Boston first hosted Macworld in August of 1993 and it was there I bought a $2,500 Radius VideoVision I/O board that worked with Adobe Premiere v2.0. The year was a pivot point for the low-end NLE market as it transitioned from “barely workable” as I describe in this VideoVision review, to “quite practical.”

For editors, production and post technology will be the focus of their interests at 2017 NAB.

Despite the fact that most broadcasters have been slow to embrace 4K production in their news studios, there are a few that have installed the latest cameras in an effort to produce a master file for archiving. They include non-traditional media organizations like Facebook Live, Netflix and YouTube, which all maintain 4K production studios that are made available to users with significant online followers.

Consultant Gary Olson offers his thoughts on what NAB 2018 could, or should, offer attendees. It’s time for a look into his technology crystal ball.

A recent report looked at four digital storage technologies; hard disk, solid-state, optical and tape. While each offers its own advantages, choosing the one (or more) best suited for your application requires careful consideration. The differences are significant and for those who create media, being able to safely store and then years later recover that content without errors is often their number one concern.

Several industry technology practices can be observed as more broadcasters and content creators migrate their systems to IP-enabled broadcast infrastructures.

We’re all familiar with the annual awards programs given to films like the Academy Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and others. And most movie fans also know about the accolades given for animation and visual effects (VFX). But how many recognize the critical back-end technologies that make these films possible in our digital age today?

As the IOC prepares the largest 8K UHD production yet, from the Winter Olympics in South Korea, it’s worth asking if this ultra-high resolution format will ever be broadcast wider than the shores of Japan. In short, the answer is negative, but that won’t stop vendors developing a full production chain, just in case.

CE vendors are starting to push Ultra HD Premium television receivers, but what does it mean for the consumer, what can they watch in UHD and what are the implications upstream for content distributors and creators?

ITU recommendation BT.2020 standardised UHD television parameters, opening the door to the delivery of 4K content to the viewer. 2020 defines the resolutions, 2160P and 7680P, and frame rates up 120fps. The recommendation included a new colorimetry: a wider colour space with new colour primaries. It also recommended the uses of an alternative electro-optical transfer function (EOTF) to the existing gamma of cathode ray tubes (CRT) that would allow for an increased dynamic range. Surprisingly, gamma was not formally defined until 2011 in BT.1886, a bit late for the CRT. 

A PR executive asked me this week, “… is streaming is considered broadcast…?” At first I was taken aback at getting such a question from an industry person. My response was “You bet!” I then asked myself, why that would even be a question.