HD at IBC

Europeans Discover High Def

This year's IBC in Amsterdam saw European broadcasters considering the adoption of HDTV broadcasting, although with some disagreement over which format to adopt.
An EBU committee of public broadcasters, the BTQE Group, has said it favours a 720p 50Hz HD standard coupled with a compression system such as H.264 or Microsoft's VC1 to achieve a good transmission within 8Mbps.
However, the director of the EBU's Technical Department, Phil Laven, was quoted as saying the consideration of a standard was still a work in progress and that more detailed recommendations would be made early next year.
Comments from manufacturers such as Sony Europe indicated they viewed 720p as a minority format with 1080i being the main game.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Ted Turner Wins International Honour for Excellence

This year's IBC International Honour for Excellence has been awarded to CNN Founder Ted Turner.
An international jury chaired by the IBC's Peter Owen bestowed the honour in recognition of his entrepreneurial skill in exploiting the potential of media technology advancements for the benefit of audiences everywhere.
Ted Turner received the award in his New York offices in July from Michael Bunce, Chairman of the IBC Partnership Board.
"It is a real privilege to receive this award," said Turner. "IBC is a key event for those who drive the creation and application of media technology. It is an honourto be recognised by my fellow professionals whose innovation has enabled a strong network of global communications."
The IBC International Award for Excellence, formerly known as the John Tucker Award, is given annually to an individual, group or organisation demonstrating excellence of innovation, furtherance or application of media technology.
According to the IBC's Peter Owen, "The judges recognised Ted Turner's influence as a visionary who polarises opinion on big issues. Undoubtedly, he has a huge influence on the news and entertainment industry and many of these influences are directly related to technology.
"Ted Turner was one of the very first people to put a local television station up on satellite for disribution to a nationwide audience and he was one of the first people to think that cable television would be a success.
"He built CNN as the first 24-hour news network and then went on to build another (Headline News). He intitiated one of the first video-on-demand trials in Orlando, Florida, and drove development of a real time multi-language captioning system (receiving a Technical Emmy Award in 1993). He was one of the first to see the benefit of owning a movie studio and content portfolio in order to develop new and innovative channels. In many ways, Ted Turner has driven television to become what it is today."

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

TEN Upgrades News with OmniBus

Broadcast automation and asset management provider OmniBus Systems has been appointed to install an integrated digital newsroom system into Network Ten's Sydney headquarters. Network Ten is replacing its current tape-based news playout operation with a fully digital production and transmission system.
OmniBus is supplying end-to-end digital content management that includes automated ingest, server control, Columbus news playout, and desktop editing via the HeadLine Media Editor.
HeadLine, built on OmniBus' modular G3 architecture, will enable potentially large numbers of journalists to browse and edit material at their newsroom workstations. The resulting EDLs can then be conformed on the main broadcast server for subsequent transmission.
Using MOS, ENPS rundowns are reflected in the OmniBus playout schedule and any late-breaking stories can be inserted and the rundown changed.
The OmniBus automation and content management system integrates with Omneon servers, ENPS newsroom system and an Avid Unity craft edit server.
OmniBus is also collaborating with software house Marquis Broadcast Systems
in the development of an intelligent interface to enable edited content to be transferred to the Unity for final craft editing, such as effects and transitions.
Jason Tuendemann, Network Ten's Technology Project Manager said: "We chose OmniBus because of its proven history in news production and extensive joint testing within Ten's facilities.
"As the News and Production Automation project (NAPA) is based on 'best of
breed' architecture, we needed a supplier that would integrate and join multiple platforms including ENPS, Omneon, and Avid.
"OmniBus will manage the production workflow including media ingest, desktop editing and studio control. OmniBus' MOS integration will allow the management and tracking of media through the production process while the journalists retain their familiar ENPS GUI.
"With OmniBus' help, we will transform our current linear process to a server-based system, which will lead to a more efficient and dynamic production environment."
The system will be operational in early 2005.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Quantel Serves up Seven Sydney

Australia's Seven Network has completed its nationwide transition from tape to Quantel sQ server-based, integrated news production systems. The final installation - at Martin Place in the Sydney CBD - joins Seven's Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne sQ-based operations to complete the broadcaster's centralisation program.
The Sydney system is based on five Quantel sQ Servers with over 300 hours of 30Mbit storage and 20 ports. The system supports 20 QCut applications over a total of 100 PCs for journalist editing, and 10 of the new QEdit applications for more advanced dektop editing. There are also seven QEdit Pro craft edit stations for sophisticated finishing, and an eQ resolution co-existent editing/effects/grading/mastering system providing full-on HD capability.
With the commissioning of the Sydney news system, Seven now has Quantel servers for news in each of the five markets, as well as network programme and commercials playout from Melbourne, with back-up in Sydney.
"The beauty of the set-upis that we can have all the benefitsof centralisation while retaining local flexibility," Said Andrew Anderson, Seven's General Manager, Group Broadcast Services. "The Quantel technology is obviously key to this, and has allowed us to be far more efficient operationally while also getting to air faster and looking even better too."
"The systems installed in Sydney and the other state capitals are all switched from our new Melbourne broadcast centre. We estimate that we will have saved nearly 120 people by centralising presentation and remote switching the news - that's worth around AUD$10 million annually. It means we will get a positive ROI in a very short timescale while having technology that will serve us over a much longer period; it's a win-win whichever way you look at it."

