Television Technology Sessions Abound at the 2014 NAB Show

A broad array of technical sessions of interest to television broadcasters will be presented at the 2014 NAB Show, April 5-10, 2014, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. A summary of those sessions is presented below.

The 2014 NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference
Sunday-Thursday, April 6-10, South Hall meeting rooms
The Broadcast Engineering Conference (BEC) presented annually at the NAB Show offers broadcasters, consultants, equipment manufacturers and researchers a venue to present emerging developments and solutions to industry needs. Engineers working in television and attending the conference have a unique opportunity to hear real-world case studies that may provide opportunities for their companies.

The BEC is co-produced by NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Each year the BEC Planning Committee meets to determine which topics are most relevant to technical professionals working in or allied to the broadcast industry.

2014 BEC highlights of interest to television technologists include the following:

Next Generation Sports Production and Delivery – This full-day session focuses on current practices as well as exploring the future of live sports video production, including 4K technology and new 60GHz wireless camera systems. A special presentation will look at the Winter Olympic Games and explain how live footage was accelerated from Sochi, Russia to Stamford, Connecticut.

Advanced Technologies for Television – Television technologies are evolving rapidly worldwide. This session will present examples of this evolution, including 4K-to-8K upconversion, making TV programs using IP networks, new immersive audio technologies, and going beyond DVB-T2. Presenters from the U.S., Europe and Asia will participate in this program.

IEEE-BTS Tutorial – This year’s tutorial from IEEE-BTS focuses on advanced coding for television. It will present an overview of next-generation coding technologies, and provide attendees with a perspective that balances an understanding of the underlying technologies with how such advancements will affect their business and operations.

Broadcast Facilities – New efficient technologies and techniques should be considered when upgrading or building new facilities. This full-day of presentations looks at future-proofing DTV transmission facilities, avoiding electrical disasters, IP network design and security, and case studies in facilities grounding. There’s even a paper on broadcast operations using unlicensed WiFi spectrum, which contends that performance may be better than you think.

Consumers, 4K and Next Gen Home Entertainment – Which Experiences Will Most Excite Them?
Monday, April 7, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m., Room S222
One of several Super Sessions produced by NAB Labs, this high-powered panel will consider the quickly emerging "Next-Generation Home Entertainment Experience." While consumer electronics manufacturers have begun shipping Ultra High Definition/4K TV sets, content producers have started the production and release of titles offering higher resolutions, and expressed strong interest in supporting other advanced imaging features, such as wider color gamut, extended luminance dynamic range, and higher frame rates.

Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device – Advanced Mobile Developments
Tuesday, April 8, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Room S222
Covering everything associated with mobile media from technologies, applications, software and hardware, this NAB Labs-produced session addresses global efforts from broadcasters, wireless, cable and satellite operators to bring broadcast media directly to consumers anytime and anywhere. The session will discuss current trends in mobile, and look toward the future where content creators and distributors will have the advanced tools and applications they need to provide compelling consumer experiences on mobile devices.

RF Boot Camp
Wednesday, April 9, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Room N232
The RF Boot Camp is back this year by popular demand and newly revised. Presented by NAB Labs, the boot camp brings expert instructors to teach the basics to technologists who need to understand RF – a mission-critical part of broadcast operations. The boot camp is ideal for broadcast professionals working primarily in studio or IT environments who want to expand their knowledge or those new to the field. It may also be useful to small-market station owners and operators needing background on their transmission facilities.

Advanced Video Technologies – Visions of the Future
Wednesday, April 9, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Room S222
In another NAB Labs-produced Super Session, a panel of experts will discuss the current status of the advance video ecosystem and where we may be headed in the near future. When will holographic presentations be ready for prime time? How far can we go with video compression technology? How will we deal with the ever-increasing demands of video capture, storage and distribution systems?
Coupled with the vast array of radio-related exhibits on the Show floor, the presentations above ensure that a trip to the 2014 NAB Show will provide multiple opportunities for valuable education and career enhancement to television technologists who attend.

Technology Luncheon
Wednesday, April 9, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m., Las Vegas Hotel, Paradise Ballroom
This annual event will feature presentation of the 2014 Engineering Achievement Award—to Jeff Littlejohn, Clear Channel, and Robert Seidel, CBS—along with the Technology Innovation Award and Best BEC Paper Award. The luncheon's guest speaker will be Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and CEO of Mars One, the private entity currently planning establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars.

NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings 2014
Learn about the latest and hottest technologies used by broadcasters and electronic media around the world. This selection of more than 90 papers from the 68th annual conference features Ultra HDTV, advanced television technologies, digital radio advancements, audio over IP, hybrid television, next generation sports production, media asset management, video description and captioning, ancillary broadcast services, over-the-top technologies and services, and more.

Add it to your NAB Show registration or pick it up onsite at the two NAB Stores located in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

NAB Show has partnered with Avis to provide rental car discounts for our visitors. Use Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) Number A284999 when you reserve online or call 1-800-331-1600. To reserve a car visit www.avis.com/2014nabshow

The March 24, 2014 TV TechCheck is also available in an Adobe Acrobat file. Please click here to read the Adobe Acrobat version of TV TechCheck