NAB 2014: 4K, HEVC and Internet

The real NAB Show began this morning in Las Vegas by a beautiful sunny day. The “real” because that was the first morning of the exhibit. The conference program began on Saturday but for me, the main interest of NAB is the exhibit as the conference program seems to always be less interesting than others…

Quantel acquires Snell

In a not so surprising move, Quantel did announced the acquisition of Snell today. In a news release, the company is of course very upbeat about it qualifying it of a “new force in media technology”. Well, I am not sure I’ll be that quick to say that. Is combining two companies that have a…

So… I am overqualified!

I have been working on a project for an LA startup for the last three years. On the technical side (my responsibility), I was able to deliver more than what I thought possible to date, so everything looked good. The problem? Well, it was linked with 3D for the home and that market has not…

3D at home: The mirage

With ESPN announcing it’s plan to shut down it’s 3D channel at the end of the year, it becomes clearer that 3D at home will be a missed opportunity. Without a serious sports channel, it is not possible to built a “3D tier” at the distributors’ level and without that there will be no money…

NAB 2013: And the magic wand this year is… 4K! (and 3DTV was a fraud)

The National Association of Broadcasters convention has a conference program for sure but first and foremost it is the industry largest trade shows. When you are taking about trade shows you are taking first about sales. In an industry whose budget is shrinking everyone is searching for some magic to restore their organizations to their…

NAB 2013: The paradox of the larger but cheaper market

Each year at NAB I make sure that I walk the entire show floor to make sure that I see if there an hidden gem somewhere, especially in the new and small organizations. I have been doing that basically since 1987 when the NAB was held in Dallas. I certainly have the impression that there…

IBC: Many still skeptical about 3DTV

Now that IBC 2012 is history, I was reflecting on the perception that industry members have of 3DTV. While some people are strong believers (and have strong economic interest like James Cameron) there still a lot that don’t see the benefits. For instance at the London Olympics, the director of BBC sports was clearly not…

IBC Conference Saturday: Sports Day

On Saturday at IBC 2012 the main theme around that conference was sports. In the morning it was all about London 2012 and in late afternoon there was a session on the need to change the live production workflow in sports. Overall, a much better day than the first two days. There was some insightful…

3DTV: The Olympics were no “Avatar”

Almost a year ago Panasonic hosted a large press event to tell the press how great was 3DTV and how the 2012 London’s Olympics would be it’s “Avatar”. Now that the Olympics are done, I see no parallels at all! The event was held one night during the IBC 2011 (International Broadcasting Convention) in Amsterdam…