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Seven Sydney On-Air with Ibis

Network Seven's Sydney newsroom is now employing SprinTx from UK company Ibis following successful installations in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and, most recently, Perth.
SprinTx is designed for news and sports environments and provides a series of modular applications for the the control of ingest, playout, editing and media management.
Sydney is the first Network Seven site to run a complete suite of Ibis SprinTx CORBA applications integrating with the Quantel sQ server range. Additionally, the system supports a number of Quantel applications including 20 QCuts, 100 PCs for journalist editing, 10 QEdit applications for more advanced desktop editing and seven QEdit Pros.
Sydney news and the early morning show Sunrise will broadcast from a new facility in Martin Place in the Sydney CBD, with news updates regularly broadcast throughout the day. Additional news and the current affairs show, Today Tonight, are sent back to the Melbourne site and are broadcast from there.
The SprinTx applications in Sydney operate as follows: ServerLoad manages ingest from tape or line feeds either manually or by using a timed scheduler function. There are 12 ingest applications - four into each of the Quantel sQ production servers. Four of the ServerLoads are continuously ingesting long form foreign materialfrom overseas on a constant loop record, using the Shot Grab functionwhich allows required material only, such as sports highlights, to be stored on the servers.
ServerBase core media management capbility manages the stored media allowing monitoring and deletion of clips as well as the viewing of archive material. ServerMirror automatically mirrors high resolutionclips to and from the video servers, providing resilience on air, while ServerArchive lists all media available onb the server and is used to to archive chosen clips to tape.
Seven's Perth Ibis installation works in a similar vein to Adelaide and Brisbane, the news and current affairs programme Today Tonight are made locally and sent to Seven's Melbourne site. The programmes, allowing for regional time differences, are transmitted from Melbourne each evening with approximately 12 news updates broadcast during the day.
The SprinTx applications at Seven Perth operate as follows:

• ServerLoad manages ingest from tape or line feeds either manually or using the timed scheduler in ServerLoad, with four ingest applications - two into each of the Quantel SQ servers. Each server has two edit seats and there are approximately 26 desktops running Quantel's QCut application server.
• ServerPlay is ued to send completed news and and Today Tonight packages back to Melbourne where they are reingested using ServerLoad. ServerPlay has the flexibility to allow late breaking news to be broadcast direct from the Perth studio.
• ServerBase core media management capability manages the stored media via CORBA tools allowing the monitoring and deletion of of clip media. Archive material can also be viewed.
• ServerMirror is used for mirroring high-resolution clips, providing resilience on-air and ServerArchive is used for archive to tape.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Nine Manages Content with Root6

The Nine Network has taken delivery of the ContentAgent workflow tool from UK company Root6.
ContentAgent automates the capture, conversion and distribution of compressed digital files. Housed in a 2RU frame, the system is designed for machine room installation and can be expanded via memory and storage modules. Using ContentAgent, digital media files may be imported from any source and exported to any destination including SMB network shares, FTP sites and asset management systems in addition to compact flash, SD, Memorystick, CD-ROM and DVD.
Multiformat compilations for SDI playout are easily achieved and custom tools are provided for the creation of titles, graphics and slates with a simple trimming tool for removing clocks. Job templates can be created and stored for consistent results, and unattended batch capture is also available.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

ABC Takes Tandberg for Wireless ENG

Tandberg Television has secured a major contract to manage the turnkey deployment of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's National Digital ENG Network. The system will be supplied,integrated and commissioned by Tandberg's local engineering teams.
The Digital Electronic Newsgathering (DENG) system will include Tandberg's Maximum Ratio Combining FFT diversity receiver technology, Voyager mobile DENG systems and CT2011 wireless camera systems.
The ABC is currently using analogue microwave technology for ENG. However, changes to Australia's ENG spectrum plan will reduce the available bandwidth for broadcasters in the 2.5GHz band from February 2005.
The new ABC DENG system will be based on advanced Tandberg Television-developed technologies that enable real time live digital mobile wireless broadcast operation from ENG vans with wireless cameras or specially equipped helicopters. Content can be transmitted live and received either directly at the main studio or at strategic diversity receive and repeater sites.
As well as using COFDM modulation to overcome multi-pathing and interference issues, the system also deploys newly available techniques in ares such as diversity reception and auto configuring remote repaeters that enable the ABC to overcome flat fading and substantially extend the range of the ENG network.
"The significant benefits of moving to digital have accelerated the need for broadcasters like the ABC to deploy Tandberg Television's cutting edge solutions," said Ian Fellows, Director of Sales for Australasia. "Digital will bring enormous benefits to the ABC's ENG operations and we are delighted to be working with the ABC to implement our diversity and ENG technologies. The systems we are deploying are based onyears of work by our development teams and extensive local trials with ABC transmission and operations staff."

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Weta Doubles the Lustre

Discreet has announced that NZ-based Weta Digital has purchased two Discreet Lustre digital grading and colour correction systems as part of a strategic collaboration between Dsicreet and Weta that spans multiple products.
Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital, said, "Discreet's lustre system gives us great creative freedom to explore different ideas for the look of a scene. The lustre system brings an advanced level of collaboration to the director, director of photography and colourist in designing a mood or a look, spedding up both pre-production and the post-production process. lustre is now an essential part of our production pipeline and creative process."
Weta Digital is currently working on pre-production on Universal Pictures remake of the Hollywood classic King Kong, as well as a Calvin Klein ad for cinematic release.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

TSL Kicks Goal with ESPN Star Sports

UK Company Television Systems Limited (TSL) has signed a major contract with Singapore-based ESPN Star Sports for the rebuilding and upgrading of its transmission area.
The overall project is being conducted in three phases with phase one taking place two years ago with the installation of an Encoda automation system. A SeaChange BMC 1653 server was also installed which is now being upgraded to a 65005 five-node system with 146Gb disks.
The second phase, currently in progress, is the complete rebuilding and upgrading of the transmission area. The company has been running six large manual transmission suites which will be replaced by nine suites with space for an additional four. There willl also be a multi-channel postion that can monitor all the channels that are running under the automation system.
According to Andy Rylance, Director of Engineering with ESPN Star Sports, "To us, this is an extremely complex task with the need to replace six existing suites with ten new ones in the sme area. For an SI with TSL's experience, this is a challengethat the company understands and knows how to face."
While still in the planning stage, the third phase of the upgrade is to move from tape in the rest of the facility to an entirely server-based production system.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Universal Electronics Controls Foxtel, Austar

