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Imagine Communications Set to Focus on Solutions Driving Media Revenue at 2024 NAB Show
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Fujifilm set to Showcase New FUJINON Duvo Zoom Lens at 2024 NAB Show
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MRMC and Pixelscope Partner to Enhance Sports Broadcasting with AI and Robotics Integration
360 Seconds. Broadcast News & Commentary is a weekly program on Youtube about the latest equipment for broadcasting and film. Explained by experts – practitioners directly working in the field of cinema and television.
Hosts: Philip Grossman, host and co-producer at Visionaries, and Maria Kholodova.
Production – TKT1957 LLC.
Airing on March 18, 2024.
When YouTubers become professionals: Imagine Introduces Cloud-based Ad Sales Platform
Maria: Imagine Communications is set to demonstrate how it can aid media organizations with growth by providing solutions and strategies that focus on delivery, connectivity, playout, monetization, and ad tech. Imagine is set to feature a number of solutions at the upcoming NAB Show in April, including the SNP in IP and SDI workflows and CrossFlight, a new cloud-based ad sales platform.
Imagine Communications Unveils New Solutions at 2024 NAB Show
So, Philip, can you talk to us about this?
Philip: Yeah, so for transparency, I worked at Imagine Communications for many years. They produce great products. Ad sales was always something that was separate from the area I worked in, but I spent a lot of time with the teams learning about it. What’s interesting is that ad sales systems—the way we sell ads in North America—are very different from the way they are sold in Europe and Asia. This particular system is geared towards the US market, and what they’re really doing is providing a system for, let’s say, smaller companies. A lot of times, it’s going to be the large station groups who invest in these platforms, and they’re multi-million dollar, multi-year contracts for ad sales. It was always a difficult thing: how do we provide that same level of service to smaller organizations who want to start doing ad sales? So, the goal here is not to let YouTube or whoever decide which ads or have an ad server just pick the ads. There are organizations that want to have relationships with other corporations and sell the ads, put ads on their system. This is just a system that really brings it down, makes it easier for smaller organizations, and puts it in a price bracket for smaller organizations as well, so that, as I used to jokingly say, as YouTubers become professional, they want to act professional. This just gives them that next level of capability without the huge costly jump that most ad sales systems entail, and really puts their future in their own hands. They get to decide the relationship and the sales. I’m excited to see this and am looking forward to seeing plenty of adoption within the media organizations.
Broadcast Lens Evolution: Fujinon’s Move to Larger Sensor Support
Maria: Great, thanks. Now, moving on to other NAB news, Fujifilm is set to showcase the new FUJINON Duvo Zoom Lens at the NAB Show. The native PL-mount, dual-format lens supports two types of large image sensors and specializes in shallow depth of field while maintaining the ease of broadcast lens operation, according to the company.
FUJIFILM Unveils New Portable PL-Mount Zoom Lens: The FUJINON Duvo HZK24-300mm
Philip: Yeah, it’s interesting. Over the last probably 10 years, there’s been this movement within the broadcast space to change the look. We want to change the look. The typical 2/3-inch sensor broadcast lenses are parfocal, which means once you’ve focused on something, if you zoom in or out, the focus remains the same. You’re not going to have to change focus. This is very important, especially in the sports arena. These lenses have been around for 2/3-inch sensors, but we’re now seeing larger sensor sizes like Super 35 and full frame, which really give a different look to your presentation, whether it’s sports or news. It gives a bit of shallow depth of field, a bit softer contrast; it just looks different. It doesn’t have what we called the ‘soap opera look.’ Fujinon is world-renowned in its lens development, especially in the broadcast space. The majority of broadcast lenses out there are Fujinon 2/3-inch lenses. This move is about taking that technology, that knowledge, and putting it into a PL-mount-based lens, which now supports larger sensors as we’re starting to see companies move to using things like Red digital cinema cameras or Sony cinema cameras in news production. The fact that they’ve done this is great. Most people don’t realize that two-thirds-inch sensor cameras, those lenses, 90-some-odd percent have a lens doubler in them, so they have unbelievable range.
ISE 2024: Fujifilm Expands Camera Solutions for Video and Broadcast Markets
What Fujifilm is doing here is using that same knowledge and capability to produce a lens that supports two different sensor sizes.
Without the lens doubler, you’re able to shoot your Super 35, and then if you have a full-frame, you flip in the 1.5x lens doubler, or teleconverter, and now all of a sudden, you have a lens that supports a full-frame sensor, or you have the doubling of the range on a Super 35. It’s interesting to see them moving into this technology.
AI Integration in Broadcasting: Enhancing Viewer Experience
Maria: Great, thanks. Now, for our last piece of news—our favorite two things: sports broadcasting and AI. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) and Pixelscope partner to enhance sports broadcasting with AI and robotics integration. This collaboration aims to integrate MRMC’s robotic technology with Pixelscope’s cutting-edge software for automated sports production, introducing a remote production workflow solution in the sports broadcasting sector.
MRMC and Pixelscope Partner to Enhance Sports Broadcasting with AI and Robotics Integration
Philip: Yeah, so you know, AI is finding its way into everything, and really, it’s just advanced algorithms. They’ve developed these algorithms and are now integrating them with robotics. To some extent, it will take away cameramen’s jobs, but I think production companies are going to be smarter than that. They’ll use it to place those cameras in locations where a human may not be able to get or to add many more cameras within a sporting event without having to hire as many people. The AI technology, the tracking technology, linking it with knowledge of the players so the scores and names can go up, I think it’s going to just create a better viewing experience.
Maria: That’s all the time we have today. Many thanks to our expert, Philip. And don’t forget to comment on the news we’ve discussed. See you next Monday at the same time!
360 Seconds. Broadcast News & Commentary
The weekly show, focusing on the latest products and solutions in the global TV and film industry, features insights and analysis from top experts. Released every Monday within the TKT1957 network, the program can be found on the YouTube channel, social media groups, and the tkt1957.com website.
“360 Seconds. Broadcast News & Commentary” is versatile and offers a wide range of formats to captivate our audience. Here are some of the key elements you can expect in our productions:
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