For the second year in a row, a panel of independent judges toured the IBC exhibition floor for three days looking for innovative technology. The judges then met to make their selections based on multiple criteria, including the technical and financial improvements the product can bring to a facility's operation. Our editors and publisher have no vote in the selection process. Congratulations to the following manufacturers for their innovative and creative technology solutions!
The 2006 IBC Pick Hits judges:
John Batilloro,Media Asset Capital
Sid Guel,Consultant
Glenn Hall,Consultant
Stavros Hilaris,Ascent Media Systems & Technology Services
Lars Rikart Jensen,Danmon groupo
Viacheslav Karbanov,LiveTools Technology
Ian Nock,Blackarrow Consulting
Nigel Spratling,Mavens
M C Patel,MC&P Consultants Ltd
Hugh Waters,Water Technical Services
1-2-1VIEW
Ninja N106
+852 2180 9918
www.121view.com
The media player for digital signage systems can play MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video up to 8Mb/s from an IP network; is based on IP set-top box technology; weighs just 370g; its associated Media Management software allows multiple screens to be managed and monitored; is designed for any large or small system with multiple signage screens.
Abaltat
Muse
+353 87 248 2681
www.abaltat.com
The video-driven soundtrack composer examines selected elements in a picture and writes music to them; is designed for use by video editors; uses a combination of picture windows, timelines and keyframes; composes the music and plays out using MIDI and synthesizer plug-ins; outputs may be AIFF, WAV or MIDI files.
Accuscene
HDV20S
+44 845 453 4540
www.accuscene.com
The HD-resolution colour viewfinder can be used for the critical focusing of HD cameras, including units from Grass Valley, Panasonic and Sony; its 1280 × 848 FLCoS display does not suffer from the lag of conventional LCDs; integral scalar converts common camera resolutions and includes a user-defined colour matrix; built-in exposure meter uses a pseudo-colour display to indicate level.
Avocent
MPX1000
+1 256 430 4000
www.avocent.com
The HD multipoint extender provides wired or wireless connectivity for moving HD content from one source to one or more destinations incorporating High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) technology; high-res computer graphics, HD video, stereo audio and control data are wirelessly transmitted to as many as eight wireless or LAN-connected receivers.
Building4Media
Live Assist
+31 515 438 601
www.building4media.com
The software extends the functionality to play out pre-recorded clips during live events; features a start delay of just one frame (depending on the server), synced playout of multiple channels and looped playout.
Chyron
Channel Box
+44 118 916 8480
www.chyron.com
The HD/SD-switchable turnkey branding and automated promo system features a 2-D/3-D design and playout for branding applications, including tickers, crawls, snypes, promos and end-credits; a comprehensive set of real-time video, graphics, effects and audio capabilities can be either integrated with traffic and automation systems, or Channel Box can be used as a standalone control device.
Cinegy
Air
+49 89 23 88 53 60
www.cinegy.com
The software-based automation and playout server relies on open IT architecture; supports all standard video files from DV to 1080i HD MPEG-2 long GOP 4:2:2; offers control via TCP/IP interconnect; is scalable to hundreds of channels; supports closed caption and Dolby E pass-through; features live video input support for logo insertion and titles overlays.
Codex Digital
Media Recorder
+44 20 7292 6918
www.codexdigital.com
The high-res digital media recording system is designed to capture moving images and sound from HD digital motion picture cameras; is designed to be portable and highly reliable; can record in a variety of formats, from HD video and 2K digital all the way up to uncompressed 4K; can also be configured as a production server, delivering rushes in a variety of high- and low-res-formats across a virtual private network as required on-set or worldwide.
Deltron
RUN-HDS001
+44 1724 273200
www.deltron-emcon.com
Is designed to provide a low-cost alternative to HD-SDI splitters by splitting HD-SDI signals passively; the passive nature of the splitter ensures that the presence of the monitoring signal implies the main signal is present.
