26 April 2006
High-definition outside broadcast facilities for Coca Cola League and Carling Cup football
Sky-Arqiva partnership at forefront of new technology
HDTV brings next big step in broadcasting
Arqiva has secured a three-year contract with Sky Sports to provide high-definition outside broadcast facilities. The deal will see Arqiva migrating from the standard definition format it currently provides for Sky Sports’ coverage of the Football League competitions, to HD in time for the 2006-07 football season.
Arqiva’s OB facilities will be used to provide HD coverage of the Coca Cola Leagues – Championship, League One and League Two – and the Carling Cup knock-out competition. Sky Sports has already started to produce Barclays Premiership football and Guinness Premiership Rugby in HD and will produce England’s Test and One-Day internationals and county cricket in HD this summer.
Mick Bass, Managing Director of Arqiva Outside Broadcasts, said: “This contract is just the first step for Arqiva and HDTV. With our experience and expertise in broadcasting we are very excited about the migration over to HDTV and we’ll be announcing additional business wins very shortly. While enabling us to continue providing quality outside broadcast services, this deal also reinforces our commitment to staying at the forefront of rapidly changing technologies.”
Darren Long, Head of Sky Sports operations, added, High definition is the next big step in broadcasting and is simply stunning for sport. Arqiva is a great partner for us and will provide excellent facilities on location. We are glad to be working with them on our HD coverage.
Sky HD is on track to launch next month (May 2006) bringing viewers a cinema-like experience with sharper, clearer and more vibrant pictures and, with compatible home cinema systems, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Sky HD will capture detail and movement with greater clarity, providing four times the picture detail of standard definition. In order to enjoy Sky HD consumers will need a compatible HD-ready LCD or plasma TV, a Sky HD box and the relevant subscriptions.
26 April 2006
A very different set of movie makers will be gathering in Soho tonight (Wednesday 26th April) for their industry’s awards ceremony at the Rex Cinema in Soho. The stars and back room staff of 100 films showcasing University research will be gathering to find out which of their films wowed the most people around the world.
The 100 films were all produced as part of the Research-TV consortium which produce broadcast quality video news releases based on new research which are distributed to television and broadband channels worldwide via APTN’s global satellite distribution service. Over 200 broadcasters in more than 90 countries have used Research-TV stories and each story is used on average by 30 serious news networks within 24 hours of distribution. So far Research-TV has reached an estimated global audience of 250 million people.
Tonight Research-TV are holding a special awards ceremony in the Rex Cinema and bar (21 Rupert Street London W1V starting at 6pm) to mark the release of its 100th story which is Teesside’s Showdown at Red River which can be seen at:
http://www.research-tv.co.uk/stories/science/redriver/
Phil Willis MP, the Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Science and Technology select committee has also kindly agreed to attend the event to present a special award to the best performing Research-TV story Bristol and Darlington College of Arts on Cyborgs, Etem Cells and Vision which was carried by 37 broadcasters and reached around 100 million viewers. It can be seen at:
http://www.research-tv.co.uk/stories/health/eyesight/
There will also be awards for the best performing story in terms of web hits which goes to Kings College London’s story on the “Congestion Charge reducing Congested Chests” and the best all round performing story which goes to Durham for their story on Predicting Landslides.
26 April 2006
Radio Netherlands is broadcasting its radio drama The Edges of the Night Watch around the globe in Dutch, English, Spanish and Indonesian from 19 May. The three-part play will be heard around the world directly and through Radio Netherlands partner stations. It is also being broadcast by RAI Tre and Radio Suisse Romande in Italian and French. In the Netherlands, the KRO programme Dolce Vita will broadcast The Edges of the Night Watch. It will also be available on DVD.
The radio drama was produced by Radio Netherlands as part of the Rembrandt Year 400 celebrations and is set in the modern day. The main story is of a worldwide search for the missing pieces of Rembrandts best-known painting The Night Watch. When the painting was moved to the Palace on the Dam in 1715 it proved too big and two strips were cut off. The action includes flashbacks to the life of the master painter in the 17th century, Hollands Golden Age.
DVD
Radio Netherlands has also produced a DVD of the play. This includes all four language versions of the radio drama, an interactive quest based on the play, extra visual material and background information. The DVD is being distributed around the world, partly through Dutch embassies. Deputy Foreign Minister Atzo Nicolai explains: Rembrandt is an important Dutch painter and part of global history. The DVD shows you a great deal about him. About Rembrandt himself and about the Golden Age. The Dutch government regards it as important to have this seen in as many places as possible, particularly abroad. Within the Netherlands the DVD will be available through the Rijksmuseum.