Universal Electronics Inc. has entered into agreements with Australian subscription television operators Foxtel and Austar making UEI a universal remote control supplier to both networks.
UEI is currently Foxtel's sole supplier of remote control solutions. Under their agreement, UEI will provide proprietary technology for Foxtel's universal remote controls that will control both the Foxtel digital cable and satellite set-top boxes. The remote controls, which represent next-generation BSkyB control solution, enable seamless control of the Foxtel digital cable and satellite set-top boxes, as well as subscribers' televisions.
The agreement with Austar will see UEI provide a dedicated library of infrared codes for the customised remote controls that will operate both the regional operator's digital cable and satellite set-top boxes.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

RTV Brunei Chooses AP for News

Radio Television Brunei has chosen Associated Press' ENPS to power its newsroom. RTB is the primary news source for Brunei Darussalam with two nightly newscasts covering regional and international politics, sports, business, and consumer news. RTB is a member of Asiavision, a news exchange agreement under the umbrella of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), and RTB's Newscentre coordinates the the ASEAN Television News Exchange, enabling state broadcasters in the Association of South East Asian Nations to share news.
In choosing a new newsroom system, RTB wanted to improve workflow, leverage current hardware capabilities, coordinate the efforts of remote journalists, provide multilingual support, and be easy to use. According to Johari Achee, Head of News, Current Affairs and Sports, ENPS met these needs, is user friendly and integrates well into the way RTB journalists create newscasts in Malay, English and simplified Chinese.
Driving RTB's newsroom, ENPS integrates with BDL-Autoscript prompters and Pixel Power Collage CGs, and RTB journalists take ENPS with them all over the world to to cover trips made by the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam.
Implementation and ongoing support for RTB are provided by Techtel (SE Asia) Pte Ltd. Techtel Pty Ltd, its Australian-based parent, is a distributor of ENPS systems in the Pacific region, where it has installed and supported more than 70 newsroom computer systems.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

PCCW Delivers Broadband with Tandberg

After securing major content agreements for the carriage of premium sports and entertainment channels, Hong Kong-based PCCW's 'now Broadband TV' has chosen to expand its Tandberg Television IP Video Head-end.
"We need to carefully manage our bandwidth allocation to ensure that premium channels such as sports and movies, which need higher bandwidth than, for example, 'talking head' news reports, are delivered with high picture quality," said Belinda Chan, VP Operations fo now Broadband TV. "We have a fantastic array of channels and programming and we have invested in the delivery of technology this content deserves by choosing Tandberg Television's high performance encoding solutions. Moreover, Tandberg Television's extensive experiencein deploying TV over IP systemsenables us to provide our customers with compelling video services."
To meet now Broadband TV's needs, Tandberg Television has deployed its E5710 MPEG-2 encoders evolution 5000 system, consisting of a multiplex of digital TV programmes.

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IBC ANNOUNCEMENT

Reflecmedia Expands into South East Asia

Chroma key specialist Reflecmedia has launched into South East Asia with the opening of an office in Singapore.
According to Simon Westland, MD of Reflecmedia, "Offering local sales and support via the SEA office is a clear demonstration of our commitment to our customers there. We made the decision to announce our expansion into the region at IBC due to the great number of visitors from Asia attending the show."
Reflecmedia SEA will manage the company's existing reseller relationships in Malaysia, thailand, Indonesia and surrounding countries. A number of roadshows are planned following IBCto further ectend the profile of Reflecmedia within the region."
Channel sales manager for the region will be Himanshu Shah.

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INSTALLATIONS

Seven Archives with Front Porch Digital

The Seven Network has selected Front Porch Digital’s DIVArchive to manage both short and long form material across multiple data storage systems, including disk and tape, within its state-of-the-art Melbourne Broadcast Centre.
To seal the deal, Front Porch teamed with Thomson and Magna Systems & Engineering. DIVArchive was selected after a comprehensive competitive product evaluation conducted by Seven, Thomson and Magna.
"We are at the forefront of digital technologies' and expect to further enhance our competitive advantage and operational efficiencies," said Andrew Anderson, General Manager Broadcast Services at Seven. "This project is the next phase of our long-term goal to integrate and digitise our Media assets and the DIVArchive is a key component in our overall solution. The product features match our functional requirements which is important to the success of this project. Our selection of DIVArchive is a long-term and strategic decision, and we look forward to further developing our cooperation with Front Porch."

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INSTALLATIONS

Channel 9 Goes ENG with Link, Tandberg

Link Research is to supply new wireless camera systems, transmitters, receivers, encoders and decoders to Australia’s Nine Network in a move that will upgrade the broadcaster’s ENG trucks with digital newsgathering equipment. The order was placed through Link’s Australian agent, Comsyst.
The news trucks are to be equipped with four-input diversity wireless camera systems and direct satellite uplinks which will be able to transmit live TV pictures with no perceptible delay from outside broadcast locations.
Channel 9 has worked with equipment from Link Research for some time and has invested in Link’s wireless camera transmitters for newsgathering and flyaways.
“The equipment from Link Research gives us three key functions that we need for our news teams: Flyaway, wireless camera transmitters and satellite uplinks. This makes it a very attractive choice,” said Ian Wyles, Head of Operations Assistant Chief Engineer at Nine Network.
At the heart of its products is Link’s low-delay MPEG encoding technology. This allows pictures from wireless cameras to be edited together with footage from traditional cameras. Link Research uses Diversity reception to ensure a robust signal as the camera moves around, operating in locations that would have been no-go areas for the old-style analogue wireless cameras.
The Nine Network has also ordered Tandberg diversity receiver systems for digital electronic news gathering. Nine Network is currently using analogue microwave links to bring this footage back to its studios but is now turning to digital ENG to only meet new frequency allocation needs and enable more flexible news gathering.
As well using COFDM modulation to overcome multi-pathing and interference issues, the system also deploys newly available techniques in areas such as diversity reception and auto configuring remote repeaters that overcome flat fading and substantially extend the range of the ENG network.
"The frequency changes in the Australian market provide broadcasters like Nine Network with the ideal opportunity to deploy cutting edge solutions that will bring enormous benefits to their operations. We are delighted to be working with Nine in deploying our equipment that is based on over 5 years of work by our development teams," says Ian Fellows, Director of Sales, Tandberg Television Australasia.

