Day: May 14, 2019

Cobalt Digital 9992 Encoder Series Receives TV Technology Best of Show Award at NAB 2019

Posted on by contentntek in Awards, Event, News

Now in its sixth year, the Future Best of Show Awards at NAB program recognizes products based on innovation, feature set, cost efficiency, and performance in serving the industry. All nominated products are evaluated by a panel of engineers and industry experts, and are featured in a special Best of Show Awards Program Guide, which will be distributed digitally to more than 100,000 readers of seven Future publications.

“The program focuses attention on superb innovations in technology as seen around the million-square-foot exhibit floor of the industry’s top trade show,” explained Paul McLane, Future managing director, content for media technology titles. “The list of 2019 winners and nominees shows where media technology businesses are headed.”

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Cobalt Digital 9992-ENC Encoder for openGear Frames

“We are very proud to be recognized by TV Technology for our new 9992-ENC series of encoders,” said Chris Shaw, Cobalt executive vice president of sales and marketing. “We think it’s the Swiss Army knife of professional grade encoders, because it is flexible enough to be used in almost any broadcast application.”

A cost-effective choice for contribution, distribution, ENG, IPTV, and OTT solutions, the flexible 9992-ENC series offers customized I/O options and extensive audio support. It offers low-latency 8-bit and 10-bit 4:2:0 encoding, with optional license keys for HEVC and 4:2:2 encoding. Its pay-as-you-go licensing structure means users only pay for required features when needed. The 9992-ENC base model includes an 3G-SDI input, but can be upgraded to support four 3G-SDI (1080p60) signals or one 12G-SDI signal (4Kp60).

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Interra Systems Expands Dolby Partnership, Adding Support for Dolby Vision to BATON QC Platform

Posted on by contentntek in Distribution & Delivery, News, Production & Post Production

Interra Systems announced an extension to the company’s partnership with Dolby. Interra Systems’ BATON file-based quality control (QC) platform has now been integrated with Dolby Vision®, a next-generation standard that delivers superior high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG) viewing experiences. BATON already supports Dolby Atmos®, an audio format for creating and playing back multichannel movie soundtracks for three-dimensional effect.

Dolby Vision transforms entertainment experiences with ultra-vivid picture quality — incredible brightness, contrast, color, and detail that bring entertainment to life before viewers’ eyes. With support for Dolby Vision, BATON can now decode and apply the metadata contained in Dolby Vision streams. This enables OTT video service providers to unlock new functionalities such as the ability to check for conformance against Dolby Vision, decoding of Dolby Vision content, and checking for the presence of Dolby Vision metadata. Dolby Atmos transports consumers from an ordinary moment into an extraordinary experience with moving audio — sound that fills the room and flows all around with breathtaking realism to create a powerful entertainment experience.

 

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Interra Systems’ BATON Automated, File-Based Quality Control Solution

As the industry’s leading QC platform, BATON enables service providers to perform comprehensive video, audio, and closed caption checks. Featuring a flexible and scalable architecture, BATON is perfect for OTT providers that are looking to grow their video streaming service, improve efficiencies, and provide exceptional audio-video quality on every device.

“Interra Systems has always been very aggressive in adding support for Dolby technology in its QC tools,” said Vijeta Kashyap, vice president of operations at Interra Systems. “This latest expansion of our partnership will enable customers to perform QC and analyze Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos streams in production and delivery workflows, expediting the time to market of high-quality HDR content. With the fast adoption of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on devices such as TVs and smartphones, supporting this new technology is a must for today’s OTT video providers if they want to deliver rich, immersive viewing experiences.”

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VITEC Partners with Digistor in Australia and New Zealand

Posted on by contentntek in News, OTT & Streaming media

VITEC announced its latest distribution partnership with Digistor, which will provide VITEC’s full portfolio of streaming solutions across Australia and New Zealand. Known for delivering product, design, installation, and technical support to companies that include ABC, Disney, Foxtel, Warner Brothers, and Endemol Shine, Digistor is the respected provider of technology solutions to the VFX, post-production, broadcasting, and digital media industries in the region.

“In this particular territory, more and more organizations are demanding reliable, high-quality, low-latency, and bandwidth-efficient streaming capabilities that are the hallmark of VITEC’s end-to-end video streaming solutions,” said Aurélie Albert, marketing and communication manager, VITEC. “This partnership not only brings our broadcast-quality solutions to customers in the region but also provides them with Digistor’s extensive knowledge and technical expertise that are an invaluable part of achieving the best workflow to deliver a superior video experience.”

As a local verified partner, Digistor will expand VITEC’s growing presence in the APAC market. Digistor works with a select group of leading vendors to help bring integrated solutions to its customers, carefully selecting and ensuring that the company has the expertise to specify, deliver, and support the products. In addition, the company ensures technical performance, pricing, policies, resources, and commitment to superior performance of every product.

“VITEC is a trusted video streaming solutions provider known for leading the market with high-performance and innovative products that help customers easily and affordably adapt to the ever-changing video landscape,” said Mark Richards, marketing manager for Digistor. “We’re delighted to add VITEC to our elite roster of vendor partners and strengthen our commitment of empowering our customers through smarter technology and service solutions.”

