IBC honors Sam Chisholm with award for excellence

Sep 15, 2005 9:46 AM, IBC Update e-newsletter

The IBC International Honor For Excellence (IHFE) has been awarded to Sam Chisholm in recognition of his contribution to broadcasting in Europe and Australia.

For 15 years, Chisholm was the chief executive and managing director of Australia's the Nine Network. He is regarded as one of the most successful executives in Australian television history. Chisholm took Nine Network from last place in the market to a long-standing position of dominance in programming, ratings and revenue.

An international jury, chaired by IBC's Peter Owen, was impressed by Chisholm’s consistent ability to deliver high ratings and a profitable business with a combination of strong programming and innovative technology.

His unique contribution was to lay the foundation for the creation of British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). BSkyB is now one of the world’s most successful satellite broadcasters. It has set the benchmark for subscription television in many parts of the world. Though Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation was the founder and majority shareholder, it was Chisholm who turned the Murdoch vision into a reality.

The IBC International Honor for Excellence, formerly known as the IBC John Tucker Award, is presented every year to an individual, group or organization demonstrating excellence in innovation and furthering media technology. The award reflects the essence of IBC, which is about the creation, management and delivery of entertainment content.

For more information, visit www.ibc.org.

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Broadcast Engineering World Edition announces IBC Pick Hits winners

Sep 15, 2005 11:25 AM

Broadcast Engineering World Edition is proud to unveil the winners of its IBC2005 Pick Hits award. The award was handed out for the first time at IBC this year. Twenty winners were chosen as having the top products and services at the conference. Pick Hits winners, similar to the award given annually at the NAB conference in Las Vegas, are determined by an elite group of judges who are actively involved in the broadcast, production, cable or satellite industries. Check out the Broadcast Engineering World Edition November issue for complete coverage.

And the winners are…

Pick Hits winners may download logos by clicking here.

Link Research wins Wayne award

Sep 15, 2005 10:02 AM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Link Research has won the 2005 Peter Wayne Award from the International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) for its cellular diversity wireless camera system.

The company emerged as the winner from a field of 52 entrants, including TANDBERG Television, which was nominated for its HD video encoder, and Mediornet for its X Xwitch Optical Network.

This year’s award is the second for Link Research.

For more information, visit www.theiabm.org.

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Thomson Grass Valley launches Infinity lineup

Sep 15, 2005 12:09 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Grass Valley’s new Infinity line supports a variety of SD/HD video formats via 14-bit digital signal processing, Iomega, REV PRO and CompactFlash media.

The Infinity Series includes a digital media camcorder, a digital media recorder and a new line of media and peripheral devices.

The Infinity digital media camcorder and the Infinity digital media recorder provide for plug-and-play addition into existing network. The Infinity Series uses IT-based disk drives and IT-based storage solutions.

The Infinity ENG and EFP camcorder features 14-bit digital imaging with advanced video processing, The camcorder uses off-the-shelf Iomega REV or REV PRO removable disks and professional-grade CompactFlash solid-state memory as recording and playback media.

The Infinity camcorder provides a choice of video formats and standards selectable within the camera, including 525i60, 625i50, 1080i50, 1080i60, 720p50, or 720p60. SD formats are selectable in either 16:9, 4:3 or letterbox aspect ratios.

For more information, visit www.grassvalley.com.

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AJA introduces KONA LH 10-bit uncompressed video capture card

Sep 15, 2005 12:26 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Supporting native 10-bit uncompressed resolution, KONA LH provides optimum quality for SD and HD.

AJA Video has announced the immediate availability of its new KONA LH, a 10-bit uncompressed video capture card for editing on the Apple G5 with Final Cut Studio.

The PCI card is available for OSX and Final Cut Studio and offers HD and SD analog and digital I/O in one card.

Supporting native 10-bit uncompressed resolution, KONA LH provides optimum quality for SD and HD, the highest available quality based on SMPTE SDI standards.

It supports various codecs, such as DVCProHD, HDV playback, and DV50, with hardware acceleration on-board for the playback of DVCProHD, HDV and Apple's Dynamic RT Extreme. Acceleration frees up the G5 to do more.

