National Geographic ‘Explorer’ Weathers Emmy-Winning Shoot with Petrol

Wildlife cinematographer Bob Poole was able to get close to gorillas in their native environment for the National Geographic Explorer episode “Gorilla Murders” using Petrol‘s rain covers to protect his camera and lenses.

The stunning footage helped catch the eye of the Emmy judges, resulting in four News & Documentary Emmy Award nominations for “Gorilla Murders.” Nominations were in the categories of Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long Form, Best Documentary, Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Cinematography, and Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Editing. The show received an award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long Form at the News & Documentary Emmy Award ceremony on Sept. 21.

While principal shooter Erin Harvey concentrated on the events surrounding the execution-style murder of six mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, Poole shot extreme details of the gorillas (eyes, fingers, etc.) so that the editors could cut back and forth between the story of corruption and greed and the gorillas.

“Rain was a big issue,” Poole explains. “But I never worried about my trusty Sony HDW-F900 camera or Fujinon 16.5x25mm lens and image stabilizer. I simply put them under my favorite piece of gear, a Petrol rain cover.

“Petrol has saved me so many times,” he explains. “Since I discovered their products, I don’t put my camera in a case. I put it on a saddlebag and cover it with a rain cover. The camera always stays clean and running, even during the continuous rain that I had to contend with while I got in close to show the gorillas and how they really are so much like us.”

3D, Coming to a Conference Room

If there is one trend in display technology that has captivated the public’s attention, it’s 3D imaging. More and more animated movies are being released in 3D, and there’s plenty of convincing proof that 3D versions generate more box office receipts than conventional, “flat” 2D prints and digital releases. 3D is coming to television, too, albeit not as quickly.

During the 2009 Super Bowl, viewers who wore anaglyph glasses could watch a 3D trailer for the animated feature Monsters vs. Aliens and a 3D commercial for Pepsi’s SoBe energy water. The 3D effect was erratic and primitive, but it worked at times. (NBC followed up the next night with an episode of Chuck in 3D, also using anaglyph coding.)It gets better. YouTube is currently testing anaglyph 3D videos on its website and apparently hopes to make them a regular feature. And there are already consumer HDTVs and projectors that can work with more sophisticated active-shutter stereoscopic glasses, using Texas Instrument’s digital light processing chips.

Demos have also been done using plasma displays, which by nature are fast enough to sequence left eye/right eye information for active-shutter viewing. And in the LCD camp, we’ve seen glassless 3D demos using specialized front-surface polarizing glass (more of a novelty than a practical 3D solution, from my perspective), as well as conventional 3D sequencing using a 240-Hz picture refresh rate.

In short, 3D has captured a disproportionate share of the spotlight lately. And it was no surprise to see 3D featured prominently in several booths at InfoComm 09, most notably in DLP projector demonstrations using TI’s DLP Link synchronization technology.The abundance of 3D imaging products and demos at InfoComm 09 caught many analysts and reporters by surprise. So did prices for the technology. One industry veteran actually told me that the prices for 3D-equipped DLP classroom projectors were too low, and he suspected TI and its partner manufacturers were trying to jump-start 3D business instead of supporting the higher profit margins that 3D products should expect and realize.

So is 3D for real, or is it a fad? Does it really have any place in our industry? A growing number of industry groups seem to think 3D will become pervasive in a short time. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) formed a working group to research delivery of 3D and issued a report of its findings in April. 3D was also a big topic at the National Association of Broadcasters’ Digital Cinema Summit. And the TI DLP Link demos at InfoComm showed that affordable classroom projectors could be adapted for 3D projection with minimal added cost.

In fact, though there are obstacles to 3D viewing at home, such as inconsistency in viewing distances, viewing angles, and screen sizes, those obstacles aren’t as problematic in a classroom or lecture hall that’s already been designed for optimal 2D viewing. And the possibilities in the pro space are endless, from 3D views of the human body for anatomy classes to exploded views of machinery and engines, the solar system, geophysical features, chemical compounds, you name it. If it can be rendered in 3D, rotated, turned, and enlarged, it’s a candidate for 3D imaging.

Selling 3D

Can dealers and integrators sell 3D to their customers? Aside from the usual “I saw it in a theater, so I want it at home” requests, there’s a good case to be made for 3D-ready enterprise installations, particularly in any kind of education environment. That means your current customers should look into their crystal balls and see if 3D would make sense for them down the road before you start specifying equipment. Why? Because not all display technologies handle 3D imaging with equal aplomb.

