NAB TUESDAY UPDATE: NBC rejoins NAB, taps Isilon for Olympics

Isilon says that NBC Olympics will store the majority of its 2008 Beijing proxy and broadband content on an Isilon IQ server. That will allow NBC producers to have instant online access to digital media assets in realtime in both Beijing and New York…

…Shotoku Broadcast Systems showed a very neat two-unit, high-speed, pan and tilt camera system pointed squarely at the high-risk, live sports environment. Branded the S-Dash, the system is made of two separate units: a camera mounted on a universal pan and tilt head — the can spin 360 degrees in less than one second; and a controlling display and control arms located on a second set of sticks. The two units communicate through a wireless interface, and in limited tests the system had an old-school big camera feel that experienced operators should dig…

…Dalsa Digital Cinema displayed its new, smaller high-resolution 4K camera: the Evolution 4. The unit is perfect for the filmoid “NFL Films” end of the sports production business. The Evolution is true 4 K digital camera that supports most modern formats and is aimed squarely for the film industry. The camera matches a true HD CCD and hard drive, with film-like shutter and traditional film lenses. Think Panavision brought into the digital age. The camera is not for sale. And is available only for rental from Dalsa….

…Speaking of cameras, the high-speed camera geniuses over at Vision Research brought two mind boggling products to market: the Phantom 65 large-format film digital camera, and the Miro 3, a truly portable high-speed digital unit. The Phantom 65 is a best of class wide-format imaging system capable of production CinemaScope like images of 10 megapixel resolution at 125 frames per second with shutter speeds down near 1/500,000 of a second. Impressive stuff…

…The Miro 3 on the other hand, is the size of a half a brick, can shoot at 2000 pictures per second and take a 100 g shock: That means it can survive a full on car crash: Imagine the Sports Emmy speech that will get made when somebody finds a way to mount one of these babies in a NASCAR car bumber as it wipes out 13 other cars. At $24,500 that is not beyond the realm of possibility…

…And a last bit of camera news, Frontline Communications displayed a 48-foot tall HD tower cam. The unit is aimed at the small remote truck market, but it has true 1080P quality and gave a very nice high shot with minimal fuss. This unit could prove useful, particularly for the collegiate or high school sports market where good high, master shots are hard to find…

…Harris decided its booth was not simply big enough for its wireless TV ambitions: The company rented a coach, mounted its new MPH mobile broadcast system inside and hit The Strip for demos. MPH provides in-band local broadcasts to cell phone operators. And in this demo, the company seemed to be off to a good start. The MPH system muxes two new mobile video feeds inside the digital broadcast signal. The unit has a 12-mile range and works with a new generation of chips embedded in next-gen phones. Quality was decent in the test. And it will bring local content — the true spark of life for any wireless content service, just look at DirecTV — to the mobile phone…

…There was nice audio news. ProVideoSync showed an impressive desktop multi-camera syncing tool that can tie multiple shots of the same scene together. No need for live production synchronization tools: Shoot three free-standing cameras of any type and ProVideoSync syncs them up into a legitimate, frame accurate, multi-camera shoot…

…There was news in Teleprompters. Autoscript showed its Winplus studio teleprompter system. The unit runs off any PC and ports text out to a small display. The talent can either control the copy using a included knob controller, a foot pedal and, new this year, a voice recognition software package that ties the test of the reader…

…How’s this for lighting news: a true HMI, pro-quality production light that works in the pouring rain. Kobold showed its new DW series HMI production lamp that has been engineered to keep water out away from the hot filament. Kobold displayed the unit under running water. And it was cool to the touch even after being on for several hours. The unit comes in 200, 400, and 800 watt configurations and starts at $4,200…

…In general NAB news, after a seven-year hiatus NBC Universal will rejoin the National Association of Broadcasters. Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal, said, “It has never been more important for us to work together to ensure that television broadcasting remains a dynamic and competitive force in the marketplace for many years to come.”

…In satellite news GlobeCast selected Intelsat’s IS-9 and IS-904 satellites for contribution and distribution of the Cricket World Cup 2007, including all 51 matches. GlobeCast selected Intelsat’s satellites for their superior coverage of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions….

…One of the hot new technologies on the show is, believe it or not, related to the typically mundane tripod market. Canon and Vinten have jointly developed a technology that couples Vinten’s new Vector 950 head with Canon’s Optical Shift Image Stabilizer to help users of 86X and 100X lenses get steadier shots. By passing data from the head to the camera the system can tell the difference between a camera shaking because of crazy fans and one shaking because the camera person is moving it…

…Linear Acoustic has become a member of the Telos Group. It joins Axia, Omnia and Telos as the fourth member of the high-technology partnership. Terms of the merger were not disclosed at press time “We have spent five years developing successful digital audio processors and infrastructure products for the international television community” Carroll says. “There are clear and exciting synergies with what we are doing and their capabilities.”

In Brief
…FOR.A is demonstrating its HVS-1500HS and HVS 600HS Digital video switchers… Bogen Imaging was enthralling spectators with the Mantrotto tripod….A fantastic addition to NAB was the Fish Face camera from Polecam. Polecam’s Mel Noonan said this underwater technology has been acclimated already in Olympic swimming events…Stop by the Miller booth and speak with Miller Canada President Roger Rajotte detailed how their Boxx microwave systems are being used for football games in Australia…Be sure you stop by MediaFLO and visit Roundbox, the sports information provider for MediaFLO…The Weather Channel has put out a phenomenal technology called SportsWriter a high resolution HD interactive graphics writer…and stop by Greene HD Productions to check out the HDMC-1 mobile HD Television truck. The truck is designed for sports like Ultimate Fighting, wrestling and boxing and can handle up to 10 HD cameras, a tapeless environment, and has stadium style seating.