NAB 2023 in Review: Central Hall SportsTech Buzz From Calrec, Canon, Fujifilm, Grass Valley, Lawo, NEP, Riedel, Sony, and More By SVG Staff Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 7:00 am
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The SVG and SVGE editorial teams were out in full force at NAB 2023, covering the biggest sports-technology news and delivering daily SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2023 roundups. Here is a look at the news from exhibitors in Central Hall.
Featured in this roundup are Arista, Arkona Technologies, Audio-Technica, BeckTV, Belden, Calrec, Canon U.S.A., Cartoni, Clear-Com, Cobalt, Cyanview, Dante, Deltacast, disguise, Fujifilm, Grass Valley, Joseph Electronics, JVC, KMH Audio-Video Integration, Lawo, Leader Phabrix, Marshall Electronics, Mo-Sys, MRMC, Nemal Electronics, NEP Group, Pliant Technologies, Q5X, Riedel Communications, RTS, Sennheiser, Sony, Shure, TSL, and Waves.
Sony (Booth C8101) is highlighting the NXL-ME80, an ultra-low-latency HEVC product for low-bitrate remote production. Said Andy Raynor, chief technologist for Nevion, Remote has been the reserve of relatively high-bandwidth connectivity, which is always a prerequisite. But, with the ME80, you can do remote production with relatively low-bandwidth connectivity, making the cost of remote production viable for the next sports tier down.
Marshall's Tod Musgrave
A supplier a hefty number of POV and robotic cameras that impact live sports production, Marshall Electronics (Booth C5520) is loaded with new broadcast equipment on the show floor. Four new cameras take center stage: the CV570/CV574 miniature cameras and CV370/CV374 compact cameras. Shipping after the conclusion of NAB 2023, all devices feature low-latency NDI|HX3 streaming as well as standard IP (HEVC) encoding with SRT. In addition to these POV cameras, on display are CV730-BHN with Full-NDI and CV730-ND3 PTZ cameras. Besides camera hardware, Marshall is also presenting its new highly optimized Sony sensor for its lineup of POV cameras and arsenal of professional broadcast monitors, including the ML-503, ML-702m, V-702W, and mV-702W-12G models.
An advanced new feature of MRMC's (Booth C5325) MHC software creates virtual teleportation, allowing users to seamlessly bring remote talent into the shot or studio while maintaining camera motion, effectively creating one camera shot in two locations using IP-controlled robotics. The synchronized movement of the two cameras paired with the subject's being able to move naturally makes the illusion hyper-realistic, according to Broadcast Business Development Manager Sascha Kunze: For me, it's why robotics? What value does that add? This is full internet; you can do a single camera shot in two locations. Sports broadcasters can bring talent in and have the same experience in a remote-acquisition workflow as they would in a normal situation. This solves the eyeline problem, which means it feels very natural. It also gives you all the seamless camera transitions you'd want in a studio. It's got everyone excited!
Sennheiser Anubis audio interface by Merging Technologies
Sennheiser (Booth C5217) is flexing some immersive muscle with demos of its AMBEO 2-channel spatial audio system for live-broadcast applications. The technology, previously applied to streaming for stereo devices, is now set to bring immersive sound to those platforms. The prototype device exhibited is currently in its field-testing phase, according to AMBEO Project Manager Brian Glasscock, who demonstrated the system through an Anubis audio interface made by Merging Technologies, which Sennheiser acquired last year. We tuned it primarily for speakers, but it still provides an improvement over headphones, he said. It can pre-render or pre-virtualize an immersive mix so that we can deliver it to everybody who doesn't have a device other than a stereo device. It does not require any kind of upgrade or new equipment at the consumer end. Renato Pellegrini, head of Sennheiser Pro Labs, amplified: Today's large, televised sporting events are increasingly produced in immersive formats. However, both distribution pipelines and viewer access to immersive speaker systems have limited its reach into homes, leading to a duplication of efforts between stereo and immersive mixes. Now, using our renderer, broadcasters can instead focus on immersive formats and know they can reliably translate those mixes into a far better stereo experience than could be previously achieved. The technology is designed to facilitate making surround and immersive content available for all viewers by translating immersive mixes into an enhanced 2-channel experience that works on any stereo device.
disguise (Booth C6118) is showcasing the results of its partnership with markerless-motion-capture-technology provider Move.ai. The partnership marries advanced markerless motion capture with superior graphics processing for film and episodic TV, broadcast, and extended-reality studios around the world. To do this, disguise and Move.ai are developing a custom AI technology based on real-time markerless-motion-capture software Invisible. Said GM, Broadcast, Grigory Mindlin, The Invisible platform is a new mo-cap system that enables you to track talent on stage with no markers in real time. We're taking XR production to the next level by using AI tech. The integration of Invisible with the disguise platform aims to redefine real-time motion capture by removing the need for restrictive and costly mo-cap suits. The technology works by extracting natural human motion from video using advanced AI, computer vision, biomechanics, and physics to automatically retarget the data to a character rig and create a virtual character that can mirror human motion in real time.
Joseph Electronics (Booth C1713) is showing a number of new products, including the Ereca STAGE RACER 2 optical