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INSTALLATIONS

ESPN STAR Sports Logs with Masstech

Singapore—based ESPN STAR Sports, has selected a 12 channel Masslogger solution from the Masstech Group for its digital compliance requirements.
“The Masslogger will provide us with a simple-to-use web interface, which allows any user connected via a network to jump to a particular channel/date or time reference point or view the live stream. The system can also import automation/traffic as-run reports which a web user can actually click on to view any specific event,” said Andy Rylance, Director of Engineering ESPN Star Sports.
Saifudin Sani, Regional Manager of Techtel SE Asia, the local Masstech supplier, reports that the MassLogger provides 24x7, high-reliability recording and storage of broadcast content, and makes it accessible via a standard Web browser. The MassLogger application generates low-bitrate content in real-time from up to two incoming audio/video streams, and as content is captured, MassLogger can burn-in station identifications as well as timecode/date information.
“Broadcasters need to capture their output audio/video signals for any of a number of reasons”, explains Brad Redwood, Masstech’s director of operations for APAC. “MassLogger eliminates the manual intervention, unreliability, and the cumbersome access associated with VHS-based broadcast logging by taking advantage of nonlinear MPEG compression technology.”
Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW), STAR Group and ESPN STAR Sports recently signed an agreement for the carriage of ESPN, Star Sports, National Geographic Channel, Phoenix Chinese Channel, Phoenix InfoNews Channel, Star Movies and ESPN STAR Sports Cricket Channel on PCCW’s "now" Broadband TV. The deal will increase to 58 the number of channels on now Broadband TV which has signed up over 300,000 customers.

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INSTALLATIONS

GMA CHOOSES ENCODA

Encoda Systems Asia Pacific has signed a deal with GMA Networks of the Philippines to supply and install its D-Series A7500 Automation System and A6800 Ingest system for the GMA’s on-air services.
The order was placed directly with Encoda Systems Asia Pacific after comprehensive evaluation by GMA of leading broadcast automation systems which included key technical meetings in Manilla and several overseas trips including visits to by GMA to Australian user Channel TEN, Southern Cross Broadcasting and zer01zer0.

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DISTRIBUTOR NEWS

Madison Switches Onto Kings

Madison Technologies has been appointed as the sole distributor for Kings Electronics connector products in Australia.
Renowned for their Series 2065 True 75 ohm BNC connectors, Kings Electronics manufacture a complete range of connector products to suit most coaxial cables utilised in the broadcast industry. Call 02 9748 1911.

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INSTALLATIONS

Snell & Wilcox Converts Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Digital Media Centre (DMC) has furthered its aim of becoming Asia's hub for digital content creation, with its purchase of Alchemist Platinum, the Snell & Wilcox phase correlation-based, motion-compensated standards converter.
The Digital Media Centre has been designed to be a state-of-the-art digital content creation facility located at the Cyberport - Hong Kong's new IT industry centre (www.cyberport.com.hk). The DMC aims to provide technologies, expertise, hardware, and software support for activities ranging from video editing to computer game programming to 3D scanning.
According to Dr Krates Hing-Ngok Ng, centre manager, Digital Media Centre, Hong Kong Cyberport, "By nurturing a new generation of multimedia talent, we will not only further enhance and expand upon Hong Kong's reputation for cutting-edge film and visual production, but we also will greatly empower Hong Kong's SMEs to compete and win projects anywhere on the planet that require world-class quality and low production costs."
The Alchemist Platinum, delivered in Hong Kong by Broadcast Technology
Limited (BTL), can upconvert high-quality 625 material to HD. As a
result, DMC is able to seamlessly remaster content created in Hong Kong's native standard of 625/50Hz SD and repurpose it for distribution in the lucrative 1080i 60Hz HD formats of Japan, Korea, and the USA. The first content creator at DMC to make use of the Alchemist Platinum transferred a 35-episode, one-hour length TV series from standard-definition to high-definition format.

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TRANSMISSION

Plans for DVB-H Testing

August’s ABE/Free TV Engineering Conference in Sydney saw plans announced of trials for the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) transmission standard.
Subject to Australian Broadcasting Authority approval, the trials will commence in December. The trials will conducted by Broadcast Australia subsidiary The Bridge Networks and Nokia under a Scientific transmission licence.
Trial transmissions will be broadcast on UHF Channel 29 from Sydney's Gore Hill to Nokia handsets using a Symbian Operating System. Transmission testing will be carried out with equipment from German manufacturer AdCoCom.
According to Darren Kirsop-Frearson, Managing Director, The Bridge Networks, the trial partners are more than open to participation from existing broadcasters and content providers.
“We have been talking with meeting with broadcasters and other providers of video, audio and data content,” he said. “We say, come and join in. Have a play with the technology.”
DVB-H uses a packetised/burst IP-based method for delivery of data. This is said to have an advantage over streamed 3G services in terms of demands upon the network and handset battery life. It is expected that within the 7MHz channel slot, there will be a number of 256kbit/s video services and 30kbit/s data services. The trial is expected to last for 18 months.

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FACILITIES

Lucas Animates in Singapore

Lucasfilm Ltd. has established Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, a digital animation studio designed to produce digital animated content, including films, television and games for global audiences.
"I've been a fan of Asian animation and illustration all my life. Asian cinema has had a particularly big impact on a lot of my work. When we began thinking about developing new ways to explore the craft of animation, it seemed a natural step to combine the two," commented George Lucas. "By having a base in Singapore, we can create a new style of animation that will blend east and west - and offer something not seen before."
"We're excited about this new venture," commented Micheline Chau, President and COO of Lucasfilm Ltd, who was in Singapore for the announcement. "Singapore was our location of choice for so many reasons - a growing talent base, the cosmopolitan flavor, and its attractiveness as a place to live. Our long-term partnership with the Economic Development Board (EDB) gives us the resources to begin work almost immediately, working in concert with our animation unit in California."
Lucasfilm has joined with a consortium of investors in Singapore, including EDB Investments Pte Ltd and Creative Technology Ltd. The Singapore-based creative team will be led by Gail Currey, Vice President and General Manager of Lucasfilm Animation.
Teo Ming Kian, Chairman EDB said, "This is a capstone for Singapore's digital media industry. We already have an established base of 17 international cable and satellite broadcasters, a burgeoning TV production sector as well as games development. This new studio will not only provide exceptional career opportunities for local animators and people keen in the creative arts, it will also attract top talent from the world over to live and work in Singapore. It will help us further diversify our economy and provide opportunities for our people with different interests and competencies."

