Archive of the Press Conferences Category

Also a bit light on product introductions—especially smaller camcorders—was Sony’s Sunday press conference. In the company’s defense, it’s unleahed a whole bunch of handheld HDV and XDCAM EX models in the past 12 months, so evidently the company has extracted itself from the industry’s traditional NAB-centric product release cycle.

So, what is new for Sony at NAB 2009? First, the SRW-9000 is the first camcorder based on the HDCAM SR format. It’s intended as a mobile, Steadicam-friendly B-camera to the Sony F23. The SRW-9000 has 2/3in. CCDs and a 14-bit A/D converter. As standard, the camcorder does 4:2:2 10-bit recording at 1080/23.98P, 24P, 25P, 29.97P, and 1080/50i/59.94i. It can also record 4:2:2 1080/50P/59.94P. Full 4:4:4 recording and output is possible via the optional HKSR-9003 RGB 4:4:4 processing board. The SRW-9000 will be available in December; pricing has not yet been determined. more

As mentioned in the post about Panasonic’s new AVCCAM model, the HMC40, Panasonic announced a lot of its new gear a couple months ago in advance of the NAB show. That includes the around-$10K, shoulder-mounted P2 HD / AVC Intra-shooting HPX300, which Barry Braverman reviewed for the current issue of millimeter.

Then there’s a pair of products, available later this year, that seem to be made for each other. The AG-HMR10 AVCCAM recorder (battery-powered, 3.5in. LCD screen, HD-SDI I/O, $2,650) connects to the AG-HCK10 camera head (newly developed 1/4in. 2Mpixel 3MOS imagers, 12X zoom, $2,100) via a cable up to 10 meters long. The HMR10 recorder controls the camera head’s iris, focus, and zoom and records 1080i/720p HD to SD cards, like one of Panasonic’s more traditional AVCCAM cameras. (The setup recalls Sony’s new HXR-MC1, reviewed by D.W. Leitner in February.) more

In the theater within its booth space, Panasonic hosted its annual press conference this afternoon. Like Sony’s that followed, it was scaled down compared to press conferences of years past, both in terms of venue and product launches. (To be fair, Panasonic announced quite a bit before the show.)

The big product news for Panasonic is the AG-HMC40, a compact handheld AVCCAM model that features three 1/4″ CMOS chips and a built-in 12X zoom in a 2.2lb. chassis. According to the press release, here are the flavors of MPEG-4-based AVCHD that it shoots: more

Harris had its press conference on Sunday. This news is coming a bit late, of course, but that’s probably because the conference was aimed more at broadcasters than content producers, so it’s a bit outside our usual area of coverage. Still, you’ll want to pay attention to this news, as it has implications for the new ways the public will be accessing and viewing video in the next few years.

Among the news about its various broadcast systems (servers, routers, DTV transmitters), Harris also discussed its MPH initiative that it’s undertaking with display manufacturers Zenith and LG. MPH, which stands for “mobile/pedestrian/handheld,” aims to send video to mobile devices via “in-band” transmission — over the air, within the existing digital spectrum available to broadcasters. more

In yesterday’s blog I didn’t get a chance to describe Sony’s press conference, so let’s catch up.

Sony is the largest exhibitor at NAB and their Sunday press conferences are large, slick affairs. I’ve genuinely enjoyed them through the years, though Sony as well as Panasonic could learn a thing or two from Apple, whose stage personalities memorize their presentations. Robotic readings, unnatural eyelines from footlight teleprompters, jokes fed from prepared text—it’s not pretty. Neither are taped testimonials from smiley-faced Christian evangelicals representing megachurches delighted with their Sony HD systems.

I’ve nothing personally against this market segment, but I squirmed at the mention of Jesus Christ to a mixed, international audience. What this sort of thing is doing at a Sony press conference full of trade journalists—for the second year in a row–is anyone’s guess. A Jewish journalist friend of mine from Moscow sitting in the next row looked uncomfortable, if not quietly flabbergasted. more

Autodesk laid out its NAB plans today. One might expect a relatively quiet NAB from the 3D/visual effects company that’s responsible for Maya, 3ds Max, and the Smoke/Flame/Flint/Inferno/Toxik series of high-end visual effects and finishing tools.

