12 February 2006
International Russian television channel RTR Planeta has now reached Asia following a distribution partnership between content management and delivery company GlobeCast, satellite transmissions company Satlink and leading satellite operator AsiaSat. RTR Planeta, owned by Russian state television and radio broadcasting Company RTR, provides programming that includes cultural and prime time news, sports, feature films and documentary movies.
The channel is received by Satlink from the Express 3A satellite in Tel Aviv, where it is multiplexed and uplinked onto Satlinks platform on AsiaSat 2 for Free-to-Air distribution over Asia.
GlobeCast has a long relationship with RTR Planeta, carrying it both on its platform on the Hot Bird satellite over Europe and as part of its GlobeCast WorldTV offering in the United States on Intelsat Americas 5. The AsiaSat 2 Satellite provides ideal C-band coverage of a potential 53 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the C.I.S. RTR Planetas new home on this Satlink-operated platform means that the channel shares a neighborhood with TVE, RAI International, RTP and Radio France International among others.
10 February 2006
At NAB 2006, Wohler Technologies will introduce a new Touch Screen LCD video monitor series with mini router function, and multi-screen output. The Touch-it series from Wohler Technologies, offers a simple and easy way to monitor multi-channel video, provide routing, as well as multi-screen output in a compact and versatile space saving 3RU. The touch screen video monitor is ideal for multi-camera live shoots, machine rooms, and outside broadcasts.
The new Touchit LCD touch screen video monitor has dual high resolution 7 LCD panels, offering video confidence monitoring for up to 12 channels of composite video. The Dual 7 wide screen high resolution touch screen monitors twelve, 1.8 thumbnail images on left with touch screen selection of image appearing on right screen at full size. Any of the 1.8 thumbnail images can easily be selected by a simple touch of the screen to view as a larger 7 wide screen image on the second LCD panel.
The Touch-it series is also available with audio monitoring of 12 stereo analog audio inputs, internal speakers and routing function. Selected video output appears on BNC connectors and selected audio following video output on XLR connectors.
Wohler Technologies is the world leader of in rack audio and video monitoring solutions. Since 1983, the worldwide broadcast industry turns to Wohler to provide standard or custom solutions to their audio and video monitoring needs. Wohler Technologies will be exhibiting the Touch it Series, in addition to the other new and existing High Resolution, HD audio and video monitoring equipment at NAB 2006. Visit Wohler Technologies in the central hall at booth # C 5132.
10 February 2006
Victor Entertainment Co, the Tokyo based music video and audio production and marketing company, has purchased a Quantel eQ Editing/ effects/ grading/ mastering system in its Pay as you Go HD configuration. The eQ sits at the heart of Victors in-house post production facility handling all its current SD post requirements, and has been purchased with an eye to the high resolution future as more and more of Victors clients look to produce in HD.
“We are seeing an increase in demand for HD production at Victor, said Visual Director, Teruaki Onishi. The Pay as you Go HD concept allows us to make the eQ fully HD capable at any time we need, and if we reach a point where it is desirable to have the HD always on, then we can do this for a reasonable cost. It also gives us the means to handle HD and SD alongside each other, which will be very helpful to us in future as we are planning to build a network storage system for audio and video, effectively giving us a high-speed media archive system interfaced with the eQ.
Another important benefit for Victor in selecting the eQ is its ability to handle Panasonic Varicam HD video. eQ is very efficient at handling Varicam material, which is used a lot for music video production, adds Mr Onishi. Beyond that, we also appreciate the high quality and long in-service life of Quantel systems, and we are looking forward to further exciting developments for the system in the future.
8 February 2006
Al Jazeera International, the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, headquartered in Doha, have appointed renowned journalist Barnaby Phillips as their Europe correspondent based in Athens.
Barnaby joins Al Jazeera International from the BBC where his last position was as Southern Africa Correspondent for television and radio based in Johannesburg. He has extensive global experience having also worked in the Middle East, West Africa and Asia. Barnaby has covered major stories such as the AIDS epidemic, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the war in Liberia, the 2002 Southern African food crises, the war in Iraq and the South Asian Tsunami.
Barnaby will be based in Athens as European correspondent for Al Jazeera International working directly with the channels London broadcast centre the channels principle European bureau after London. The London broadcast centre will be responsible for Europe and Russia bringing news to English speaking viewers around the world for several hours each day as one of four broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC.
Speaking on the appointment from the channels headquarters in Doha, Director of News Steve Clark said, Barnaby Phillips is a great addition to our news team and I am pleased to have him on board as European correspondent.