It’s a certain bet that most 3D projector installations will rely on active-shutter technology. A single projector switches at high enough speeds to sequence the left-eye and right-eye information, making stacking unnecessary and providing the best spatial separation with minimal crosstalk. At present, the only regular demos I’ve seen of 3D projection have used DLP projectors, using both single-chip and three-chip light engines. DMDs can switch at extremely high speeds with no image retention problems; so active shutter 3D is a walk in the park for them.

How about LCoS and 3LCD? I have seen 3D demos on D-ILA projection systems, but nothing featuring 3LCD technology just yet. In theory, both systems should be able to handle 120-Hz refresh rates, making them compatible with active shutter glasses. In practice, the question is how much blur and image persistence would actually occur.In the flat-panel arena, the best 3D demos have relied on plasma technology. Panasonic showed live 3D imaging on a 103-inch PDP in its NAB Show booth. Samsung has also demonstrated a variety of 3D clips from video games, animation, and live HD footage. LCD monitors, however, have it tougher.

Faster refresh rates aren’t a real problem for LCD, particularly with LED backlights now coming to market. LEDs can switch hundreds of times per second without breathing hard, but that extra speed is currently put to use eliminating the motion blur artifacts seen on conventional LCD displays. Whatever refresh rate is optimal for minimal blurring must then be doubled to sequence the left-eye/right-eye information. 120-Hz isn’t quite fast enough to sharpen motion blur. The best hope currently for 3D on LCD displays would be a 240-Hz system doubled to 480 Hz-a system that would have to rely on LEDs at such speeds.

Despite all the qualifiers, 3D has arrived. The question is, how fast will our industry adopt it, and for which vertical markets? I’m betting education will be first out of the gate, using primarily front- and rear-projection installations. But ultimately AV pros are on the front lines of adoption. So what are you seeing?

Source: Pro AV MAGAZINE
Publication date: September 16, 2009

By Pete Putman, CTS

Pete Putman is a PRO AV contributing editor and president of ROAM Consulting in Doylestown, Pa.

Red Sox Find Solid Utility Player in 360 Systems Video Server

At Boston’s Fenway Park, commitment to excellence runs deep – from the Red Sox lineup sheet to the ballpark’s video display board and monitors.

Like a solid utility player, 360 Systems’ 3-channel MAXX video server covers a number of bases for the team, delivering dependable behind-the-scenes performance to support the experience fans clamor for. Channel 1 feeds the in-house cable channel, Sox on Six, which serves up programs like “The Red Sox Report” and “Red Sox Stories” to video monitors throughout the stadium. A second channel provides a backup “in-game” feed to the main video display board, running staff-created music videos. When rain delays the game, material stored on the server keeps the crowd entertained with “evergreen” features on famous players and team history. And the remaining channel is used to ingest new material.

“Our 360 Systems server runs 24/7 and has proven highly reliable,” says Chief Engineer Eric Hancock. “We can roll out a playlist, edit it, and change the file order simply and conveniently. 360 Systems’ Image Server is one of the few devices that I can just set and forget”.

Staff members use the Image Server’s built-in editing features to trim the heads and tails of programs. Eight edit bays and editors work on Final Cut Pro® and transfer files over a gigabit Ethernet network that feeds a Ross router and an Echolab switcher. A Blonder Tongue modulator interfaces to the cable system.

Hancock says plans are in the works for a transition to HD to satisfy the demand for higher image quality. Details and budget are still being worked out.

Eric Hancock is in his fourth season with the Red Sox and his career as a video engineer spans 22 years, 16 of which were spent with the Armed Forces Radio and TV Services.

360 Systems products will be exhibited at IBC 2009 in Hall 10 stand A38.

360 Systems MAXX-HD Servers The MAXX family of HD and SD video servers continues 360 Systems’ tradition of designing with advanced technology for enhanced performance, exceptional features, and improved prices.

