan 30, 2006 12:32 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 The HA13x4.5BERM is a 2/3inch format wide-angle lens. |
KTV noted that many of its customers are replacing their existing wide-angle SD lenses with newer wide-angle HD lenses. Since acquiring their first HA13x4.5BERM lenses last summer, KTV has rented the lenses to mobile production companies and network television sports programs for last season’s Major League Baseball coverage, as well as for the current National Football League and National Hockey League seasons.
The HA13x4.5BERM is a 2/3in format wide-angle lens that is 4.5mm with a 93.6-degree horizontal field of view. It also comes with extender manual focus servo zoom.
For more information, visit www.fujinon.com.
WIGE buys Leader analyzers for HD mobile unit
Jan 30, 2006 12:42 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 Two Leader LV5700A multistandard HD/SD waveform monitors and five LV5750 ultra-compact instruments have been installed in the unit. |
WIGE Television has ordered seven Leader digital signal analyzers for its new 16-camera HDTV outside broadcast vehicle, HD1. The company is a subsidiary of WIGE Media, a European specialist in live sports broadcasting.
Two Leader LV5700A multistandard HD/SD waveform monitors and five LV5750 ultra-compact instruments have been installed in the unit.
The LV5700A and LV5750 give WIGE the option of supporting its onsite engineering staff via Leader’s FS3019 remote signal monitoring system. All five LV5750 analyzers are housed in the camera control area to ensure consistent color matching from incoming feeds. One of the LV5700A units is installed in the master control room and the other in the cable store at the rear of the vehicle where it is accessible during setup.
HD1 joins an existing fleet of five vehicles used primarily for sports and entertainment coverage. It is already scheduled for use during the summer 2006 World Cup Soccer season. Another WIGE HD OB truck will be ready in April.
For more information, visit www.leader.co.jp/english.
Dielectric to showcase mobile TV antennas at NAB
Jan 30, 2006 1:24 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 Dielectric's new antennas offer various pattern options. |
Dielectric Communications has announced an addition to its antennas for mobile media spectrum. The company has added a line of antennas and filters engineered for the 1.67GHz spectrum.
This new product range, to be shown at NAB2006, includes panel antennas as well as traveling-wave antennas. Both offer various pattern options. In addition, the unique approach of the traveling-wave design allows for a broad choice of beam tilt and gain without increasing the above-the-horizon radiation.
The mask filter has less than .3 percent bandwidth. The filter uses a pseudo-elliptic design with high Q dielectric resonators.
Dielectric’s Flash Technology will be introducing new products at NAB to its established line of M2M solutions. These condition-monitoring solutions are designed to save time and money by allowing users to access, monitor, and manage equipment remotely from anywhere in the world.
For more information, visit www.dielectric.com.