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Magewell NDI Converters Win TV Technology “Best of Show” Award at NAB 2019

Posted on by contentntek in Awards, Distribution & Delivery, Event, News

The NAB Show debut of Magewell’s Pro Convert family of feature-rich, hardware-based NDI® encoders was a resounding success, earning tremendous response from customers and a coveted Best of Show Award from Future plc publication TV Technology.

Magewell’s Pro Convert devices lets users bring traditional, baseband video signals into live, IP-based production and AV workflows using NewTek’s popular NDI technology. Pro Convert encoders transform HDMI or SDI input sources into full-quality NDI streams with extremely low latency and plug-and-play ease of use.

Two 4K and two HD models provide a flexible choice of encoding resolution and input interface. The Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus transforms sources up to 4K Ultra HD at full 60 frames per second via an HDMI 2.0 interface, while the Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus converts 6G-SDI signals up to 4Kp30. The Pro Convert SDI Plus and Pro Convert HDMI Plus encode sources into NDI streams up to 1080p60 HD; the latter can also accept a 4Kp60 HDMI input, down-converting it automatically to HD for encoding.

Magewell added further value to Pro Convert Plus models at the NAB Show with the announcement of new NDI decoding capabilities as a free firmware upgrade. Users can switch between encoding and decoding modes through a browser-based interface, enabling NDI streams to be converted to high-quality HDMI or SDI outputs for applications such as digital signage, video walls, IMAG and monitoring.

Future’s Best of Show Awards are evaluated by a panel of engineers and industry experts, and are selected based on innovation, feature set, cost efficiency and performance in serving the industry. The winners will be featured in TV Technology, the digital television authority, serving the broadcast, cable, production, post production, business and new media markets.

“The Future Best of Show Awards at NAB are in their sixth year,” said Paul McLane, Future managing director, content. “The program focuses attention on superb innovations in technology as seen around the million-square-foot exhibit floor of the industry’s top trade show. The list of 2019 winners and nominees shows where media technology businesses are headed.”

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“We are very pleased that TV Technology has recognized the Pro Convert family with this award,” said Amy Zhou, Sales Director at Magewell. “By enabling users to maximize their existing investments rather than needing to replace their current HDMI or SDI equipment, Pro Convert helps make the transition to IP-based workflows achievable and affordable for more customers.”

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TVU Networks’ Innovations Honored as Best in Class by Variety of Outlets During the 2019 NAB Show

Posted on by contentntek in Awards, Event, News, Products

TVU Networks announced industry-wide recognition of the new 4K version of its TVU One mobile IP transmitter, the TVU MediaMind Appliance AI-based metadata generation and search engine, and its IS+ proprietary transmission algorithm during 2019 NAB Show held in Las Vegas. TVU also provided mobile cellular transmitter equipment to producers of “NAB Show LIVE,” the official broadcast of the NAB. The live transmissions went flawlessly, and Broadcast Beat, producers of “NAB Show LIVE”, will continue to use TVU equipment at future events and venues.

“We’re thrilled to have these different organizations recognize different sectors of our work,” said Eric Chang, Vice President of Marketing, TVU Networks. “This really points to the depth of our company and to the IP-based solutions we provide to a range of applications occurring in diverse locations. The products and technologies selected are all next-generation improvements and essential in the creation of a story-centric workflow. We’re focused on pushing the limits of what’s possible to meet our customers’ live content production challenges today and in the future. I believe our run of award wins during the past 10 years as an NAB exhibitor is a direct reflection of our continued commitment to live production innovation.”

In the first NAB Show 2019 Product of the Year Awards, TVU Networks won in the AI/Machine Learning category for its TVU MediaMind Appliance – an AI-based metadata generation and search engine that speeds production performance and content reuse. This is an independently judged awards program that recognizes the most significant and promising new products and technologies exhibited during NAB.

TVU MediaMind, is a metadata generation and search engine that speeds production performance and content reuse within an existing broadcast media supply chain. The system uses a combination of time-code and AI-based facial and speech recognition to generate metadata. And an open API lets users connect directly with MAM and NLE systems. Because the MediaMind appliance utilizes both AI and time code to generate search results, it can convert audio and video into structured data in real-time. It’s capable of searching a raw asset at any stage of production – from assignment through to on-air. With the help of TVU’s AI engine, real-time speech recognition lets users find text results even faster than they would searching for images alone. Users simply type in what they’re looking for and the appropriate section of a time code appears. The real-time content search engine uses time code to identify each asset with a unique ID.

TV Technology magazine presented TVU Networks with a Best of Show Award for the TVU One 4K cellular mobile transmitter during the 2019 NAB Show. The awards are judged by a panel of industry experts on the criteria of innovation, feature set, cost efficiency and performance in serving the industry. All nominated products are featured in a special Best of Show Awards Program Guide, which will be distributed in digital edition form to more than 100,000 readers of seven Future publications.