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OLYMPICS

Panasonic Lights Up Athens

Panasonic, a worldwide leader in digital moving images, will install eleven digital light processing (DLP(tm)) projectors in indoor venues at the Olympic Summer Games. Four 300-inch screens will be set up with the dual stacking mount of Panasonic DLP projectors and five2 00-inch screens will use one projector. The double stack projectors can deliver a spectacular brightness up to 24,000 ANSI lumens and produce crystal-clear images in the large venues.
The high resolution (1280 x 1024) DLP system is particularly suited to sports like Fencing where the detail is all-important. Panasonic's unique optical system maximizes lamp light efficiency, due to a highly condensing dual reflector system with wide convergence angle and 1,600 W xenon lamp. AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology dynamically refreshes the brightness, contrast and gamma images ettings for each individual scene, ensuring that details remain crisp andc lear.
Each PT-D9610 DLP projector is fitted with Panasonic's Emmy Award-winning Universal Format Converter, a high-precision digital filter that greatly improves moving images. This revolutionary technology automatically converts a multitude of image formats to the native resolution. Maximium resolution for each format is displayed at all times. A built-in digital detail enhancer checks and corrects the quality in each image to improve sharpness and clarity.
The Panasonic DLP projectors also have a noise suppression feature helping them to operate quietly. Spectators can enjoy the excitement of competition during the Games without distraction.
Panasonic will provide all the installation work, operation and maintenance, and AV production systems to support the event producer at each venue.

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OLYMPICS

Telstra Selects Scopus for Athens 2004 Olympics

Telstra will be utilizing Scopus Network Technologies digital video transmission equipment to broadcast coverage of this summer's Olympic Games. The Seven Network will transmit the signals from the International Broadcast Center in Athens to Melbourne for broadcast to all Australian States on Channel 7. Telstra and the Seven Network chose Comsyst, Scopus' Australian agent, to provide system integration and around-the-clock on-site engineering staff support during the Games.
"Our confidence in the quality of the equipment and the outstanding technical support from the development and systems engineers at Scopus were key factors in determining how this critical project was implemented," said Howard Jones, Project Manager for Comsyst.
Scopus, whose platforms have already been chosen by NBC Olympics for the transmission of the 2004 games, have supported worldwide sports events including the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea. For Telstra, Scopus is providing full digital broadcast solutions to transmit round-the-clock coverage of the summer Games over ten channels. To ensure system integrity, Telstra is equipping two headends: one in Athens and the second in Melbourne. Transmission will be conducted over DS-3 Telco lines to provide complete diversity and redundancy.
“We sought high quality, reliable and field proven platforms for the transmission of our Olympic broadcasts to Australia. We found Scopus’ solutions to fully meet our requirements,” said Darren Wilson, Project Manager for Telstra. “We are happy to be working with Scopus and Comsyst. Both have demonstrated the ability to provide the type of installation and support required for a major broadcast event such as the Olympic Games.”
Scopus platforms, based on the CODICO product line, include the E-1000 MPEG-2 broadcast encoders with 4:2:0/4:2:2 encoding profile, statistical multipexing and a low delay mode; IRD-2800 professional integrated receiver decoders (IRDs) with 4:2:0/4:2:2 decoding profile, SDI output and embedded audio; and RTM-3800 multiplexers with ASI and DS-3 output, capable of simultaneous multiplexing up to 19 inputs. The compression systems are managed by Scopus distributed network management system, the NMS-4000 with Scopus Navigator, allowing the total system to be controlled via a 2MB/s link from either Athens or Melbourne.
“Scopus high-quality compression and high reliability are absolute necessities for Olympic broadcasts,” said Ellen Schurr, Scopus Sales Director. “The quality engineering of our products will create flawless delivery of broadcasts from our platforms for Telstra during the Olympics.”

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INSTALLATIONS

Ascent Converts with Snell & Wilcox

Ascent Media Network Services' Singapore operation has become the first facility in Southeast Asia to employ Snell & Wilcox's Alchemist Platinum Ph.C standards converters.
Tan Yee Tiang, vice president, operations and engineering, Ascent Media Pte. Ltd., emphasized the importance of maintaining excellent picture quality throughout the transmission process.
"Providing premiere-quality, fast-motion content such as sports presents a particular standards conversion challenge," Ms. Tan said. "We have chosen Snell & Wilcox's Alchemist Platinum as it is able to meet our stringent evaluation
criteria."
Delivered by Electro-Acoustics Systems Pte. Ltd., the Alchemist Platinum Ph.C uses motion compensation technology to deliver high quality even with demanding content such as wildlife action scenes, slow motion, and fast-moving images together with camera panning.
Mr. Mark Parlett, managing director, Snell & Wilcox Asia Pacific Limited, said, "The Alchemist Platinum is absolutely the best standards converter on the market and motion compensation technology is what makes it possible. Whether viewers are watching a cheetah chase a gazelle or a motorcycle jumping over a truck, they want to see the footage exactly as the camera has captured it, no matter what the source. That demands phase correlation motion compensation."
Transparent conversion is achieved using a three-stage, 46-point temporal spatial filter. Internal processing is performed at 4:4:4 resolution and at a minimum of 12-bit precision.
In Singapore, Ascent Media has also purchased two Kudos Plus CVR 550 standards converters from Snell & Wilcox. These converters provide four-field, four-line standards conversion in a compact 1RU size. The Kudos Plus CVR 550 is designed for a wide range of applications, including mobile applications, news, and transmission.
Ascent Media Pte. Ltd. is an Ascent Media Network Services company, based in the Loyang section of Singapore. Its network origination centre delivers multiple program channels and pass-through services to diverse markets in the Pacific Rim and Asia, and a full complement of creative, technical, and support services are available for post-production and media management to regional and international program producers and distributors.

