Video over IP and tapeless video recording are likely to dominate news acquisition developments at this year’s NAB convention April 17-22 in Las Vegas, NV.
While news directors, journalists and videographers attending the annual industry event might naturally be drawn to the program put on by the RTNDA, many important developments are likely to surface on the exhibit floor. Look for advancements in:
Video over IP
Expect to see the number of vendors offering different approaches to video via IP-based networks. While point-to-point microwave and satellite newsgathering remains the tried-and-true method of delivering reports from the field, video over IP, whether it is a wireless LAN, a broadband or even a phone connection, is emerging as an important alternative.
Among the developments in this arena will include:
Streambox's ACT-L3 mobile video transport
- Streambox:Will offer two basic applications for newsgathering, a real-time encoding and transport application for live video delivery and ACT-L3 QuickTime codec for off-line store and forward encoding.
- On2 Technologies:Will show various video compression products, but in this area it will exhibit with its partner Quicklink. QuickLink will demonstrate an enhanced version of its laptop newsgathering (LNG) software.
Tapeless field recording
The names that dominated tape-based ENG acquisition are vying for the business of news directors as they bring their tapeless offerings to market. Developments in this area are likely to include:
- XDCAM products:Sony, which says it has shipped more than 1000 units to date, relies on a 405nm blue-violet frequency lasers to record video onto optical media. Expect to see greater interoperability with third-party vendors.
Panasonic's AJ-SPX800- P2 products:Panasonic will show and release the first of its solid-state memory card based ING IT newsgathering products, including the AJ-SPX800 2/3-inch camera, the AJ-SPD850 studio recorder, the AJ-PCD10 card drive, and the AJ-P2C004 4GB and AJ-P2C002 2GB cards.
- Editcam:Ikegami will show the latest advancements to its hard disk-based recorder, the DNS-33W, including a new LCD interface. The new DNE-31 hard drive recorder will support 10 different compression rates.
- Z-3000/CR-D10:Hitachi will likely show the latest developments to its DVD-RAM and DVD-R disc camcorder.
Gadgets and gizmos
While there will be lots of goodies for field acquisition on the floor at NAB, one in particular addresses the need for power in the field. Jadoo Power Systems' NABII professional video camera power system will make its debut at the convention. The NABII is a fuel cell-based ENG camera power system that is hot-swappable and has a run time that’s more than three times greater than conventional batteries.
For more information, please visit:
Streambox: www.streambox.com
On2 Technologies: www.on2.com
QuickLink: http://194.162.230.14/demo_studio/demo_studio.asp
Sony: http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Professional
Panasonic: www.panasonic.com/broadcast
Ikegami: www.ikegami.com
Hitachi: www.hdal.com
Jadoo: www.jadoopower.com