Dolby
DP600
+44 1793 84 2100
www.dolby.com
The program optimizer is designed for cable, satellite, IPTV and terrestrial TV broadcasters that employ a file-based infrastructure and workflow; includes intelligent audio analysis and an automated loudness normalization engine for many of the most common broadcast media file and audio formats in use today; offers Dolby E, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus encoding, decoding and transcoding, all in an open architecture.
Edirol
V-440HD
+44 20 8747 5949
www.edirol.de
Enables seamless mixing and switching of multiformat video signals, with the capability to input four SD video sources and four HD video or RGB computer sources; can also be used as an independent SD mixer or HD/RGB switcher with images of different aspect ratios (16:9 or 4:3); includes two keyers; with thru outputs and MIDI sync, multiple units can be connected for output to multiple screens (video walls).
Miranda
Xstation
+44 1491 820 000
www.miranda.com
Is an HD/SD channel-in-a-box playout server with integral channel branding graphics and playlist control; provides everything needed to create, schedule and air complete DTV-subchannels incorporating national, regional and hyper-local content; is built on the VertigoXG playout engine and Xmedia Suite; can operate standalone or can be integrated with existing traffic and station automation systems.
Mikrom
MVR100/Megacine
+49 30 398839 0
www.mikrom.com
The portable field recorder for digital cinema, HD or SD sequences has been developed for use on film sets and post production; offers a small size, comfortable handling and up to one hour of recording time for uncompressed image data; is stored on a raid array of up to 16 notebook hard disk drives with a current storage capacity of about 1TB.
Neptuny
Caplan IPTV
+39 02 2399 7115;www.neptuny.it
Helps IPTV platform operators make proactive strategic decisions through reporting, modeling and simulation, optimizing business and technical aspects; users can analyze and report key technical and business information in a set of pre-built analyses; what-if simulations can project future scenarios or evaluate alternative solutions.
Omneon
MediaGrid
+44 1256 347 400
www.omneon.com
Is a content storage system for broadcast workflows; the grid-based architecture provides an alternative to traditional SAN and NAS systems; combines shared storage with active functions for media processing of the stored content; a storage system can start at 5TB and scale to multiple petabytes without rebuild or partition.
OmniBus
iTX
+44 8705 00 4300
www.omnibus.tv
The software-based production and transmission solution uses standard IT hardware; the system software alone delivers automation, ingest, editing and basic content management; also acts as a video server, master control, graphics device and logo inserter; a flexible and intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows operators to monitor and control multiple channels on-screen simultaneously.
PacketVision
PV1000
+44 118 935 707
www.packetvision.com
The network-based delivery platform for IPTV-addressable advertising enables low-cost target ads, interactive ads and local ad insertion; combines all the functions of a video server, splicer, IP router and management system in a small, scalable unit; is provided as a service, with a transaction fee being charged when ads are inserted or a customer goes interactive.
Telemetrics
Teleglide
+1 201 848 9818
www.telemetricsinc.com
The camera track system provides a quick, smooth and quiet camera positioning in studio or sports applications; consists of dual trolleys for optimal load stabilization; is fabricated from lightweight aluminum; features easy mounting and joining with connection sleeves; the control system is fully servo-controlled, with location feedback for preset positioning.
Telescript
Reflex 8
+1 201 767 6733
www.telescript.com
Is a wireless tablet PC prompting system; uses an 8.4in tablet PC; the assembly mounts to all ENG and DV cameras, with an option of shoulder mounting; is supplied with Telescript JR teleprompting software; is designed to make field operations more convenient and mobile.
Wohler
Touch It Plus
+1 510 870 0810
www.wohler.com
Is a dual 7in widescreen LCD monitor panel with 12 composite video inputs; 12 thumbnail images appear on the left LCD monitor; touchscreen selection of a thumbnail routes the selected image to the target screen on the right at full size, and at a selected video output BNC; includes audio monitoring.