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SPORTSCASTING

Seven Readies for a Digital Olympics

Rolling extended analogue coverage, enhanced digital data services and a high definition opening ceremony. These are the cornerstones of the Seven Network’s coverage of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad.
Despite the timezone difference between Athens and Australia, Seven will present live coverage of the 17 days of the Olympic Games for up to 16 hours each day, stretching across primetime into early morning and then through to the morning programme Sunrise.
Seven’s coverage will commence two days before the Opening Ceremony on 14
August with live coverage of the opening events in the Olympic Games, including preliminary matches in the men’s and women’s football on 12 August and 13 August.
Seven’s coverage will draw on more than 1000 cameras provided by the Athens host broadcaster AOB and have its own dedicated camera facilities at major venues – including live interviews from swimming and track and field and a live studio in the Australian team’s compound in the athletes’ village. At any one moment, Seven’s team will be managing 70 separate video feeds from venues across Athens.
A production team of more than 300 will create 340 hours of coverage of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad. Seven will use 3000 hours of satellite and digital video network time, and access 100 videotape machines and 500 television monitors in addition to the resources of the Olympic Games global television coverage.

For more, click here

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INSTALLATIONS

Avalon Becomes NZ’s First HD Studio

By Phil Sandberg

Benefiting from economies of scale in nearby markets, New Zealand’s Avalon Studios has installed a package of equipment from Thomson Grass Valley to become that country’s first fully HD capable studio facility.
Previously a somewhat autonomous operation, Avalon Studios was recently included in a rebranded TVNZ Resources Group, including all outside broadcast and studio facilities. The restructure has lead to an upgrade of the Wellington-based studios.
According to Paul Mainwaring, Resources Manager – Southern TVNZ, the high definition capability came as an added extra.
“Once we decided to do this upgrade which was essentially new cameras and a complete new fit-out for our main studio here. It was initially going to be an SD installation,” he said. “Now, it’s fair to say, given the advance of HD off-shore, that Thomson saw the opportunity to get the first full HD studio installation in the country and they made it worth our while in terms of the package they were able to put together.
“In terms of dipping our toe into the HD market, it’s a little bit unclear where the work will exactly be. We see it probably being high end commercial work that’s otherwise shot here on 35mm and, maybe, Australasian drama, co-productions, that sort of thing.
While TVNZ has no plan to move to HD transmission in the foreseeable future, the NZ national broadcaster is looking at widescreen transmissions within the next year.
The Avalon upgrade includes a Thomson Grass Valley Kalypso 4-ME Duo Switcher with Clipcache still store, LDK-6000 cameras, and a Trinix 256 x 256 wideband router.
“The beauty of the Duo being that it’s just a software boot up is that it can be SD configuration one day or HD the next,” says Mainwaring. The LDK-6000 cameras have simultaneous SD and HD outputs. It really gives us the ability to do an SD job one day and an HD job the next.
“The Trinix is part of a further station routing expansion. Obviously for one studio we don’t require a 256 x 256 router, but that’s there with future developments in mind.
“In terms of the rest of the station here, we will be replacing all our analogue routing with digital routing throughout the building for post-production, for the studios and our master control. We already have another digital studio that we do the TAB Trackside horseracing channel out of, so this is essentially the second fully digital we will put in place.
“This is very much an external production opportunity and we are looking to the Australian market to some extent to see where the opportunity lies. I guess you could say the premium for us going HD was not such a big barrier. We felt we were future-proofing ourselves and if there were any HD opportunities out there, we’d take them.”

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EDUCATION

AFTRS Digital Media MA goes interactive

The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) has launched a new MA
degree in Interactive Media, placing itself at the vanguard of the revolution
in digital entertainment. The new degree will take its first students in 2005.
AFTRS Director, Malcolm Long said there were fantastic creative and career
opportunities in Interactive Media.
“You can see it in the enormous popularity of DVDs and video games and, in coming years, through media such as interactive television and interactive documentaries,” he said.
“In the AFTRS Interactive Media program, students will be offered an opportunity to translate great stories into compelling and interactive entertainment – they’ll ­­have a chance to create the future. Our students will use their creativity and skills in ways we’ve yet to imagine.”
AFTRS course lecturer Mark Pesce said Interactive Media at AFTRS would operate at the intersection between the classic arts of storytelling on the big screen, and the ‘third screen’ offered by digital technologies.
“As more entertainment is distributed digitally:projected in digital cinemas, brought into the home with DVDs and broadband internet connections, or sent through the air to 3G mobile phones and the new Sony PlayStation Portable, storytellers will find themselves with a new creative palette,” he said.
“It is this palette that MA candidates will be encouraged to explore, using the latest innovations in entertainment technologies to bring their own stories to life.”
Mr Pesce said the Digital Media Department was looking beyond traditional
film and TV professionals to people who had produced games, Flash movies, and toys.
“Interactivity isn’t any one thing. The term is an umbrella which covers all creative productions which rely upon input from the audience – be it a single player hunched over a video game, or a million viewers deciding who will be the next Australian Idol,” he said. “We are looking for people who have invented and produced their own games and toys – people who look at the whole world as an opportunity for play.”
The closing date for applications to the MA in Interactive Media is Tuesday, September 28, 2004. For more information visit www.aftrs.edu.au or email info_nsw@aftrs.edu.au or call the Student Centre on 1300 131 461.

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REGULATION

New Australian Minister for Communications

Senator Helen Coonan has been appointed to the position of Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts taking over from the nine-month stewardship of Daryl Williams who had taken over from the long-serving Richard Alston.
Coonan, who was born in 1947 in Wagga Wagga, NSW, served as a barrister and solicitor in Australia and as an attorney in New York before entering Australian Federal Parliament in 1996. Coonan was previously Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer from 26.11.01 to 18.7.04, and has served on a number of senate committees including those for Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts; Finance and Public Administration; Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade; Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport; and National Competition Policy.

