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MillimeterNAB 2008 Pick Hit Awards
May 12, 2008 12:00 PM, Trevor Boyer
Sony HDVF-EL100
Organic LED display technology has garnered quite a bit of buzz recently, and for good reason. OLED panels help prevent light emission when producing dark shades, resulting, of course, in very deep blacks—that Holy Grail of professional monitoring. The HDVF-EL100 is an 11in. OLED-camera viewfinder. It's Sony's first professional implementation of this technology, following a consumer-level 11in. flatscreen introduced last year. Unlike most consumers, of course, professionals' eyes can actually appreciate this stuff. "The Sony HDVF-EL100 is a welcome shot across the lens mount, delivering finally the brilliance and color gamut suitable for actually seeing what we’re doing," says Barry Braverman, a professional cameraman. Expected later this year; no MSRP announced yet (expect to pay over $20,000).
Litepanels Micro
Litepanels has pioneered the use of heat-free LEDs for professional lighting. Just about every year since the company's first LED unit shipped, we've seen a Litepanels model that's more affordable. Late last year, the company introduced Micro, which represents quite a leap: the 4oz. lights run for 7 hours to 8 hours off Duracell Lithium AAs, according to the company. The 3.3"x3.3"x1.5" lights mount easily to miniDV cameras, but that's just the beginning. "Expect to see these small miracles Velcroed, rubber-banded, gaffer-taped, and tucked into the most unexpected places, says Leitner. "I'm finding new uses for the Micro all the time." Available; "under $350."
GridIron Software Flow
GridIron Software's new asset management program is aptly named. Flow automatically tracks workflows by recording all Import/Export, Save/Save As, and Copy/Paste actions in a project, working across a network, locally, and with removable devices. The dual-platform program creates a graphical image file called a Workflow Map to represent connections among a project's files, including all assets, project files, comps, and layers. By selecting any file in the Workflow Map, users can view its fonts, color swatches, and the application plug-ins used to create it. "Click on any link, and Flow will even pull up all of the necessary files and start up the related programs," says Pick Hits judge Dan Ochiva. "Very cool." Expected to ship in summer; $349 per seat.
Element Labs Kelvin Tile
Another new LED lighting option, the Kelvin Tile from Element Labs breaks new ground by providing unlimited variable color temperature. According to the company, a unique mix of six different LEDs (expanded RGB with cyan, amber, and white) results in a full-spectrum white light. Each of these different colors can be dialed up or down, and the Kelvin Tile is controllable via DMX. As with other LED lights, color will not vary as intensity varies. Kelvin Tile can be ordered with a standard V-mount for battery-powered operation. The correlated color temperature (CCT) ranges from 2200 degrees K to 6500 degrees K. Look for it in OEM packages from Kino Flo.
Neutrik ConvertCon
Ever tried to plug in an audio XLR cable only to discover you have the wrong sex? Addressing that, Neutrik has created a XLR connector that's hermaphroditic—it does double duty as a male and a female endpoint. In one configuration, one notes the familiar bumps of the male of the species. But just slide forward its sheath, and the ConvertCon transforms into a female connector. "What's a little gender confusion for such a total convenience?" says Pick Hits judge D. W. Leitner.
Inlet Technologies Armada
With Armada, Inlet Technologies is attempting to change the way we encode video by "taking the human out of the process." Armada will analyze your files during input and suggest optimal output parameters, then perform post-rendering quality control on all encoded files. "I didn’t learn much about the front end analysis at the show," says Pick Hits judge Jan Ozer, "but the post-compression quality control will be handled by the company’s Semaphore product, which is by far the most capable quality-control tool in the industry." Armada encodes video to Windows Media VC-1, Flash 8 (VP6), H.264, MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, and AC-3 stereo. Inlet positions Armada as being well-suited for encoding for mobile, television, IPTV, DVD, Blu-ray, and the Web. Expected to ship in summer; price not available.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