For more information, visit www.aja.com.

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Macromedia announces Flash Media Server 2

Sep 15, 2005 12:36 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Macromedia has unveiled Macromedia Flash Media Server 2, server software offering traditional streaming media capabilities and a flexible development environment.

The new release complements the recently announced Macromedia Flash Professional 8 and Flash Player 8.

Flash Media Server 2 is the foundation for delivering both recorded and live Flash Video in large-scale deployments, such as video on demand, live Web broadcasts, MP3 streaming, video blogging and video/audio chat applications. The new release introduces new scalable Edge-Origin servers, an optional, enterprise-ready architecture that simplifies load balancing, failover, and clustering to ensure reliability and scalability of streaming rich interactive experiences.

For more information, visit www.macromedia.com/go/fmsannounce.

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Canopus EDIUS Pro 3 to support JVC GY-HD100U ProHD camera

Sep 15, 2005 12:48 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

At IBC2005, Canopus unveiled EDIUS Pro 3 real-time video editing solution will support JVC’s new GY-HD100U full-resolution ProHD progressive camera and BR-HD50U videocassette recorder.

EDIUS Pro 3 will provide real-time capture and processing for JVC’s 720p format via the IEEE1394 interface. EDIUS Pro 3 also provides real-time 720p component output with the company’s EDIUS NX for HDV, EDIUS SP for HDV, EDIUS SD and EDIUS HD nonlinear editing systems.

For more information, visit www.canopus.com.

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WiNetworks demonstrates broadcast quality video over WiMAX

Sep 15, 2005 12:56 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

WiNetworks unveiled Hybrid WiMAX DVB, an application that performs real-time video streaming via WiMAX that’s integrated with an existing DVB infrastructure.

The Hybrid WiMAX DVB technology creates a two-way broadband network with an always-on return channel for interactive TV services, such as video on demand and interactive gaming and polling.

Hybrid WiMAX DVB lets customer order a streaming video from a typical DVB set-top-box. The request is transmitted in real-time to the DBS regional VoD server, over the always-on return channel provided by the WiMAX network. Once the IP video content is delivered through the WiMAX connection, the Hybrid WiMAX DVB technology converts it into the DVB format and delivers it to the existing set-top-box for customer viewing. The embedded QoS algorithm assigns higher priority to the video content over the other WiMAX-delivered data services allowing high quality viewing.

For more information, visit www.winetworks.com.

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Inlet Technologies introduces Semaphore and Releases Fathom 2.1

Sep 15, 2005 1:02 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Inlet Technologies released Fathom 2.1 and introduced Semaphore 1.0 at IBC2005.

Fathom, a real-time encoding solution for Windows Media Video HD content, is designed to improve post-production workflow. It combines a hardware-encoding engine with analysis software to deliver smaller file sizes, better quality output and greatly reduces processing time.

Version 2.1 of Fathom adds additional efficiency-enhancing features, such as MediaCat, for concatenating content from multiple tapes for encoding into a single project. It also includes Semaphore, a software analysis tool that improves the quality control process and gives content creators, compressionists and video engineers more mastery over their encoding projects. Semaphore is now available as a part of the Fathom suite or as a stand-alone software product.

For more information, visit www.inlethd.com.

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da Vinci, DVS team up to enhance 2K Plus, CLIPSTER

Sep 15, 2005 1:13 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

da Vinci Systems has collaborated with CLIPSTER maker DVS to improve the nonlinear functionality of its 2K Plus image enhancement solution.

da Vinci’s interface for the DVS CLIPSTER features many enhancements that free colorists to make artistic decisions without having to update window positions manually.

Version 4.0 of the 2K Plus software includes the new interface developed for the DVS CLIPSTER. When sizing changes are made to an image with the CLIPSTER, the size and position of PowerWindows in the 2K Plus is updated automatically.

The new interface also features other enhancements specifically for the CLIPSTER, such as queued stepping and transport control.

For more information, visit www.dvs.de and www.davsys.com.

