IBC Show 2022 Amsterdam: Back in the Saddle

With the recent success of IBC 2022, it's safe to say that the production community is close to being back in full form — maybe not full speed — but certainly moving in the right direction. There is, however, a noticeable and encouraging uptick in all parts of the business. While we know that some productions and services didn’t miss a beat, there were many others that weren't as fortunate.

This uptick in our production world includes all types of studios and on-location productions, new product developments, deliveries, conventions and conferences. The opportunity to gather with our industry friends once again has not been lost on many professionals.

A great and positive example of this increase in activity is the recent completion of IBC 2022. The professionals I spoke to were there to catch up, but also to get back at the business at hand. After a nearly three-year absence, this year’s IBC attracted 37,071 visitors from 170 countries, with some 1,000 exhibitors also in attendance at the RAI in Amsterdam. There were also some 250 speakers at the IBC Conference, which carried the theme ‘What’s next? Designing the future together’.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the products that got the attention of the 2022 IBC attendees.

LiveU LU810 LU610S

One of the more innovative companies in our space, LiveU continues to impress by exhibiting the new LU810 and LU610S, its rackmount REMI (remote production) encoders with support for 5G, 4K and synchronized, multi-camera contribution. Featuring new multi-camera capabilities, the new vehicle and fixed location solutions offer the highest levels of resiliency over the public internet together with ultra-low latency.

The single unit LiveU 5G product platform can be utilized in both vehicles and fixed locations – providing the ability to run any live production workflow. Available in two configurations, the multi-cam LU810 (with up to four fully synced feeds) and single camera LU610S encoders represent the latest additions to LiveU's 5G product suite, along with its portable multi-cam LU800 and latest compact LU300S unit.

LiveU's new vehicle encoder solutions bond multiple internal 5G/4G modems, with WiFi and Ethernet, enabling full flexibility in any location or scenario. Production teams can dynamically switch between bonded cellular, wired and satellite connectivity, as needed, to deliver the highest quality video. The new fixed location encoder solutions offer point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transmission over wired connections. They support broadcast-grade, low-delay live video transmission between stations or from venues/stadiums to the remote production center.

Mo-Sys Engineering MoRail

Mo-Sys always has cool gear and this year’s IBC was no exception. Mo-Sys Engineering launched its new high-performance motorized rail, MoRail, which enables cost-effective creative pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) and ENG camera movement.

Primarily designed for use in multiple applications, MoRail supports all major PTZ and ENG camera systems weighing up to 15kg, transforming regular static shots into repeatable creative shots with controlled parallax movement. The perspective change achieved dramatically improves on the existing static only movement of PTZ cameras.

Included in the MoRail package is a Mo-Sys controller that allows rail height and camera position to be set in addition to pan, tilt, zoom, focus and iris.

Zero Density TRAXIS talentS

Zero Density wowed visitors by showcasing its TRAXIS talentS. Built for virtual studios, live events and augmented reality productions, TRAXIS talentS is the first stereoscopic talent tracking system that makes possible to not need markers or wearables. On-set talent can always move freely, without anything getting in the way. This also won a Product of the Year award at this year’s NAB! The award, which was selected by a panel of industry experts, recognizes the most significant, promising, and innovative new products exhibited at the show.

Blackmagic Design Ultimatte 12

Blackmagic Design is always on the move with new or upgraded products and at this year's IBC they just kept doing what they do best. Bring out new products!

Blackmagic Design rolled out four new models of Ultimatte 12 real time compositing processors, designed for creating the next generation of broadcast graphics. Blackmagic also introduced a new Ultimatte Software Control app for Mac and Windows that’s available for download free of charge. The software lets you control all Ultimatte 12 models without the additional cost of a hardware control panel. There are 4 new models, Ultimatte 12 HD, Ultimatte 12 4K and a Ultimatte 12 8K model. This allows customers to get an Ultimatte 12 for the television standard they are using.

All models of Ultimatte 12 include built in frame stores so you can key using stills for backgrounds. This means all compositing can be done in the Ultimatte itself. The Ultimatte 12 4K and Ultimatte 12 8K models have advanced 12G-SDI connections so customers can operate with current HD video formats as well as future Ultra HD and 8K video formats. 12G-SDI gives customers high frame rate Ultra HD via a single BNC connection that also plugs into all their regular HD equipment.

AJA Colorbox

I know I tend to use my favorite cliché word “gamechanger” all the time but I am telling you right now, Colorbox from AJA goes down as one of my 2022 IBC favorites. It will no doubt be impact editing suites, multicam shoots, and workflows for the foreseeable future.

ColorBox from AJA is their new compact, converter for color managed workflows designed to specifically meet the conversion needs of broadcast, live events, and on-set applications. It will support Standard Dynamic Range (SDR), High Dynamic Range (HDR), and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) signals, it utilizes 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 for single wire 4K/UltraHD HDR up to 4:2:2 10-bit 60p or 4:4:4 12-bit 30p with a unique color processing pipeline.

Easily manage color processing options via the web user interface which can be accessed directly from a wired Ethernet connection or through a wireless connection via a third-party WiFi USB adapter. ColorBox also includes processing pipeline modes from Colorfront and NBCU LUTs, as well as a powerful AJA Color Pipeline. ColorBox also expands its capabilities by offering licensable upgrade options for advanced color managed workflows. I can't wait to put the AJA Colorbox to the test!

Teredek Bolt 6 Series

Bolt 6 Series: The industry’s first 6GHz Zero-delay wireless video solution.

Teredek Bolt 6 Series: The latest zero-delay wireless video solution that unlocks crystal-clear 6GHz transmission in high-traffic environments while remaining fully cross-compatible with the entire Bolt 4K BB3 ecosystem.

Bolt 6 transmits and receives over the newly available 6GHz frequency band as well as the industry-standard 5GHz, dramatically reducing signal congestion in challenging RF environments while remaining fully cross-compatible across all Bolt 4K devices, including the Bolt Manager App for iOS and Android. Every Bolt 6 device will pair with every Bolt 4K device on 5GHz bands; however, a Bolt 6 TX/RX combination is required for 6GHz connectivity. New Bolt 6 features on all models include an improved “Long Range” mode and an SDI Eye Pattern Tool to check SDI cable integrity. Bolt 6 MAX models also feature integrated flexible H antennas for increased field longevity.

Looking Ahead

With the success of IBC 2022, there are a lot of things ahead for the industry for the remainder of the year and moving into 2023. The continued development of new products and services makes for renewed optimism. Traditional production along with streaming, AR/VR, and the burgeoning work in all things AI bodes well for our production community. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

About Mark Foley

Mark J. Foley, MBA BA is an award-winning producer and director and the Technology Editor for ProductionHUB.com. He is on a mission to provide the best in new equipment reviews, along with exclusive analysis and interviews with the best, the brightest, and the most creative minds in the entertainment and production business. Have a suggestion for a review? Email Mark at mfoley@productionhub.com.