Barnaby first joined the BBC in 1991 and has remained with them until leaving to take up his post with Al Jazeera International this year. In London he worked mainly at the BBC World Service. He was a BBC stringer in Mozambique and Angola in the mid-1990’s, where he began his career as a reporter, covering civil wars and peace processes, and learning Portuguese. In 1998 he became the BBC correspondent in Nigeria until 2001 when he moved to Johannesburg with the BBC, as Southern Africa Correspondent.
8 February 2006
Quantel will arrive at NAB 2006 on a commercial and technological high with a great range of products that is enjoying wide commercial success across many applications. NAB will be a great showcase for us and our customers, said Ray Cross, Quantel CEO. Accordingly, Quantel has significantly increased its booth size this year to enable the full generationQ product line to go on show. The range now spans the DI, Color Correction, Post, Graphics and Broadcast businesses. Many major new developments are also on show for the first time at NAB.
DI
Pablo, Quantels next generation color correction that was previewed in late 2005 makes its full debut at NAB in a dedicated viewing theatre within the Quantel booth. Featuring genuine realtime 4K operation and Quantels revolutionary new TimeMagic technology, Pablo brings together the best of hardware and software-based color correction technologies in a single system. As a result, Pablo has already achieved outstanding success in the market; it is a must-see at the show for anyone involved in color correction. Also on show in the DI area is the new all-powerful iQ4, which brings realtime 4K to the mainstream DI process.
Post
New at NAB is TimeMagic technology for the eQ multi-resolution editing/ grading/ effects/ deliverables system including the new Pay as you Go HD model – which gives every facet of the systems operation an enormous productivity boost. Also on show for the first time is Pablo on eQ, which brings the creativity and efficiency of the DI workflow to commercials post. Delivering better quality and fantastic looking hi res and SD commercials, the DI workflow is win-win for clients and post houses alike.
Broadcast
Even with the enlarged booth this year, it is still not possible to display the full gamut of possibilities offered by Quantels sQ server-based broadcast technology. As well as showing the ever-expanding Newsbox family of cost-effective, plug-and-play news systems, there will also be a second broadcast arena. Today, no broadcast system is an island; the second arena will be showing how sQ technology integrates perfectly with the real-world, end-to-end workflows demanded by broadcasters. That means handling many file formats and integrating a plethora of media streams – whether HD, SD, MPEG, video iPod
just some of the real-world challenges that broadcasters can find answers to on the Quantel booth. A number of technology partners will be participating.
Still in the broadcast arena, Quantel will be demonstrating integration with the new wave of HD acquisition technologies, including XDCAM-HD and P2-HD. Additionally, Quantel will be showing how its innovative ZoneMagic software for sQ systems enables broadcasters to benefit from a true collaborative workflow, whether departments are on the same floor, next door, or across towns, countries or continents.
Graphics
Quantels Paintbox and Picturebox sQ graphics creation and playout systems will be playing a major part in the presentations on the booth at NAB, both as part of larger systems and in a standalone graphics role. Once again, integration with real world workflows will be high on the graphics agenda.
8 February 2006
Intelsat has signed a contract with MediaFLO USA Inc., a subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated, for capacity on the Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8) satellite. IA-8, Intelsat’s newest and most powerful North American satellite located at 89ºW, will support the MediaFLO USA network deployment by providing satellite bandwidth and connectivity to the MediaFLO USA transmitter sites for carriage of wireless multimedia distribution capacity it will make available to wireless operators in the United States. Anticipated content includes live, streaming video and audio, short-format content and IP data-casting.
Using Ku-band capacity, the newly operational IA-8 satellite delivers to and supports MediaFLO USA’s terrestrial distribution network. The MediaFLO USA network delivers multimedia audio or video content to mobile devices without impacting the devices’ normal voice and data services, all while reducing traffic on wireless carrier’s networks.
Steve Spengler, Intelsat’s Vice President of Sales, stated, “Intelsat satellite technology has often been at the forefront of furthering technological advancement and continues to enable new applications that require high-powered and reliable capacity. We’re committed to working with our customers and partners in the development and support of new, leading applications and services, such as those enabled by the MediaFLO USA network, and look forward to supporting the growth of leading technology however we can.”
MediaFLO USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated, offering interactive wireless multimedia services to consumers in cooperation with U.S. wireless operators. The nationwide network, based on QUALCOMM’s FLOTM Technology and using the MediaFLO Media Distribution System, will deliver multimedia content to mobile devices in the 700 MHz spectrum for which QUALCOMM holds licenses with a nationwide footprint.