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PESA expands routing solutions with Cheetah 128NE, 128XE, 128WE frames

Sep 15, 2005 1:19 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Cheetah 128NE/XE/WE frames are cost-effective solutions built on PESA’s Cheetah analog and digital routing switchers.

The Cheetah 128NE, 128XE and 128WE routers are designed to offer the same functionality provided by the 64 other Cheetah models introduced earlier this year.

The Cheetah 128NE offers a 128x128 routing matrix requiring one power supply that’s less than 600W to drive the compact 7RU system. The 128NE also supports PESA’s Matrix WatchDog redundant crosspoint matrix.

The 11RU Cheetah 128XE lets users select between a 128x128 configuration with output options, or output expansion up to 128x256 without option slots available. As an alternative, the Cheetah 128WE, also in 11RU, supports a 128x128 configuration with all output options available and support for Matrix WatchDog.

For more information, visit www.pesa.com.

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Telecast's Rattler HD/SDI mini transceiver makes European debut

Sep 15, 2005 1:34 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

The fiber optic transmitter and receiver modules offer high-performance, interference-free transmission of digital video signals.

The Rattler's red transmitter module accepts an uncompressed SDI signal on its 75 ohm coax input, equalizing up to 153yds of coaxial cable at high-definition speeds, and converts it into an optical data stream via a standard ST connector. The blue receiver module at the other end of the link reconverts the signal back to an electrical HD/SDI signal via a BNC output. The durable, 3in devices weigh 1.8oz and receive power from DC adapters or conventional powered USB hubs via the Rattler's mini-USB connector.

For more information, visit www.telecast-fiber.com.

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Telairity shows HD H.264 encoder based on Telairity-1 processor

Sep 15, 2005 1:43 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Telairity Semiconductor demonstrated an HD H.264 video encoder based on its Telairity-1 processor architecture at IBC2005.

Telairity showed H.264 HD video encoded to the new H.264 standard using its AVClairity encoding software with Telairity-1, a new microprocessor architecture targeting real-time H.264 high-definition video encoding and other video and imaging applications.

AVClairity HD video encoding software supports AVC level 4.0 for broadcast encoding at HD resolutions of 720p60 and 1080i60. Encoder products built using AVClairity on Telairity-1 will be used to create H.264 HD broadcast video encoding systems that offer bandwidth savings of more than 50 percent relative to MPEG-2 encoders.

For more information, visit www.telairity.com.

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Harris demonstrates live DVB-H

Sep 15, 2005 1:50 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Harris’ Atlas DTV-660 transmitter

Harris’ IBC demonstration featured UDcast’s multi-protocol encapsulator for data insertion, its fully DVB-H compatible Synchrony Single Frequency Network (SFN) adapter and its fully DVB-H compliant Atlas DTV-660 transmitter.

DVB-H allows simultaneous transmission of multichannel television, radio, video, audio and IP data to a range of multimedia receivers, including cellular phones, PDAs, PCs and other handheld devices. DVB-H uses MPEG-4 AVC, Windows Media 9, AAC and other advanced video coding and bandwidth-efficient compression technologies to deliver high-quality services to small-screen devices.

For more information, visit www.broadcast.harris.com.

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Merging Technologies launches Vcube HD-2K

Sep 15, 2005 1:55 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

VCube HD-2K can be used as a HD VTR replacement, a Dual-Link 4:4:4 recorder and for several other applications.

Merging Technologies made the European launch of its new VCube HD-2K system at IBC2005.

The system has a range of applications and is capable of uncompressed 1920x1080 high-definition video resolution and more than 30 different SD/HD video formats.

VCube HD-2K is a versatile system designed for multiple SD/HD video applications in a variety of video environments where the recording, playback and manipulation of HD or SD video is needed. VCube HD-2K can be used as a HD VTR replacement, a Dual-Link 4:4:4 recorder, a frame store for graphics or animation, an SD/HD digitizing station for network servers or as a 24fps screening system for film dubbing, screening or digital cinemas.

The system offers the ability to convert any video format to any other format and open multi-layer OMF compositions from a drive or directly from an Avid Unity server.

