BUF Technology
The BUFMC routing-switcher-control system from BUF Technology will be on display featuring a new graphical user interface (GUI) and network support. This support allows computer control of routers via an existing LAN. Another new product is the Sport option for the VTS-5000 slow-motion controller. It adds fast playlist and looping to the VTS-5000 slo-mo controller and also features a simple operator interface. A full-time record support feature allows marking cue points during live events and immediate playback while recording.
Another new feature for BUF's video-server controller is Spot, which stores panel setups on PCs and recalls to same or other Spot panels via the facility's in-house LAN. A second feature allows for playlist-entry-range cut and paste. Spot's new PBUS option loads clips when a Grass Valley switcher memory is recalled and switcher timeline triggers control playback. New free firmware for BUF's VTC-4000 Multi VTR Editing Controller features eight-audio-track arming for insert edits. The new auto-switch mode grabs control of six VTRs to jog/shuttle, then automatically switches control back to another external controller. A new GPI feature allows backspace editing on up to 10 VTRs via GPI contact closures during hands-on control of others.
Artesia
Artesia Technologies is introducing version 5.0 of its TEAMS digital asset-management system. It features a new user interface to support enhanced collaboration as well as automation of key processes. New metadata-management capabilities have also been added, including the ability to provide users with a personalized interface that guides them through the steps for importing content, entering metadata and categorizing an asset. The system has both a native Macintosh client as well as a cross-platform (Mac and Windows) Web client. It's designed to operate in Sun Solaris, Windows or Macintosh environments.
CSI
Communications Specialties Inc. will unveil its Pure Digital Fiberlink 7130 Series fiber-optic transmission system at NAB. The 7130 Series provides transmission of 15-MHz wideband composite video using 10-bit video processing and four independent audio channels over a single fiber. The company says it's ideal for long cable runs, either in a field or studio environment. For audio, the channels may be used for either two channels of stereo or four independent channels, and all-digital processing and signaling guarantees no crosstalk or intermodulation between channels. It's available in single-mode and multimode versions, in box or card version. The card units fit within the model 6000A rack-mountable card cage, sold separately.
Meteorlogix
MxWeatherSpan X, a new complete PC-based broadcast weather-graphics system from Meteorlogix, enables broadcast meteorologists to create images and animation. The workstation receives data continuously by satellite and automatically refreshes all clips and images with the latest data. A separate CPU (central processing unit) handles all rendering in the background so that users never have to actively manage the process. It also has a function called WxShow whereby clips are selected from the media library and dropped into sequence along a timeline. The clips can then be sorted, adjusted and played back as a complete show. The system also can create one centralized weather show that can be branded for several stations and a complete tool for creating and editing true 3-D graphics.
Ensemble Designs
Ensemble Designs' BrightEye analog-to-serial digital optical and electrical converter is designed to lock an internal frame synchronizer and will accept a range of analog video input formats and external timing references. Accepted inputs include composite, Y/C (S-video), SMPTE, Beta, RGB and SDI 601 as video inputs in PAL/NTSC (525/625). The product line will include several different varieties including SDI/electrical and optical input to analog conversion. Most BrightEye product will include internal time-base correctors and frame synchronizers. Compactness allows the device to be installed in a variety of physical locations. Conventional rack mounting is also possible, with 16 BrightEyes fitting in a 3RU-mounting frame.
Quartz
Quartz is introducing the dual-channel QMC-DVE option for the QMC master-control system, providing live and dynamic visual effects, such as picture sizing and positioning. Fully integrated into the QMC, it can provide control either through the QMC control panel or the automation system. The new option gives the QMC look-ahead preview capability to include upcoming DVE moves, even when a different DVE effect is already in use on the program output. DVE moves are fully configurable and can be stored and later recalled from the main panel. Pictures reduced in size include user-configurable crops and colored borders, with either hard or soft edges. An off-line DVE move manager, running on a PC, allows development, editing and download of moves to the QMC without disruption of on-air operations.
Brick House Video
Brick House is launching its second-generation VTB-2DC broadcast-specification SDI rack-mount 1RU switcher at NAB. The new unit provides eight inputs and offers optional analog/digital hybrid operation, with four of the inputs assignable as composite. On the output side, the VTB-2D has program and preview SDI and an assignable program/preview composite output. Four auxiliary SDI outputs can be used for source, program or preview distribution; the VTB-2D capabilities include functioning as an 8X6 router. The product is based on the architecture of the VTB-1D switcher but incorporates such enhancements as frame-store synchronizers—which allow the user to work with asynchronous sources, including satellite downlinks—and digital audio processing, including slave mixes. Another new feature is the addition of composite input and DSK options at very low cost. With respect to wipes and mixes, the switcher offers soft and variable width/hue border and variable-rate auto fade to black, has full editor capability, and can be controlled by most current switcher models, including Sony and Grass Valley. The VTB-2DC will also offer a single-layer dual-channel DSK as an option.
Radamec
Radamec Broadcast Systems will demonstrate a new Linux-based touch control panel with digital key-frame-control mode enabling camera moves previously achieved only by manual operation. Other new developments include control via IP system (enabling Web-based control) and enhancements to Radamec's ARC touch-screen control system. Also to be shown: an enhanced RP2A navigation system, which eliminates the need for targets on the studio floor or wall, and the Scenario-XR virtual-television production system, which can handle wide virtual studios by displaying in widescreen and renders ray-traced virtual studios in real time.
Asaca
Asaca has begun shipping FireFly, its fully electronic, non-robotic, random-access library based on the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA). The system is designed to deliver oversize video and data files in as many as 48 concurrent strings of data per library at 400 MB/s. It uses a silicon switched backplane with an interface that switches the disk in and out of the data circuit at 3 Gb/s. It also uses serial ATA hard-disk technology to offer 12-TB, 24-TB and 48-TB capacities at roughly 12 TB per square foot. In addition, up to 10 FireFlies can be tied together for almost half a petabyte of storage. Other features include the use of predictive failure analysis on every drive. Power consumption is low, clocking in at 1,000 W, vs. an equivalent system's up to 14,000 W of power per system.
Eyeheight
Iris, a new SDI digital production switcher with up to 12 inputs from Eyeheight, is designed for use in compact post-production studios, outside broadcast and mobile production vehicles and performs full 10-bit mixing with programmable mix times and automatic or manual transitions. It includes an input synchronizer plus an internal SDI reference, ensuring continued operation in the absence of source signals. Up to eight downstream keyers can be incorporated; it also has a wipe, edge and matte generator with user-adjustable edges. Crosspoints can be controlled by a program/preset pushbutton panel with T-bar vision mix/wipe.