Rembrandt Year 400
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the painters birth, 2006 has been declared Rembrandt Year 400. Countless exhibitions and events will be taking place in the Netherlands, which are expected to draw around one and half million visitors. One-third of these will be from abroad. In its role as ambassador of Dutch Culture, Radio Netherlands is offering the Rembrandt Year an international, multimedia platform on radio, television and the internet. This will bring tens of millions of people around the world into contact with an icon of Dutch culture: Rembrandt van Rijn.
26 April 2006
Portaprompt, manufacturers of broadcasting equipment since 1963, are this year be exhibiting at NAB the lightest and brightest Portable Prompting equipment the market has to offer through innovative design, research and development.
New for NAB:
A MOS version of Portaprompts WinDigi prompting software has been specifically written and designed to interface with ENPSs Media Server Communications Protocol (MOS). This tight integration with WinDigi via the MOS protocol enables ENPS to control all the features of the WinDigi prompter automatically so improving the efficiency of the prompting function in a busy newsroom environment. Using the MOS Active X implementation WinDigi can remotely access any run-order, or start at any story in the run-order.
Launching the Quasar range of ultra bright and ultra light TFT colour on camera teleprompter units in three sizes 10.4 15 & 20 (up to 1600 Nits & 100-250volts AC 12VDC). Designed without a fan for silent running and suitable for Location, Studio and Virtual Studio use. Lightweight therefore ideal for robotic head mounting with an improved on-camera tilt range. Automatic PAL/NTSC signal detection with auto-terminating BNC loop-through and VGA input. The flat panel displays have been engineered to obtain the very highest brightness and contrast. The displays are suitable for on-camera prompting units, conference glass stand units or direct reading monitors. The Quasar range ultra bright teleprompters are fitted with very high brightness backlights making them totally suitable for outside use. Turning down the brightness for indoor use reduces power consumption.
The New Nano Prompter The ultimate in minimal prompting for hand held field use. Using the latest laptop computer technology Portaprompt has developed this wireless on camera laptop prompting system weighing only 1.8 Kg. Using Portaprompts software and rigging this simple to use and easy to carry prompter is ready for any location. Prepare or download the script onto the hi-spec laptop. Make any changes required. Set the camera up and attach the rigging arm to the camera. Attach the laptop to the rigging arm and start prompting, its as easy as that! No extra monitors hoods or cables or mirrors to break!
The recently enhanced Fastpole Conference Display Stand unique to Portapromt and the fastest pole in the market place today. The pole can be preset for any height between 1ft 7 to maximum height of 8ft (with glass). Each hand control can control up to 16 poles. The fast pole reaches its pre set height at around 2ft per second and will retract to its smallest height of around 1ft 6 at the same speed with the glass folding down flat automatically so easily retracting beneath most stages. The New Lightweight Manual Conference Display Stand is also unique to Portaprompt with a maximum height of around 8ft including glass and a minimum height of 1ft 8inches, It will fit with its base and glass into a small briefcase and weighs only 1.6 kg
Portaprompt exhibits at Booth SU186F
26 April 2006
Mo & Me, the documentary about Mohamed Mo Amin – the photojournalist whose
TV footage first brought Ethiopias 1984 famine to the world has been feted at film festivals in Los Angeles and Paris, ahead of its New York festival premiere on May 9.
Directed by Roger Mills (Himalaya, Around the World in 80 Days) and narrated by Salim Amin, Mo & Me received the International Film Award for Best Documentary at the 2006 NYIIFV Festival in Los Angeles, last month. Mo & Me is a co-production between Camerapix and Al-Jazeera International.
The 95-minute feature also received much favourable comment at the recent European Independent Film Festival in Paris; and there is growing interest in its presentation next month in New York at which Harry Belafonte and other friends of Mohamed Amin are expected.
Mo & Me depicts Amins tenacious and unflinching chronicling of Africas passage through the twentieth century in a career that marked him as a photographer and cameraman of the highest calibre. His courage and drive in the face of extreme adversity are also shown as he survives incarceration, torture and, later,
amputation in his unrelenting quest to give voice to the voiceless.
Commenting on the positive reaction to his debut documentary, Salim Amin said: My team at Camerapix and I are deeply grateful to all those who have seen and supported Mo & Me. In his life, as in his death, my father was determined to show the world things that some were afraid to see and others wished they could ignore.
Ultimately, by providing the first images of those apocalyptic scenes in Ethiopia, Mohamed Amins cameras made the world examine its conscience and inspired one of the greatest acts of collective compassion in history.