LEIGHTRONIX Enhances PEGvault-SD Digital Video Encoder

LEIGHTRONIX announces the first major update to the recently released PEGvault-SD™. The digital video encoder now offers advanced media file transfer features, network optimization, and storage drive integrity checking.
Automatic Transfer to Multiple Destinations

The PEGvault-SD will now transfer newly recorded media files to multiple server destinations. Compatible
destinations consist of the NEXUS®/UltraNEXUS™ video servers, third party servers with FTP capabilities,
PEG Central™ and Worshipnet.TV™ Web media hosting and streaming video-on-demand service, and the
LEIGHTRONIX LGX-SVOD intranet streaming video-on-demand server.
Transfer Holdoff Schedule
A new Transfer Holdoff feature gives users the option to allow or restrict automatic media file transfers to destination
servers on an hourly basis. The transfer holdoff feature is especially useful for preventing PEGvault-
SD file transfers during the highest levels of network traffic, resulting in faster transfer rates and reduced
network congestion.
Delayed Broadcast
The new pre-send and auto-play features allow programs remotely recorded with a PEGvault-SD to be automatically
sent and displayed at a NEXUS or UltraNEXUS site within minutes after recording starts. After the
NEXUS or UltraNEXUS begins to receive a pre-sent file, the PEGvault-SD auto-play setting triggers playback
of the file as quickly as two minutes after the transfer begins to up to one hour later. This simultaneous
record/read/transfer of digital media files as they are created in real time is enabled by the PEGvault-SD’s
advanced file system. The pre-send and auto-play features provide a convenient delayed broadcasting solution
for locations where traditional video or cable transmission of a live signal is not available.

One-Click Drive Checking Feature
The “Disk Diagnostics” Web feature makes it easy to diagnose and prevent errors on the PEGvault-SD’s internal
hard drive. With one mouse click, the disk diagnostics utility will attempt to correct any current or potential
problems and generate a log file detailing the status of the PEGvault-SD’s internal drive.

About the PEGvault-SD
The PEGvault-SD is a specialized digital video/audio encoder that offers remote-controlled, push button
operation and automatic transfers of recorded media files to a user-selected broadcast video server or Web
media hosting destination. Economical and powerful, the PEGvault-SD is the ideal media encoder for quickly
producing top-quality digital media files. The PEGvault-SD is quickly configured for push button recording

through its included Web interface and features simplified RECORD-STOP operation via the supplied wireless

remote control. The hardware-based, integrated video/audio encoder produces broadcast quality digital

media files for use in a wide range of broadcast and cable applications. For those seeking a Web presence,

the PEGvault-SD can be easily set up to produce media files optimized for streaming video-on-demand applications.

About LEIGHTRONIX, INC.
With over 25 years experience in specialty video equipment design and manufacturing, LEIGHTRONIX is
recognized as an industry leader with expertise in digital video, television automation, streaming video-ondemand,
and remote equipment control. A model of stability and longevity in the quickly evolving professional
video market, LEIGHTRONIX continues to set standards in product value and versatility and exceed
customer expectations in both product performance and support. Exceptional product reliability, a standard
5 year warranty, and cost-free technical support have made LEIGHTRONIX one of the most trusted names in
the industry. For more information, please visit www.leightronix.com.

Navy Football and Lacrosse Teams adopt Panasonic AG-HPX500 P2 for coaching analysis, game exchange

The Navy Midshipmen football and men’s lacrosse teams, representing the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD) in NCAA Division I college competition, have purchased six Panasonic AG-HPX500 P2 HD camcorders equipped with BTLH80WU 7.9″ color viewfinders/production monitors for coaching analysis.

Football dates from 1879 at the Naval Academy, the undergraduate college that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The annual Army–Navy Game represents one of the most traditional and enduring rivalries in college football, and is televised every year by CBS. Navy men’s lacrosse, a dominant team throughout the 20th-century and beyond, has competed since 2004 as a member of the NCAA’s Patriot League, and the Midshipmen have won the League tournament five times in the past six years.

Both sports use the HPX500s with DVSport GameDay editing and data analysis software package, and exchange game videos with competitors over the internet using the DragonFly STORM video exchange system.

According to John McGuire, Director of Video Operations for the Naval Academy, the football team’s Betacam SP cameras were aging out and he was interested in P2 based on the excellent word of mouth he was hearing from opponents such as Duke University and the University of Virginia. The six camcorder/DVSport package is shared with men’s lacrosse, with four HPX500s assigned to football and two to lacrosse (lacrosse had previously shot with Canon XL1s).

Both McGuire and colleague Mark Goers, the Director of Lacrosse Operations, praise the Panasonic P2 camcorders for  their ease of  workflow, quick footage ingest into the school’s intranet system, solid-state reliability and all-weather performance. The camcorders have been used extensively throughout the lacrosse championship season, spring football and, currently, football practice.

