April 18, 2011
by Mark Ollig
Their website boldly states: “Where Content Comes to Life.”
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) held their annual trade show last week in the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The NAB was established in 1922.
Some of the organizations the NAB is made up of include local radio and television stations, various broadcasting networks and telecommunication providers, and a large number of social media content creators.
Once a year, the NAB puts on what they call the NAB Show, described by NAB as being “the world’s largest electronic media show covering filmed entertainment and development, management and delivery of content across all mediums.”
The NAB Show, according to its website banner, claims it is the “world’s largest digital media industry event.”
The NAB Show has been an annual event for the last 80 years.
Companies exhibiting their products during the NAB Show number around 1,500.
The NAB Show exhibits are spread across 800,000 square feet of floor space.
The 2011 NAB show registered 92,708 attendees. Of this number, 25,691 were representatives from 151 countries.
The number of media in attendance at this year’s show was 1,314.
Educational offerings during the NAB Show were available through its workshops, round-table discussions, keynote speeches, and training and certification programs.
Many of the showcased exhibits are interactive-live-demonstrations featuring the newest in media-related technology.
One exhibitor I watched with interest (via a video stream) was a company called NextoDI, which has its US office located in Inglewood, CA.
NextoDI demonstrated its portable video backup storage device, called the NVS2525.
This device is for use with a broadcast production team’s video camcorder out in the field.
The high-tech device measures 6.1-inches-by-3.6-inches and is 1.3-inches in depth. It features a 2.4-inch color LCD monitor, which provides viewing of the video file footage stored in it.
The NVS2525 allows video content creators to not only back up video, but also to make copies of hundreds of hour’s worth of raw video footage taken on-the-go.
Video captured inside the NVS2525 device can be downloaded and stored onto smaller USB-like memory cards – no computer is required.
The NextoDI presentation gave details on the NVS2525 backup speed; which is a rapid rate of 80MB/s (Megabytes per second).
I was interested in how the NVS2525 provides for “mirrored” backups. This is where one can generate two copies onto two separate storage devices – at the same time – during one download. This provides added data safety and security in the event of an accidental loss of data from one of the storage devices.
The NVS2525 also comes with a built-in 750 GB 2.5-inch SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drive that’s future-compatible up to 2TB.
They advertise the hard drive as literally “floating” inside the case.
The NVS2525 has internal “shock absorbers” and an internal “free fall sensor” so if the user accidentally drops the unit, it will automatically lock the data on the hard drive, preventing the data from being lost.
However, if you can help it, I recommend not dropping this expensive device.
One supplier has the NVS2525 priced at just under $3,000.
The company’s website is located at: http://www.nextodiusa.com.
The NAB Show attracts companies (and their clients), along with special guest speakers who share their knowledge of media content tools and offer advice.
These sources offer suggestions on how broadcasters can best present their unique media content to the viewers, or, as they are sometimes called, “content consumption users.”
The opening keynote address was given by the famous movie producer and director, James Cameron.
Cameron is the executive producer of the new movie “Sanctum” which was created using RealD 3D (stereoscopic three-dimensional) technology.
He is also, of course, the creator of the movies “Titanic” and “Avatar.”
Cameron talked about his thoughts concerning the future of 3D entertainment and other future trends in movie film making.
Other speakers at the NAB Show included representatives of Twentieth Century Fox Television, Sony Corporation, and National Public Radio.
Famous television and movie actor, Michael J. Fox, along with Stan Lee (who co-created the comic book character Spider-Man, among others) also spoke during the NAB Show.
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission was there, too, along with other public figures.
I noticed how Twitter was being used regularly to relay messages from the NAB Show, via the Twitter hashtag: #nabshow.
Some of the messages or “tweets” included one from the popular video website’s “Funny or Die” CEO, Dick Glover, who said, “We don’t see social media as a part of marketing but just a part of life.”
Jason Phipps, vice-president of digital media of FX Networks, sent this message, “Twitter has become the real-time water cooler for watching TV shows.”
For more information about the 2011 NAB Show, check out their website at: http://www.nabshow.com.