For more information, visit www.merging.com/vcube.

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FOCUS Enhancements introduces FireStore FS-2E

Sep 15, 2005 2:03 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

The FireStore FS-2E features a number of standard audio and video I/O options, including SDI with embedded audio, DV25, component, composite and S-Video.

FireStore FS-2E uses the company’s DTE technology to record video to FireWire disk drives in edit-ready, native, DV-NLE file formats.

Designed as a broadcast tape deck replacement, the FireStore FS-2E features a number of standard audio and video I/O options, including SDI with embedded audio, DV25, component, composite, S-Video, AES/EBU digital audio and balanced analog audio. The FS-2E is designed to interface with standard control protocols such as RS-422, RS-232C, AV/C and GPI.

For more information, visit www.focusinfo.com.

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Omneon unveils ProBrowse clip manager

Sep 15, 2005 2:09 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Omneon Video Networks has introduced the Omneon ProBrowse, a complementary system to the Omneon Spectrum media server for creating and displaying low-resolution (proxy) versions of full-resolution material contained within the server system.

Automatic proxy generation, coupled with user-selectable thumbnail images and metadata searching, simplify clip identification and viewing for more efficient operations enterprise-wide.

The Omneon ProBrowse System monitors content directories within any number of networked Omneon Spectrum servers and automatically generates 1Mb/s low-resolution versions of all material, including any new material being ingested or copied into the Omneon Spectrum system via live recording or IP transfer.

For more information, visit www.omneon.com.

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Just Edit announces vsnmacsharer for Final Cut Pro

Sep 15, 2005 2:20 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

JustEdit has introduced vsnmacsharer, the content manager for Windows, and now MacOS.

It has functions similar to those of vsnnetsharer, the content manager for network production systems using shared servers. Content from NLEs can be uploaded faster than real time directly to broadcast video servers without the need for tapes or VTRs.

Working in an SQL server environment, vsnmacsharer allows Final Cut Pro users to catalog and store material on a shared server by categories. Storing material only requires providing a title and description. The folders’ physical paths are hidden. Searches are done using keywords and once the clips have been found they can be viewed in low resolution.

For more information, visit www.vsn-tv.com.

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Tamblin integrates Inscriber graphics systems to expand product lineup

Sep 15, 2005 2:50 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

Leitch Technology has announced that UK interactive TV software provider Tamblin, has selected the Inscriber Inca RTX for integration into its i-ZoneTV product suite and expanded delivery platforms to include on-air graphic systems.

Enabling broadcasters to develop custom graphic applications, Inca RTX is flexible and capable of real-time 2-D and 3-D graphics, video and animation. Inca RTX allows users to provide up-to-the-minute data in sports, weather and elections, as well as dynamic graphics and effects within interactive programs, game shows and shopping channels, or for covering live-on-location events.

For more information, visit www.leitch.com and www.tamblin.com.

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E! relies on Globecast for ‘Store & Broadcast’ delivery system

Sep 15, 2005 3:05 PM, IBC Update e-newsletter

E! Entertainment Television has partnered with GlobeCast to create a customized store and broadcast channel delivery system designed to centralize and automate six E! International Network feeds across Europe and Asia Pacific.

The partnership allows E! to tailor GlobeCast's proprietary Store & Broadcast content management delivery system by incorporating the specifications needed by the network to complete an all new digital delivery solution for international channels.

To meet E! Networks' delivery specifications and to customize the GlobeCast Store & Broadcast system, E! engineered its own SCTE35 decoder box. The proprietary hardware and software allows the system to send cue triggers via the E! transport stream.

By using GlobeCast Store & Broadcast, E! is able to deliver six distinct feeds in an cost effective manner. The E! International Network currently needs to distribute six distinct program streams with separate language tracks and subtitling to multiple countries around the world. In the future, E! plans to add localized content to these feeds. E! now has the ability to manage these global transmissions digitally, without the cost of creating and delivering six separate linear feeds.

For more information, visit www.eonline.com and www.globecast.com.

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