During practice, McGuire explained that the team uses two adjacent fields. Two HPX500s on lifts are assigned to defense, with both cameras in the end zone, one shooting wide angle, the second a tighter angle. On offense, two HPX500s, one on a lift, one shoulder-mounted, shoot from the sideline. McGuire records to P2 cards, and during game play, an assistant will start to break down the video (offense, defense, kicks) immediately after the first quarter.

“Now with P2, we can mark single plays automatically as we shoot, versus marking ins and outs in post,” McGuire said. “During training camp, what that translates to is finishing up at 7 p.m. versus 9:30 p.m. The speed of production is terrific.”

McGuire said that practices and games are put on a main server in the football building (a system lacrosse shares). There are 30 coaching stations for football and nine for lacrosse. During the course of seasons, DVDs can be printed out for players to watch in their dorms or for coaches’ off-site use. For football game exchanges, the offensive, defensive and kicking games are copied to an external drive and traded over the internet using the STORM system.

“We’re seeing all kinds of benefits with the speed of the P2 system,” he added. “When we were on the road during the spring season, we were able to break down the game in a laptop from the P2 cards, copy the footage onto a removable hard drive, and the coaches were able to watch the game on the airplane.”

Goers made the switch out from XL1s to HPX500s during season play last spring. “We went from a prosumer model to a high-end professional camcorder from one game to the next,” he said. “Our reaction was, ‘Holy cow!’ It was a quantum change: the image quality of the HPX500 is head and shoulders above, especially in terms of color saturation and depth. And the P2 camcorders integrate completely with DVSport.”

Goers and his assistant shoot with the two HPX500s handheld from the lacrosse sidelines. Differing from football, Goers records directly to a hard drive, with P2 recordings used as back-up. (He will sometimes also make a third recording directly from the camcorder’s RCA jack to a DVD player.) An assistant takes the feed as it’s being recorded and breaks it down live. When a game is over, Goers is able to hand over DVDs to the five lacrosse coaches.

“We played in some pretty awful weather earlier this year,” Goers said. “The Canons would freeze up, which just doesn’t happen with the HPX500s. We also had day, night and twilight games, playing in all lighting conditions. We had one 5 p.m. game against Georgetown where we switched the filters three times, and it all looked seamless.”

“Football is obviously another all-weather sport, and we played in some driving rainstorms last spring,” McGuire said. “We just put rain covers on the HPX500s, and could switch out the P2 cards under the cover. Games and practices are nonstop, and there’s no time to be popping a tape in and out in the middle of a storm.”

For more information about athletics at the United States Naval Academy, visit www.usna.edu/athletics.

About the HPX500

The AG-HPX500 teams the full production-quality of 2/3” 3-CCDs, DVCPRO HD, 4:2:2 sampling and independent frame encoding with the versatility of interchangeable lenses and the creativity of variable frame rates. Offering the highly popular features of the incredibly successful AG-HVX200 P2 HD hand-held camcorder but with many new enhancements, the 8.2-pound HPX500 features progressive 2/3” 3-CCDs that provide a larger light receiving area resulting in increased resolution and sensitivity, superb low-light performance and wide dynamic range. The HPX500 records in 32 high definition and standard definition formats, including 1080i and 720p in production-proven, 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD. The HPX500 records on removable P2 solid-state memory cards in 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p; in 720/60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, and 24p; and in DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV. For more information on the HPX500, visit www.panasonic.com/P2HD.

About Panasonic Broadcast

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems.  Panasonic Broadcast is a Unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC) and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations.  For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