Also introduced during the 2019 NAB Show, the 4K version of the TVU One mobile transmitter, a cellular mobile unit with the ability to transmit Ultra-HD/4Kp60 HEVC content. The TVU One TM1000 is TVU’s flag-ship HEVC cellular 4G/LTE mobile transmitter.

“UHD/4Kp60 is a much more technically challenging resolution to achieve in a cellular mobile unit,” explained Chang. “However, we are able to overcome these challenges and encode video in full UHD/4K at 60 frames per second.”

TVU_One_mobile_transmitterThe TVU One offers a robust set of functions to meet the needs of any live video broadcaster. It delivers industry-leading video transmission resiliency and HD picture quality from an ultra-compact and rugged hardware chassis. With TVU One, users can fully leverage the versatility of a lightweight IP-based video transmitter in the field as a part of an end-to-end workflow without sacrificing performance, features, or picture quality.

PRODU presented TVU Networks with a NAB 2019 Tech Award for its IS+ technology.  TVU’s proprietary transmission algorithm, IS+ enables users to simultaneously transmit over multiple mediums with sub-second latency. Thanks to IS+, TVU transmitters can simultaneously aggregate any combination of bandwidth mediums including cellular 3G/4G LTE, WiFi, Ethernet, Ka-band and Ku-band satellite, microwave, microwave mesh and BGAN to deliver a reliable and dependable broadcast picture with latency as low as 0.5 seconds. IS+ uses advanced Forward Error Correction technology to produce superior transmission performance. When compared to traditional FEC/ARQ methods, IS+ uses minimal data overhead without latency introduced by packet retransmission. The result is a reliable transmission with high-quality images and ultra-low latency even in a moving vehicle.

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Zylia Acclaimed ZM-1 Microphone Now Windows Tablet Compatible

Posted on by contentntek in News, Production & Post Production, Products, Radio & Audio

Convenient tablet-based control over the ZM-1, a compact 3rd order Ambisonics microphone, gives sound engineers and musicians a lightweight and highly portable solution for capturing immersive audio in any environment.

“Field recordings can yield unique audio samples that bring terrific character and richness to a variety of applications,” said Tomasz Żernicki, co-founder and chief technology officer of Zylia. “Sound engineers use the ZM-1 for ambient sound recording in the field and to create spatial soundscapes. Musicians heading to outdoor concerts and jam sessions use the microphone to capture live shows and one-of-a-kind collaborations. Now requiring only the microphone and tripod, a tablet, and headphones, field recording with the ZM-1 is unbelievably simple and convenient.

Designed for bands and musical ensembles, sound engineers, podcasters, and audio creatives working in 3D audio, Ambisonics, and virtual reality, the ZYLIA ZM-1 is an incredibly light, compact, and beautifully designed recording solution capable of delivering 48 kilohertz/24-bit resolution while capturing the full spatial sound scene. Boasting 19 high-quality digital MEMS microphones, the spherical array together with software can auto-detect sound sources from around the microphone and capture that sound as separate tracks for further editing on a digital audio workstation.

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Setting up tablet control over the ZM-1 is straightforward. Users need only install the ZYLIA ZM-1 Windows 10 driver (www.zylia.co/zylia-pro.html) and ZYLIA Studio software on a tablet equipped with a 64-bit processor and 64-bit Windows operating system. Once the ZYLIA Studio application is activated, the system is ready to go. The recording workflow is no different than with a laptop or PC. Users just set up the ZM-1 microphone in the desired location, plug the microphone into the tablet using a USB cable (and microUSB adapter if necessary), open ZYLIA Studio, and begin recording.

Recordings can be processed with the ZYLIA Ambisonics Converter plugin. Users can convert audio samples to 3rd-order Ambisonics and perform further processing if needed. Zylia software even enables users to fine-tune the position of a sound scene to reflect a particular camera position.

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Veritone Announces NAB Show Product of the Year Award Win for Veritone Attribute

Posted on by contentntek in Awards, Broadcast & Playout, Event, News, Radio & Audio

The first official awards at the NAB Show, the program recognizes the most significant and promising new products and technologies showcased by exhibitors.

“Nominees like Veritone are revolutionizing the way people experience media and entertainment,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Conventions and Business Operations Chris Brown. “The 2019 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards highlight the best of what’s new at the premier launchpad for breakthroughs at the intersection of media, entertainment, and technology.”

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Veritone Attribute gives radio and television broadcasters the ability to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in near real-time. Attribute simply and intuitively makes connections between advertising campaigns and activity on the advertiser’s website within a user defined timespan. Attribute not only analyzes data related to prerecorded spots, but also to live reads and organic mentions. The information gleaned from Attribute gives broadcasters the ability to better contend with their digital counterparts, while at the same time providing advertisers a means to complement their digital advertising strategy by understanding campaign performance across multiple channels.

“Attribute addresses a need to quantifiably demonstrate how well campaigns are working and provide optimization insights for those that are underperforming. aiWARE’s configurable infrastructure allowed us to quickly develop a product that helps to solve a challenge and address a gap in the market for both broadcasters and advertisers,” said Michael Kennedy, product manager for Veritone Attribute. “It’s very gratifying to have this recognized by the NAB.”

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