Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Everybody Got Your HDTVs?  Good.  Now Throw Them Out.

Quad-Def, Here We Come?

(3) Comments • Most recent comments by: Chris Ostertag, DanConklin, Matt Jeppsen, • Permalink

Thursday, October 16, 2008

This Makes the Sony EX1 and EX3 No-Brainers

The Cost Of Storage Comes Tumbling Down

If you have read Adam Wilt’s review of the Sony EX-3 camera, you know how impressed he is with it.  I have had a similar opportunity to review the EX-1and think they are both exceptional steps forward in low-cost, high-quality high-def cameras.  The one problem that bugs me - and, honestly, it applies to all solid-state-based recorders - is the cost of the media, and the concomitant inability to use the recording medium as a cost-effective archiving medium.  Seriously, who can afford a hundred SxS cards, or fifty P2 cards? 

I previously blogged about the best rumor I heard at NAB 2008:  That 32Gb flash memory cards would be $5 by the next NAB. We haven’t gotten there yet, but it seems more likely with every passing week.  And now, news from Down Under that could turn the EX-world on it’s head - that with the use of a simple Kensington 7-in-1 ExpressCard Media Reader, inexpensive Sandisk SDHC cards become usable in the EX-1 and EX-3!  This Webpage has all the details. Could the dam finally be breaking open?  Could solid-state recording finally make workflow sense for the small operator?

Stay tuned - I think this one is going to be big.

A tip ‘o the hat to Ron Shook for the initial info!

(6) Comments • Most recent comments by: Sandra Alex, Bruce A Johnson, DanConklin, DanConklin, Scott Gentry, Adam Wilt, • Permalink

Friday, October 10, 2008

REVIEW:  Vantec NST-D100SU NexStar Hard Drive Dock

A Great Way To Have Segregated Storage

It used to be that segregating project assets was a real pain.  Sure, some of us (and you know who you are!) would install removable hard drive cases, but confess:  Most of us never went to the trouble.  As a result, one hard drive (or several) would become a morass of media, project files, graphics, and all the assorted detritus that goes along with non-linear editing.  But help is here.

(2) Comments • Most recent comments by: WestwoodCreek, billS, • Permalink

Monday, October 06, 2008

LIVE from Iowa!!

Or at least semi-live…

I’ll be spending the week in lovely Des Moines, Iowa, presenting at and participating in the Iowa Digital Television Symposium, put on by my great friends at Iowa Public Television.  You can see the schedule of presentations here. I’ll post daily updates of highlights, and all presentations are archived in audio form (many with downloadable PowerPoint presentations) for later listening.  So stay tuned for great information!

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Saturday, October 04, 2008

Have You Got Your Analog Nightlight Yet?

DTV Transition Withouth End, Amen

Here’s an article from Broadcasting & Cable Magazine on the newest accessory in the world of digital television:  the “analog nightlight.”

OK, it’s not really a little light you plug into the wall.  It is proposed legislation that would allow US television stations to continue analog broadcasting for 30 days past the statutorily-decreed February 17, 2009 cutoff.  It’s my opinion that the February cutoff is going to be a disaster no matter what happens, so the question becomes:

Do you hold OTA antenna-viewers hands for 30 more days, or do you let them sink or swim?

Either option is fraught with peril, especially among PBS stations, who have a disproportionately large percentage of OTA viewers.  This transition just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.

(0) Comments • • Permalink

Thursday, October 02, 2008

The (Considerable) Downside To “Citizen Journalism”

Would you like a little nudity with your news?

This article from Advertising Age describes a slight downside to the trend of “citizen journalism.” (And if you follow the link, there is a picture that, if you click on it, is pretty NSFW.) It seems that since the release of the CBSEyeMobile app for the iPhone, the standards of what is considered “journalism” seem to have slipped a bit.  That is to say, user-generated porn clips are becoming more common among all the other user-generated content. 

Jeez, who woulda seen that coming?  The nice thing about real, paid journalists is that if they engage in shenanigans like that, you can fire them.  But “citizens” just need a new IP address, alias and user account to continue to pollute your brand.  And since perception is truth, the damage, once done, can be incredibly hard to undo.

(2) Comments • Most recent comments by: Isaac, DanConklin, • Permalink

Thursday, October 02, 2008

4-Pin Firewire:  What Were They Thinking?

The Most Fragile Connector Of All Time

I’m a calm man.  I really am, ask anybody.  I never get worked up about anything.  But once in a while, annoyances mount to the point where even Mr. Frosty can get a little miffed.

I saw my first Firewire connectors about ten years ago, when I bought a Canon XL1.  The tiny size of the 4-pin connector amazed me - how could this little jack, plug & cable throw around enough data to make video?  Hey, it’s all magic to me; then as now, I’m thrilled when it works.  But even back then it looked rather fragile.  So, I babied my Firewire jacks, to the extent possible.  The six-pin jacks are quite sturdy affairs; while breakable, you really have to screw up bad to hurt them.  But the 4-pins?  If you sneeze towards them you are at risk.

(3) Comments • Most recent comments by: RC Fisher, Rob, DanConklin, • Permalink

Monday, September 22, 2008

It Had To Happen

The Comeuppance of a Digital TV Critic

I’ve made a bit of a cottage industry out of criticizing the Digital TV transition over the last eight years.  I still hold my core beliefs - that the transition was unnecessary, poorly engineered, and largely a welfare program for equipment companies and TV set sellers.  But the biggest problem in my eyes is that the ATSC standard is locked into the technology of when it was ratified - 1996.  That means that the top-shelf technology of 12 years ago - MPEG2 compression - is supposed to be our TV standard for decades to come.

(1) Comments • Most recent comments by: DanConklin, • Permalink

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