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INSTALLATIONS

Galaxy Masters Miranda's Glass Cockpit

Weighing in US$1.2 million and representing one of the largest Miranda installations, Hong Kong-based Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting (GSB) Limited has built its new exTV pay-TV platform with a multichannel playout control and monitoring environment that draws on virtually every product offered by the company.
The Miranda Master Control Glass Cockpit system was installed by Ideal
Systems Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and includes 20 Kaleido-K2 multi-image display processors; 34 Imagestore 3/2 master control switching and channel branding processors with a Presmaster 2 master control panel system; an iControl Web-based control and monitoring system; Densité Series video and audio Control Probes for signal measurement and confidence monitoring over IP; and numerous other Miranda systems to support this infrastructure.
Ideal Systems has undertaken all the systems integration and provided training and support services for the new exTV platform run by Galaxy.
"In order to build a reliable center for exTV broadcasts, we wanted to place all monitoring functions for all the channels and systems in one central location," said Jim Butler, managing director at Ideal Systems Asia Pacific. "The Miranda Glass Cockpit system delivers this capability and provides easy control of each key piece of distribution and processing equipment within the playout infrastructure.
"The system has many features that simplify the control of multiple channels, such as the neat interfacing between the mixer and display wall, which ensures that the sources needed for any channel are automatically and instantly presented to the operator. The system also incorporates sophisticated alarming features, which alert operators to any problems in the playout chain. The highly graphical software also helps isolate any faults very quickly. Overall, this has created a very efficient and robust operation."
GSB exTV is an all-digital, multichannel satellite TV service operated from a new facility at the Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) headquarters in Hong Kong. The 32-channel service offers exclusive programming in Cantonese and Mandarin, created by TVB, and a broad array of international news, information, movie and entertainment channels targeted to a wide viewing
audience.

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AWARDS

ABU Recieves McGann Bursary from IABM

The International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) has announced that the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) has been selected as the recipient of the 2004 Tom McGann Training Bursary. The World Broadcasting Union (WBU) Technical Committee who sought applications from a wide area on the IABM’s behalf and consulted with the IABM on the final selection process.
Introduced at IBC 2001, the annual £20,000 bursary promotes and assists the provision of engineering training within the broadcasting industry for young engineers who would otherwise be unable to benefit from such formal training or enjoy the opportunity of work placement with recognised institutions. The recipients of the training, who must be currently engaged within the industry, will be chosen by the ABU.
The Bursary will be presented to a representative of the ABU by Martin Salter, Chairman of the IABM at an official ceremony held during IBC on Saturday 11th September. The lucky beneficiaries will be trained at the Staff Training Institute Technical (STIT) in New Delhi, India.
"It’s very important that we provide opportunities to students who may not otherwise be able to gain access to this type of training” commented Martin Salter, Chairman of the IABM. “By granting the Tom McGann Bursary to a well respected and established broadcasting organisation such as the ABU, we can reach young engineers all over the world, widening the talent pool for manufacturers’ looking to employ the next generation of broadcasting engineers.”
Last year’s Bursary was presented to the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA), which was also a recipient in 2002. The Bursary recognises a life-long and significant contribution made to the international broadcasting community by Tom McGann, a former chairman of the IABM, and reflects the IABM’s ongoing commitment to assisting in the future of broadcasting.

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DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

DubSat Tracks with MRI

DubSat has partnered Media Review International (MRI), providers of Australia’s first independent electronic watermarking and content tracking and verification system.
MRI recently launched a service that delivers up to the minute information to clients on their campaign activity, allowing them to proactively monitor audience viewing patterns through a tie-in with Oztam ratings data and verify that their material aired as it was originally booked. The new watermark tracking and reporting system is a significant advance and will substantially improve the accuracy and speed of monitoring the broadcast of commercials and promos on free to air and Pay TV.
DubSat is the exclusive provider of services to apply the watermarks to material on behalf of MRI, having worked in concert over the last six months to develop and release the technology into the Australian market.
“With 80 percent of the Australian advertising industry using DubSat, the watermark technology is a great value-add to include in the mix of our already extensive services” said Alan Engert, CEO of DubSat. “DubSat is committed to saving clients time and money. With our integrated media services such as DubSuite, IntaCAD, DubSat Online as well as distribution across Australia and New Zealand, we are redefining the media management process from concept right through to post analysis. We are very pleased to be able to work with MRI as part of that process.”

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COMMUNITY TV

Brisbane Community Licence to Briz31

The Australian Broadcasting Authority has allocated a community television licence for Brisbane. The successful applicant, Briz31 Ltd (Briz31), will provide the service on channel 31.
The ABA allocated licences in Sydney and Perth in March 2004 and expects to make a decision in relation to a licence for Melbourne shortly. Applications will also be sought for community television licences in Adelaide and Lismore in the near future.
"Briz31 has held several licences under the community television trial. The allocation of this licence should enable Briz31 to build on its achievements under the trial and further enhance its standing in the Brisbane community,’ said Acting ABA Chair Lynn Maddock. ‘The Brisbane community should look forward to an expansion of local programs with Briz31 making a strong commitment to the provision of local programming."
The ABA received three applications for the community television licence - from Briz31 Ltd, C31 Limited (C31) and Community Television Australia Ltd (CTVA). The ABA found that two applicants, C31 and CTVA, did not meet the criteria for a community broadcasting service.
With respect to Briz31 the ABA has been examining its arrangements for the sale of air-time to other entitities, including RTV Australia Ltd (RTVA). It is a condition of a community television licence that a licensee cannot sell access to air-time in excess of two hours per day to an entity that is, or is part of, a profit-making enterprise. Nor can a community television licensee sell access to a combined total of more than eight hours of airtime per day to entitities that are, or are part of, profit-making enterprises.
The licence allocated to Briz31 commences on 1 August 2004, the day after Briz31’s current trial licence expires. Briz31 is required to commence the service within one year from the date of allocation of the licence. A community television service must not be operated for profit or as part of a profit-making enterprise.

