NAB 2019: Executives from the IABM, SMPTE and IET on the big talking points at this year’s Las Vegas show.

NAB 2019 from the event

NAB 2019: To set the standard for 2019 

As NAB kicks off this week, IBC365 spoke with executives from the International Association for Broadcast and Media Technology (IABM), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) about the trends at the show and their organisational priorities for the year ahead.

The broadcast, media and entertainment landscape is evolving with new players, mergers and business models changing the way audiences connect and consume content.

Last week, the IABM released a report that found automation, the cloud and blockchain are key technology themes in broadcast. It also said that media companies continue to search for scale to respond to their deep-pocketed digital rivals.

IABM chief executive Peter White told IBC365 collaboration will be the biggest take away from NAB.

Peter white

Peter White, IABM

He said: “Our industry is moving on from transactional business models to one where technology suppliers and their end-user customers work together to produce solutions that deliver the agility, flexibility and economies required by today’s content factories, spanning the entire BaM Content Chain.”

White added that 2019 is expected to be a “wow year” with technologies being harnessed to drive new business models, according to its Americas Members’ Council.

Industry acceptance of SMPTE ST 2110, virtualisation, cloud solutions, data-driven strategies and IP workflows were the key trends that he outlined, along with the ongoing demand for 4K and ultra-high definition (UHD) and high dynamic range (HDR) content.

With networking events, bookable meeting rooms, lounges and discussions IABM aims to support its membership at NAB to help them attract new business and meet existing customers.

On Tuesday evening, the IABM will host its BaM Awards party, where the winners in each of the nine BaM Content Chain categories from over 150 entries are announced; a software-only playout deployment system, a 360-degree live streaming platform and vision analytics are among the nominees.

Showcasing IP

SMPTE will join the Audio Engineering Society (AES), Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Video Services Forum (VSF) to support the IP Showcase at the 2019 NAB Show at Booth C12634.

The 2019 IP Showcase will emphasise practical applications of IP video and audio technology and how that technology is enabling real-world media productions.

It is designed to communicate current knowledge and advances in system control and monitoring, security, emerging standards, and agile deployments whilst highlighting how the evolving SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards and the AMWA NMOS technology stack are improving media workflows for large and small deployments alike.

Barbara Lange SMPTE 3x2

Barbara Lange, SMPTE

SMPTE executive director Barbara Lange said: “NAB Show attendees will be surrounded by presentations, events, and exhibitions by SMPTE members, both individual and corporate sustaining members.

“Dozens of Society members will be speaking during technical sessions and at the IP Showcase.”

SMPTE will also be showcasing its educational initiatives including its Educational Technology webcast series and the self-study programme for its new virtual classroom courses.

It will have more than 50 members presenting at the show and over 100 member companies exhibiting during the event.

The Society’s life members Garrison Cavell and Cindy Hutter Cavell of broadcast engineering consultancy Cavell, Mertz and Associates Inc will receive the 2019 NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award and 2019 NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award, respectively.

They are the first husband and wife broadcast engineers to receive the honours. Students also can find out how to submit a paper for the SMPTE Student Paper Award and how to apply for the Louis F. Wolf Jr. Memorial Scholarship.

The April issue of the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal, which focuses on UHD and HDR will be available at the 2019 NAB Show.

Technical papers include:

  • Predicting HDR Cinema Requirements From HDR Home Master Statistics
  • European Athletics Championships: Lessons From a Live HDR, HFR, UHD, and Next-Generation Audio Sports Event
  • Video Luminance Levels for Human Skin Tones in Hybrid Log-Gamma Video

Who’s watching who?
Ian Nock, chair of the IET, told IBC365 its focus for NAB will be on the debate around big data and the benefits to consumers in entertainment and information services.

ian nock

Ian Nock, IET

He said: “Big data collection is a major part of services both to allow targeting of advertising, personalisation as well as service improvement but do consumers have limits to the personal data transaction for having these services?”

He expects security to remain top of the agenda.

“Are consumers able to control their personal data and take advantage of the service provider and does the smart home creation of data enabled services benefit the consumer, the service provider, both or neither?”

Nock said the trust in the technology giants like Google and Facebook was a key focus, along with two other themes: ATSC3.0 and HDR deployment in the Americas.

Topics