Latency in compressed systems is a big thing and intoPIX have just the solution with their JPEG2000 CODEC capable of less than 1 frame latency. intoPIX is a leading supplier of compression technology with FPGA IP cores and board level solutions. They are also a passionate group of people dedicated to this business and so a great bunch of people to work with!

These suppliers will have stands at IBC 2011:

Gennum Corporation - Hall 9 Booth 9.A45 - New long range equalisers, crosspoints and SFP modules
CoreEL Technologies - Hall 1 Booth 1.F96 - Demonstrating AVCi Encode and Decode FPGA cores
Phabrix Ltd - Hall 8 Booth 8.E25 - Presenting new rack mount version of their world leading video testers
intoPIX - Hall 10 Booth 10.D31 - J2000 compression technology

Call us to make an appointment, Geoff, Tim, Mark and Tina will be at the show this year.

In what represents a significant step-up for L2tek, this year we have booked the Amstel Botel for IBC 2011. No more camping for us, but I hope we don't get sea-sick! See you there.

Thanks you to Graeme Kelly (Now of Snell Ltd) for sending the following link regarding Apple's Thunderbolt cables.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/30/apple-thunderbolt-cable-gutted-a-dozen-other-things-found-withi/

I recognise the logo on that chip!

Panasonic DMR-BW780EBK
For a long time I have wanted a hard disk recorder for terrestrial TV recording. Panasonic released the above model last year with a feature rich set of functions, including a 250Gb HD, Bueray recorder, twin DVB-T2 tuners and H.264 encoding engine. Originally the price was high at over £600 but I eventually got it for around £400 fro Amazon...a bargain for the technology!
After the excitement of receiving my Amazon delivery I plugged my unit into my Sony Bravia 40"......then the disappointement set in.
Connecting the HDMI port to the TV, killed the TV's digital tuners. Also the Panasonic would not tune to any channel. After some fiddling around, I disconnected the HDMI cable and inserted the Scart cable (yuk!)...magically all the tuners started to work. However, the Scart only supports analog SD....not much good considering the £400 price tag for the HD performance.
I spent a good few hours playing around with the RF cables, convincing myself that the problem was interference or a ground loop problem. The next task was to replace all my cheap RF cables with noise suppressed ones and inserting an isolation transformer....checking the antennae amp etc. To my dismay, this made no difference.
I started to conclude, that the problem could only be due to the HDMI radiating and interfering with the tuners. But I had already purchased a good quality HDMI cable. I made another investment in an HDMI cable (by Panasonic) that had zinc molded connecters ("to stop leakage"). Instantly the problem disappeared!!
I am now enjoying an excellent image quality.....the decoding / and the SD to HD upconversion is far supperior to the Sony Bravia with very few artifacts and great detail.I am now awaiting for the analog switch off in 2012 so that I can enjoy free terrestrial HD.
My next job is to open the Panasonic unit to see what image processor they use....I suspect I-Chips.

Frankenstein - live play broadcast into cinemas

Well its not often you will see a play review on this blog, but its all in the name of technology.  I went to the cinema last week to see one of the recent live broadcasts of the highly acclaimed, and incidently completely sold out performances of the play Frankenstein, currently on at the National Theatre.  I've not seen a broadcast play before and dont even know how often they are done but I have to say I was blown away.  

My expectations were admittedly quite low, Frankenstein has never been my monster of choice, my tastes are definately vampiric, and the Holywood version of the creature always seemed  frankly rather silly.  The play is much closer to the original Mary Shelley novel by all accounts and the whole production is absolutely outstanding.  Not exactly original thoughts though, the reviews have been glowing.

So, how about watching a play in a cinema? I thought it would be the worst of both worlds, detached from the atmosphere and the 'liveness' of it and lower quality visuals and sound than you would normally experience in a cinema.  It started with an introduction by Emma Freud and then a short 'making of' documentary with director Danny Boyle and the main actors in rehearsals.  Then there we were in the theatre, the camera panning all over the place just before the play started and the bizarre scenario of an audience watching an audience, I think they had more munchies and drinks than we did...

The play started with the 'birth' of the creature (we'd seen him in the mini documentary but even so he made quite an entrance) and with the orchestra and lights it was all very atmospheric and dramatic, exactly as if we were there.  Five minutes into it I was completely absorbed. Jonny Lee Miller is sensational as the creature, a completely mesmeric performance from the off and I cannot rave too long and hard about him - truly an amazing piece of acting, so clever, so subtle and so energetic.  Surely an award or three will be coming his way.  I understand Benedict Cumberbatch is just as highly acclaimed in the role (they swap each night) but of course I havent seen his performance.

The cons of the detached viewing were probably balanced out by the pros of the extra camera viewpoints we had that the really live audience didnt.  The cameras must have been suitably distant so as not to interfere with the play but we certainly got plenty of intimate shots.  The camera shots were varied, lots of wide screen and no visible distortion (which I had expected to see), I guess its similar to filming a sporting event but there were some interesting effects that you dont normally see in a cinema.

To conclude, a great way to spend the evening, and I would definatley go and see another live broadcast in a cinema. Apologies for recommending something that is sold out but there are a few extra cinema dates added for April.  They'll probably bring out a DVD!

Tina L2tekkie