DAY 2

April 8, 2003
Back in the hotel room...

A little more walking on the floor today.

We popped into the Sony Booth (which is so large they give out maps of just their booth) and looked at some of the new HD cameras they're designing for the next Star Wars movie. I'm not all about the technical aspects, but here is a cool little factoid. BetacamSX is about 18 Mbps digital video... DVCpro50 is 50Mbps... This new HD is capable of 900Mbps! Not exactly what we'll be shooting on in news, but it's pretty amazing.

They also have a wireless LAN system which allows for remote monitoring of cameras over an internet connection. It is not a broadcast quality signal, but it's good for monitoring. If you were doing a speaker-phone interview across the country, the producer on the other end could actually see the interview set up.

Quantel was next on the list. They have a great newsroom server system that looks like a powerhouse editor. I spoke briefly with Joe Torelli (formally of Avid) who is working on their broadcast applications, and he's proud of their new line.

I know you're starting to wonder why I keep showing HUMMERs with sat dishes on them... mainly because they are everywhere. It seems many booths got the same idea to equip a huge SUV with a sat dish... with matching paint job no less...

On the way out, I met with Barry Rubin of IDX batteries. They have a great line of batteries that will power Anton Bauer or Sony V-Lock equipped cameras (along with others). They're light, have good power output... and even have a computer program that will do diagnostic tests on the battery strength.

The party at Monte Carlo Brewing Company was a blast. Thanks to everyone who made it out. Mike Bryan of KVBC walked away with a free b-roll.net hat for being the first one there...

Tomorrow we take a vacation!

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