Video Breakthroughs

I suspected that this year's show wouldn't be as overloaded with new product as last year because most of the major players have already rolled out the flagships that will carry them for the next few years. I found this to be somewhat the case but not entirely as there were definitely a handful of "show stoppers" on display. The emphasis this year seemed to be much less on new, groundbreaking wares and more "this is what we're working with now, and here's how we can do it better."

While NAB is in many ways a portal of things to come, this year there were far fewer 3D announcements and a lot more emphasis on 4K which is evident in the current market as well. 3D has struggled to gain much, if any, traction outside of theatrical content and the resolution war is heating up now that all the major manufacturers are, or will be (IBC is next), intro-ing cameras offering greater than HD resolution. This is interesting because it's really not much different than the megapixel war with consumer digital cameras. Resolution while incredibly important is still relative to optics, image processing, presentation, and many other factors. Bigger isn't necessarily better though it's obviously a huge marketing opportunity for these vendors.

Ever since I saw the 3rd-generation iPad (2012), I began to have visions of its use for video journalism. Many of ProVideo Coalition magazine readers sent me private enthusiastic comments about my pre-NAB iPad articles like Avid now lets you edit video on your iPad for US$4.99. Should you?, Why an iPad is like a 4×5 view camera, and why you’ll need a black “focusing cloth” and later part 1 of my review called 1st handheld dynamic microphones with hybrid XLR/USB/iPad connectivity from Audio Technica. While I was translating/localizing brochures for Avid Latin America just before NAB 2012, I became aware that they were going to launch iNews Command for iPad. On the NAB 2012 floor, I saw several iPad video journalists. Ahead you’ll find several photos, a few videos, and comments about various iPad video accessories.

BBC R&D and Xilinx, Inc. have demonstrated a prototype camera-back device (Stagebox) at the National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB) that enables the transport of professional quality video over internet protocol (IP)-based networks. The BBC R&D Stagebox can be attached to the back of any broadcast-quality camera. Due to the integration of more system functionality onto a Xilinx field programmable gate array (FPGA), expensive and cumbersome SDI/audio/talkback and ancillary cabling can be replaced with a single network cable (fiber or Cat6). The small form factor device effectively expands the reach of video networks to remote production sites and studios using IP networks.

Once upon a time there was a small Australian company that made capture cards, I/O and monitoring devices, routers and converter boxes. But when Blackmagic Design purchased DaVinci three years ago and subsequently rolled out both a hardware-enhanced and software-only version of Resolve, the company made clear it was not afraid to jump into completely new product categories, upending expectations as it went.

It has since been in both acquisition (Teranex) and development mode (USB 3.0, Thunderbolt). And on Monday, Blackmagic took another Evel Knievel leap and introduced the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera, a 2.5K/1080HD camcorder that records uncompressed RAW, ProRes and DNxHD and features a built-in SSD recorder. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Neither did we.

Impressive demo video of a motion capture system working with 24 cameras.