April 2012 – Las Vegas, NV – Xilinx had three major themes for the NAB show this year – (1) display targeted solutions for high resolution, (2) source code availability for thier real time solutions, and (3) a video over IP solution. The display technology was shown based on the new kintex7 FPGA. Using a [...]

 March 2012 – We recently tested the SanDisk Extreme 240GB SSD for the commerical marketplace. This drive has a SATA III (6Gbps) interface and features SanDisk’s 24nm Flash cells as the core memory. This is a desktop and oriented drive that come in an eco freindly minimalist package without the mounting bracket, SATA cable, or [...]

March 2012 – Samsung has recently introduced their new consumer oriented SATA III (6Gbps) SSD the 830Series. This is a desktop and oriented drive that come with the mounting bracket, SATA cable, power cable, and software. The current kit includes both the Samsung SSD software and a copy of Norton Ghost to aid with drive [...]

 NAB, Las Vegas—We interviewed Render Rocket about their business and technology. Their claim to fame is a scalable 3-D render engine that operates in the cloud. The mission control module reserves and monitors time on the server(s) and enables cross-market use. The tools are being driven by the ongoing cost cutting and reductions in capital [...]

 NAB, Las Vegas—We talked with 3ality Technica about rigs and other equipment.3ality Digital acquired (bought) the company Element Technica. Now they are one single company, called 3ality Technica, which merges the complementary expertise of both companies. 3ality Digital created 3D rigs, using a tool kit which included algorithms and image processing technology to solve problems, [...]

 NAB, Las Vegas—We spoke with CentralParQ, a Dutch company about their workflow framework. Their solution includes a combination of hardware and software for managing and tracking assets from ingest through production. Part of their offering is a cloud-based set of modules that optimize metadata and other information. The system can track physical media through the [...]

 NAB, Las Vegas—We talked with Active Storage about their video optimized storage platforms, that are focused on the ingest through near-line editing and production. Content needs are increasing as broadcasters move to multiple screens, while the time available to show that content is dropping. The company is trying to address these issues by making products [...]

 We talked with Rakesh Agrawal from SnapStream about a metadata-based content search system that organizes storage and search functions. The system can handle 10 channels per unit, and units can be cascaded for greater capacity. The system uses closed captioning and time codes to generate data streams for search. This equipment can be integrated into [...]

 NAB, Las Vegas—We met with Fraunhofer Alliance Digital Cinema and talked about the research organization and its work in next generation technologies for video. The organization has an international presence with the main research facilities in Germany, in Erlangen, Berlin, and Ilmenau. Other facilities are in the US and in Asia. The four main institutes [...]

 April 17, 2012, NAB, Las Vegas—We talked with Simon Frost and Fabio Murra from Ericsson Television. The company has been supplying equipment to the broadcast industry for many years. They produce a number of product lines to address all phases of broadcast operations. Now they are helping networks move TV into a full digital flow [...]