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INSTALLATIONS

Sony on Top Of The Pops

New Zealand’s Satellite Media launched a Kiwi version of the UK’s Top Of The Pops music show with TVNZ in early April this year. Winning the rights to produce the successful format was somewhat of a coup, explains executive producer David Rose.
"We're the first ever English speaking territory in the world, outside of England, to do Top of the Pops. The other territories include France, Germany, Italy, Holland and the Middle East. The challenge was to integrate their footage into our footage. We needed to make the transition between markets as seamless as possible."
To do this, Satellite chose to use Sony DVCAM broadcast equipment. With the help of local integrator Gencom and consulting engineer Geoff Evans, a custom-built studio was built in what was previously an underground arts space in downtown Auckland. The 5000 square foot space was a bare concrete room but was transformed in just ten weeks into a fully working television studio and live venue for 300 people.
The studio features Sony equipment including a DFS700AP 16 input production vision switcher, DSR1500AP and DSR1800P Edit DVCAM VTRs and a range of professional monitors.

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ANNIVERSARY

40th Reunion for ATV-0

Sunday night, 1st August, 2004, is the 40th aniversary of the opening night at ATV-0.

A reunion function is being held at "The Burvale" starting at 6pm. Brian Finch (FM Productions) has been doing the Promos for this event. All those involved in the early days at Nunawading are invited.

Get on the invite list by e-mail to Reunion@FMTV.com.au

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TRANSMISSION

TVNZ Goes Stereo in Hawkes Bay

TVNZ viewers in Hawkes Bay (on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island) are now able to enjoy their favourite TVONE and TV2 programmes in full NICAM Stereo.
The enhancement to the Hawkes Bay service has been made possible by the replacement of the obsolescent television transmitters at the Mt Erin transmission site, which is part of an ongoing replacement plan by TVNZ.
Viewers who wish to receive the new NICAM Stereo service will need to have either a NICAM-capable receiver or a NICAM-capable VCR. Reception by existing mono receivers and VCRs will not be affected by the NICAM signal.
NICAM stands for Near Instantaneous Companding Audio Multiplexing and is a digital system capable of providing sound quality approaching that of the compact disc.

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INSTALLATIONS

AFTRS Receives Avid Boost

The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) has ramped up its editing technology with the purchase of seven Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems from Avid Australia.
The Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems will run on AFTRS’s HP XW8000 computers and be used by students of the School’s two Film and Television Editing courses.
“A part of the AFTRS’s mission is to produce industry-ready graduates; this means acquiring technology that editing students will be expected to be proficient in when seeking employment in the media profession,” said Bill Russo, Head of Editing, AFTRS. “Against that backdrop the choice of Avid Media Composer Adrenaline was very easy. Avid is the industry-standard and Adrenaline – with its rich array of high-end graphics capabilities and other powerful features – leads the pack in the editing systems arena. With Adrenaline forming part of the School’s arsenal of Avid teaching tools we’re now better placed to build the careers of the next generation of media professionals.”

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RADIO

ABA to Auction Commercial Licence for Melbourne

The Australian Broadcasting Authority will conduct an auction on Thursday 12 August 2004 to allocate one new commercial radio licence to serve Melbourne.
The Authority has received seven applications for the Melbourne licence. The applicants are:

• ACN 110 030 530 Pty Ltd (ACN: 110 030 530)
• Banbury Pty Ltd (ACN: 109 499 836)
• Daily Mail (UK Radio 3) Pty Ltd (ACN: 109 734 661)
• GTShelfCo 2 Pty Ltd (ACN: 108 435 356)
• HR Broadcast Investments 2004 Pty Ltd (ACN: 108 428 431)
• Melbourne Radio Company Pty Ltd (ACN: 109 734 689)
• River View Radio Pty Limited (ACN: 108 209 043)

The ABA will not be releasing any further details about the applicants.

The auction for this licence, which is to provide a service on FM 91.5 MHz, will be held at the Meridien At Rialto Hotel, 495 Collins Street, Melbourne. Registered applicants must check in between 1pm and 1.45pm, with the auction expected to commence at 2pm. There is a reserve price of $1 million for the licence. The auction, technically a ‘licence allocation exercise’, will be conducted in accordance with the price based allocation system determined by the ABA under section 36 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

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CORPORATE MOVES

Incite Merges with Systems Integrator

Incite Multimedia Corporation and Avexco S.A. announced the merger of their respective companies to form a complete Broadcast IT and Video Systems provider: Incite Avexco Corporation Inc.
Tony Rieder, the President of the new company, said, “This is a dream come true, signaling a major advance in our ability to provide our customers with a total, tailor-made solution for IT-based, digital network broadcasting. Avexco, a broadcast video systems provider for almost 30 years, and Incite, the IT software supplier, are joining forces to offer complete solutions for turn key systems like News, Sports and all around non-videotape based TV production.”
Incite offers over 14 distinct products natively engineered for networking environments in the IT systems field, providing a vertical line of NLE products, scheduling and automation tools, asset management and integration with key 3rd party archiving and newsroom applications. Avexco has a record with many lead broadcasters as a turnkey systems supplier. Offering a wide range of Professional & Broadcast products from many manufacturers such as Snell & Wilcox, Avexco covers the complete range of activities in television production, post-production, distribution and transmission. The combined expertise of both companies in software design, broadcast workflow and systems integration makes the merger a key asset for any broadcaster looking for a digital migration plan that is efficient, cost-effective and provided with professional technical and after sales support.

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TVCs

Prodigy’s Bullock Cleans Up With New Enjo

Prodigy Director, Tim Bullock, has just completed two TVC’s for BMF Advertising and ecological cleaning company, Enjo. The spots, entitled ‘Alien’ and ‘Ghost’ promote Enjo’s revolutionary cleaning glove with great humour, while conveying the startling effectiveness of the product.
‘Alien’ shows a family interrupted at breakfast by an alien transported into their kitchen to demonstrate the use of the Enjo glove and then just as quickly transporting itself away. ‘Ghost’ follows a similar theme, however this time a woman is surprised by a headless entity in her bathroom as she prepares to shower. Both TVCs end with the by-line, “Easy to Use. Hard to Believe.”

For details and pics click here

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