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MillimeterNAB 2006
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Barry Braverman, S. D. Katz, D. W. Leitner, Steve Mullen, Dan Ochiva, Jan Ozer, and Jeff Sauer
Perspectives from the show floor
Sony has already been selling its innovative Ipela IP-based video communications system for a while now; it’s a good plug-and-play solution for learning and corporate communications. At the show, Sony took it a notch higher by going HD with the PCSA-CHG90 pan-tilt-zoom camera paired with the PCS-HG90 codec. Now, broadcasters—or even high-end content creators—can transfer HD-resolution video and stereo audio over available IP networks.
Displays and Monitors
By Jeff Sauer
During the late 1990s, NAB attracted a number of projector manufacturers from the then-burgeoning digital display market. The trouble was that in those earlier years of mostly business-oriented, 4:3, XGA products, the technology just wasn't ready to rival the quality expectation set by traditional CRTs — at least not to an industry with the best video eyes in the world. Since then, only a few high-end display makers — such as Barco and Christie — have continued to exhibit at NAB (except NAB mainstays like Sony, Panasonic, and JVC, for whom displays are one of many product lines).
But that may change in the future. While display makers haven't returned in big numbers yet, NAB 2006 showed that display technology is coming of age. Naturally, there have been high-quality monitors and projectors at NAB over the past few years, including notable products like Sony's Luma series of LCD production-quality monitors, Panasonic's 17in. BT-LH1700W reference monitor, and JVC's high-resolution D-ILA projectors. Yet this year, HD displays showed they belong in the critical environments where image is everything.
Panasonic, for example, introduced a 26in., native 1366×768 LCD reference monitor with image quality that could replace a CRT. This new BT-LH2600W joins the aforementioned 17in. and adds a built-in waveform monitor, splitscreen and freeze-frame modes to scrutinize color and image quality, and a quad mode for showing four 13in. images at once. It also includes auto-sensing SD/HD-SDI inputs, while displaying content with no visible blurring or stereotypical LCD ghosting. The BT-LH2600W is expected to ship in June for $4,950.
JVC showed two new 1920×1200 LCD production monitors: the 20in. DT-V20L1D and the 24in. DT-V24L1D. Both of these LCDs will also include SD/HD-SDI inputs and reference monitor features such as blue check, safe area markers, and color off mode when they ship sometime in the third quarter of the year.
JVC also introduced the remarkable DLA-HRM1U 48in. rear-projection, D-ILA-based reference monitor (shown as a technology demonstration last year, but now shipping for $44,995). Of course, this is no ordinary RPTV, and the visual difference was obvious if you just looked around the JVC booth at the company's more mainstream rear-projection displays. The HRM1 starts with a native 1920×1080 resolution, but that's only the beginning of a configuration that includes a high-quality, low-geometric-distortion lens and special anti-glare screen designed for high contrast and high resolution. There's also a Teranex image processor built into the housing that can be turned on or off, depending on need.
The lightweight, battery-powered PTM-305 from the Videotek division of Harris earned one of our Pick Hits. The user-friendly, intuitive, menu-driven touchscreen interface welcomes even technophobes, while it delivers a video test signal generator, color monitor, waveform/vector scope and an audio analyzer/monitor.
eCinema Systems is a far smaller company than JVC or Panasonic, but it can rival them both with its new 23in., 1920×1200, high-dynamic-range LCD. Awkwardly, due to pending patents and European Union legalese, the next generation of the current DCM23 had to be shown by appointment only and with no product information or technology details to explicate the stunning image quality. You'll have to look for more details when the product ships later this year, but this is one LCD monitor that feels a lot more at home at a high-end video exhibition such as NAB than at a more general display showcase such as InfoComm.
Similarly, you wouldn't really expect to find much videoconferencing gear at a broadcast show like NAB, but Sony's Ipela system is a clearly appropriate exception. Sony showed a videoconferencing codec last year capable of full-resolution, standard-definition video over IP with good enough image quality to put videoconferencing where only “via satellite” used to be the norm.
This year, Ipela went full HD. And, like last year, Sony's press conference included a live, no-latency videoconference with ESPN to talk about the upcoming NFL draft. Of course, whether or not anyone in the room cared about who the Eagles would take in the first round wasn't the point, but rather the ability for live broadcasters to connect with remote locations at a fraction of the cost of “via satellite.”
NAB regular Christie Digital launched the new Roadster S+20K for the high-end rental and staging market. It's a rugged, native 4:3, 1400×1050 workhorse that boasts 20,000 lumens of brightness and color accuracy of three-chip DLP technology with 10-bit image processing. The S+20 includes dual SD/HD-SDI inputs and seamless switching between sources, as well as picture-in-picture capabilities.
Sanyo claims its new 10,000-lumen PLC-XF46 is the brightest LCD projector on the market, thanks to four 300W UHP lamps. The company also claims it to be one of the most reliable, with a Failsafe mode that monitors lamp conditions and automatically switches to lower power operation if one lamp fails. Meanwhile, the XF46 does not use micro lenses in the interest of LCD panel longevity. It should be available in May for an expected price of $27,995.
For much smaller conference and meeting rooms, Canon introduced three new 4×3, LCoS-based REALiS projectors. The new REALiS SX6 ($6,999) and REALiS SX60 ($5,999) are both SXGA+ (1440×1050) resolution projectors, matching the resolution of Canon's year-old REALiS SX50, while the more affordable REALiS X600 ($3,999) becomes the first XGA LCoS projector. The SX6 and X600 both claim 3500 lumens and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The SX60 matches the 2500 lumens of the SX50, but adds a “Home Cinema” mode that increases contrast to 2000:1 full on/off. All three new projectors use Canon's AISYS (Aspectual Illumination system) flavor of LCoS and all should also be available in May.
Finally, is it time to look toward the future and what comes after HD? NHK offered a demonstration at the rear of the Central Hall of “Ultra High-Definition” imaging with 16 times the resolution of 1080i, or 7680×4320, and 22.2 multi-channel audio. On a large screen in a confined space, the sensory affect had an IMAX-like quality. Of course, with HDTV in an increasing number of homes, that may be the kind of environment theater owners need to keep patrons coming out. However, like IMAX, the initial literature seemed to be targeting exhibitions, museums, and other specialty viewing venues. Right beside the Ultra High-Definition theater, NHK had another demonstration with more than a half dozen stations showing examples of 3D video, all of which required 3D glasses for viewing.
Perhaps the future of imaging is going to be ultra-low-definition video — specifically, cellular phone LCD screens. There was a surprising amount of talk, although not many solid solutions, from several areas of the show floor this year about re-purposing content for those tiny screens. That included understanding how to shoot, create graphics, and batch encode video for both the 16:9 aspect ratio of HD and the 1:1 aspect ratio of many of those phones. It would all sound like the Internet-streaming video boom of the late 1990s, except this time there's a billing model in place (cell phone minutes) that's already being expanded to include custom video content. Is low-def the next high-def?