After all, IBC in September was the venue for the release of the company’s 2008 versions of the aforementioned VFX/finishing software. But as Mark Petit, SVC of Media & Entertainment for Autodesk said, “It’s not about thinking different but acting faster.” This six-month release cycle might be difficult to maintain, but Petit noted that at NAB 2008, the company will begin to shape next year’s versions in “behind-the-scenes meetings” at the show.

So what’s new for the 2009 line, which will be available at the end of the month? A few highlights: Smoke 2009 gets a new tree-based compositing workflow called Batch FX, designed to pump up the finishing platform’s visual effects chops and to open up the workflow between the editing timeline and effects. Smoke also gets a new, lower price tag that’s aimed at mid-tier post and broadcast facilities: systems now start at $64,000 (including storage). more

Following up on Cynthia’s note about the JVC booth: I just left the JVC Press Luncheon, where the HD250 Libre package mentioned by Cynthia was prominently promoted. As Cynthia stated, JVC has added a BMS wireless microwave transmitter to the camera to offer what the company says is wireless HD transmission capabilities well suited for live remote broadcast ENG work.

I was struck by the irony of the fact that, just over a year ago I wrote stories for Millimeter on the limited use of Wireless RF technology at the Winter Olympics and other events, and noted how the transmission of wireless HD signals was a big deal back then. JVC, and others, now say that wireless ENG work with true HD cameras is eminently feasible these days. That’s a 12-month turnaround from difficult to feasible. Typical of how our industry is evolving, as those of us at NAB right now are seeing first-hand.

–MG

I still have Sunday on my mind. So much innovation to absorb. From Samsung, Apple, Panasonic, Sony… for instance Sony‘s sensational F23 digital cinema camera, or XDCAM EX flash memory Handycam (at right, promised this fall), or the replacement to their outstanding BVM-A series of HD CRT monitors, the sure-to-be-award-winning 22.5-inch, 1920 x 1080, LED-backlit LCD BVM-L230 — 1080/60p and digital cinema 2K (plus every lesser format) with waveform and audio level displays!

(When it comes to flash memory recording and professional LCD monitors with waveforms, it‘s only fair to credit Panasonic with starting these balls rolling at previous NABs.)

It was only yesterday that HD itself was precious and exotic. But Sony‘s NAB mantra this year is “HD for All.” Apple, in turn, boasts of its ongoing effort to “democratize” professional video and HD. (Popularization and professionalization are wildly clashing ideals Apple seems to enjoy juggling like a watermelon and an egg.) Both echo JVC‘s proletarian 2003 NAB motto, “HD for the Masses.” This got me to thinking about the roles of language and marketing at NAB. more

At its news conference, Quantel showed that it would fight for a place in future newsrooms by announcing that Newsbox HD, its nonlinear HD news system ‘in a box‘, will now feature HD for “free”, meaning that Newsbox HD systems will be available for the same price as the SD version of Newsbox.

In a further move pointing up its reinvigorated “match any price” attitude, Quantel will also now move from the previous fixed Newsbox configurations, allowing customers to choose the number of seats, ports, and various other options.

As Ikegami’s 60th anniversary approached in 2007, things didn’t look all that good for the one-time leading light of video camera technology. Once the maker of coveted high-end cameras that featured electronic circuitry delivering what many felt were the best video images going, by the late 1990s the company lost the lead, as Panasonic and Sony prevailed. Unlike Ikegami, those two industrial giants could also deliver the integrated tape mechanisms necessary to get a rig out of the studio.

Ikegami fought back with its innovative Editcam, launched in 1995. Designed in part with input from Avid, Editcam was the first mainstream camcorder to use ruggedized hard drives to replace tape in the field. more