Gilli's IBC Weekend Diary

I have spent the weekend surrounded by the industry’s finest minds and wisest investors from across the international electronic media spectrum. Here are the highlights of some of the amazing stands I visited so far.

Friday

What better way to kick-off the conference than witnessing recording star Will.i.am and Johan Jervøe, P/Sales & Marketing Group and Partner Marketing at Intel Corp, call for more innovation in broadcast.
"Connectivity is a fact of life. Whether it was early phonographs, and the radio, to gramophones, to music players, they were all linked," the singer said. "Now it's Twitter and Google and Facebook - and Intel, of course! It is all about engaging with people."
Will.i.am advised the industry in general to focus on creation and forget about money. "What if Google or Twitter were initially only about money? I am not sure they might have had the same success."
Re-imagine the future the star advised.
Canon are a company doing just that. At the imaging technologies' stand I viewed the acclaimed EOS C300, and saw two new 4K cameras – the EOS C500 and the EOS-1D C – on display, alongside an expanded range of 4K-resolution EF Cinema Lenses, which includes both Compact Zoom Lenses and Cine Primes. I was wowed by the high-quality broadcast lenses showcased, including the HJ17ex6.2B, DIGISUPER 80 and 76 Box Lenses and the pan-tilt XU-80.
Audio technology specialists HHB Communications made a number of announcements during their press conference. They have extended the 'Cable for Life' range of Mogami packaged products with the addition of high-quality Mini Jack Cables. The firm has been appointed the Master Distributor for DiGiCo's UB MADI 2.0 USB device in the UK and Ireland plus they are now the exclusive distributor for Yellowtec in the UK and Ireland. In addition to this they unveiled updates to both TC Electronics' loudness metering and monitoring solutions and Dynaudio Professional's loudspeakers. HHB Director of Sales Martin O'Donnell said: "With loudness conformity set for adoption in the UK during 2013 the ALC6 development from TC is perfectly timed and compliments an already impressive TC product range. Also, the new Dynaudio Professional DBM-50 monitors feature pioneering active loudspeaker technology with its angled design and broadcast-quality sound."
My next stop was the Cinegy stand where the new player was launched. The stand was packed which is understandable as the Press contact for Cinegy, Troy Patterson, revealed they were giving away licenses to the first 500 stand visitors.

Saturday

Saturday began with a celebration of Riedel Communications' 25th Birthday. What started as a radio rental company grew to become the leading provider of solutions for communication as well as wired and wireless signal transport for video and audio. Riedel's solutions have been embraced at numerous international events including Formula 1 races, World Championships and the Olympic Games. Leading broadcasting companies, prestigious theaters as well as governmental and industrial facilities have also utilized Riedel systems and services.
Sohonet were another company celebrating, the media and entertainment industry the data management firm, have announced that it will integrate Signiant's new Media Shuttle software into its customer portal and file exchange solution.
At the Clear-Com stand I witnessed the new Eclipse HX systems and EHX software being introduced at the show. Peter Stallard, Senior Product Manager, Eclipse, Clear-Com, told me: "In broadcast facilities where matrix intercom systems and resources are often shared across multiple studios, having fast and highly intuitive systems is critical when scarce engineering resources are needed to execute system-wide changes reliably, in real-time and with minimal impact on system users. Also, the Eclipse HX systems have the ability to make changes on the fly, which is especially important in OB vans and other live operations."
Over at the Anton/Bauer booth I saw a collaboration with Vitec Group sister company Integrated Microwave Technologies, LLC (IMT). Anton/Bauer's AB-HDRF System is a COFDM transmitter that utilizes the 5.8 GHz frequency band. The AB-HDTX sends its signal directly to the AB-HDRX dual-diversity receiver or the DirectVu handheld confidence monitor/receiver. The unit's size makes it ideal for reality-based, ENG/EFP and live event coverage.
My final booth visit of the day was to Screen Subtitling Systems. It has been less than a year since Screen acquired fellow broadcast technology company SysMedia and the full extent of their integration is evident. As pioneers and subsequent global-leaders in subtitle transmission, they have never before claimed to have a stronghold on the subtitle preparation market, a stance changed by the acquisition of SysMedia and consequent transfer of ownership of the WinCAPS family of products.

Sunday

Sony was the most exciting booth at IBC for me today. They have launched over 30 new products and updates this year at the show. You can view the PMW-150 handheld XDCAM, the PVM-741 OLED and an LMD-941W HD LCD monitor, the first 9"monitor to have a Full HD LCD panel resolution. This morning Sony delivered its 'Beyond HD' vision, as it attempts to lead the way in innovating in 3D, 4K and OLED. On the stage Sony welcomed global satellite operator SES to showcase the first ever live 4K satellite transmission direct from IBC to its newly launched 4K BRAVIA, and was also joined by FIFA to announce that together with HBS Sony will be delivering the OB production services for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil 2013.
On the Autoscript stand I viewed a wide range of professional teleprompting solutions with the E.P.I.C. (Enhanced Prompting Information Centre) making its European debut following its launch at NAB 2012. Brian Larter, Managing Director, Autoscript, said: "The
E.P.I.C. has received an incredibly enthusiastic reception so far, and we are excited to introduce it to the IBC audience. All our products and solutions are designed with our clients' needs in mind, and we strive to enhance the production process with reliable, high quality products that integrate easily into workflows and provide peace of mind to presenters and producers alike."
I next met with Peter Savage, the Managing Director of Azule Media Finance. Peter said the firm, which provides traditional leasing/hire purchase and specialist finance solutions, has been going "from strength to strength" this year taking on board new clients and
supporting existing companies.
I visited a lot of well-designed stands at the conference. One of the most impressive belongs to Pixel Farm who were working from a cow shed-style booth. Here the developer of image processing systems for VFX, DI and restoration, were showcasing the PFDepth: a new, fully integrated toolset for total scene reconstruction, 2D-to-3D conversion and depth map creation.
Over at the LiveU stand, the provider of portable HD video-over-cellular solutions, showcased its compact, lightweight LU40-S uplink device for broadcast media at IBC2012, incorporating LiveU's proprietary internal antenna for additional resiliency in
areas of poor cellular coverage. The LU40-S offers rich new features and capabilities for live newsgathering, including: low latency for interview-mode; local storage store and forward; file transfer (FTP); video and audio indicators; under one minute boot-up time; and the ability to control the unit from its touch screen, the server or from any web enabled device.
There are so many exciting things to do and see at IBC 2012 I'm looking forward to the next two days at the show.
(GK)