Understanding Player Placement in Digital Signage Networks

While screen placement mainly affects message delivery, player placement is a total cost of ownership consideration. Photos courtesy Minicom. Maximizing return on investment (ROI) from digital signage networks necessitates optimizing screen placement to ensure that the largest number of people are exposed to the greatest amount of content. Less understood is the importance of media player positioning. By Kenneth Dukofsky A major factor in the design of any digital signage network is display device placement. “All the well-intentioned design work, beautiful display devices and high-powered content that money can buy are rendered ineffective if placed in a poor location,” says Dale Smith, director, business development, Digital Signage & Corporate, of Melrose Park, ILL.-based Peerless Industries. A screen that cannot be accurately viewed by the public renders the entire investment useless. To properly place screens in a digital signage network, a long list of requirements must first be met. Likewise, media players have their own set of placement requirements that are at least as rigorous as those governing screens. While screen placement mainly affects the effectiveness of message delivery, player placement, in contrast, is mainly a total cost of ownership (TCO) consideration. Modern digital signage networks primarily follow two types of installations regarding the placement of the media player: at the screen or in a back room used for storing the company’s IT-related devices. Player-at-Screen Technology In “Player-at-Screen” systems, the media player is mounted directly onto the screen. The media players receive content from a central content server via a standard IP-based network. They then transmit the content directly to the display device. This method places IT equipment in the unprotected public areas, exposing them to heat, cold, people and dust. All these hazards have repercussions on the TCO of media players and digital signage networks. Player at-Screen At-Screen Maintenance Players-at-Screen Benefits Player-at-screen topology is suitable for applications in which screens are easily accessible, with or without an existing network infrastructure. This infrastructure can be used to transmit content from the central player to the players at screen. Player-at-screen applications also use less hardware than the other options. Both these benefits help reduce hardware and installation costs and simplify setup. The initial outlay in a player-at-screen application is therefore lower than the competing options. However, as will be seen, as time progresses, the TCO of a player-at-screen application becomes more costly than player-in-back-room applications. Players-at-Screen Service Screen maintenance, servicing and/or upgrading players can be a challenge, for several reasons: Since the players are attached to screens, they are usually quite elevated or sandwiched between the screen and a wall. Substantial ladders are typically needed to reach a ceiling-mounted player. Mounts and brackets must be removed before the players can be serviced. The players must then be taken to a level surface and attached to a keyboard, mouse and another screen. After the players are reprogrammed, they must be reattached to their screens. Replacement of players may require new mounts and brackets, as well. Because of its intrusive nature, at-screen player servicing can be problematic during store hours. This may have to be done outside of store hours, when service costs are more expensive, approaching double or triple the regular rates. Player-in-Back-Room Technology Multimedia hardware extension systems use broadcaster/transmitter and receiver units to transmit video, audio and control (serial) signals from a remote media player to single or multiple screens over dedicated CAT5 cable. Using this technology, media players can be removed from the screens, up to 600 meters (2,000 feet) if necessary, and placed in a protected back-room environment. Player in Back Room Back-Room Player Maintenance Benefits of Back-Room Placement Media players using content extension technology can be separated from the screens and placed in a secure and environmentally-controlled back room with 24-hour accessibility. These elements help maintain the players and keep them from breaking down. Player racks are specially designed for easy access, making maintenance, service and upgrading simple. If upgrades or servicing of multiple players is needed, the task takes minutes instead of hours, because all the players are situated in the same location. A single 1-by-1 meter server rack can hold ten media players. As we have shown, media players are susceptible to hazards that affect their total cost of ownership. Situating media players near the screen, in public, makes them difficult to service and exposes them to multiple environmental hazards, thus lowering their “mean time between failures” (MTBF). Media players, therefore, should be safely stored and protected by way of extension technology in an environmentally-controlled back room. The extension technology also makes the players easily serviced and maintained, thereby increasing their MTBF. Kenneth Dukofsky is the former marketing manager of Minicom Advanced Systems Ltd. , with international headquarters in Jerusalem and North American headquarters in Linden, N.J. Minicom manufactures KVM server and computer management solutions that facilitate the control of corporate IT environments. For further information, contact Gil Raz: gil.raz@minicom.com. This article originally appeared in the fourth-quarter 2008 edition of Platt Retail Institute’s Quarterly Retail Analytics and is reprinted with permission from Platt Retail Institute LLC.

Miami Dolphins add Cisco StadiumVision digital signage to Land Shark Stadium

The World’s Brightest, Best HD Digital Projector

There’s only one projector with the brightest, highest resolution HD image – the Christie Roadie HD+35K. Rounding out Christie’s expansive 3-chip DLP® product line up, there’s no comparison for resolution, brightness or performance.

Producing 32,500 ANSI lumens (35,000 center lumens), this newest Roadie features Christie’s unique, flexible split-body design with separate switching lamp ballast. The Christie Roadie HD+35K includes a rear air exhaust hood for improved stack-ability and a new motorized lens mount enables you to focus and adjust lens position using a remote control.

With native 2048 x 1080 HD resolution and 10-bit image processing, images are simply stunning in their size, brilliance and quality. The user-replaceable lamps can be automatically aligned at the push of a button and user-friendly controls ensure easy maintenance and servicing. Along with built-in body handles for handling and rigging or an optional stacking/rigging frame this tough, manageable projector is built for true road worthiness – frequent transport and quick set-up.

DisplaySearch Conference: Government stimulus not ready for digital signage yet