Carol Hess from HP Workstation talks about computing for broadcast

Carol Hess from HP Workstation talks about computing for broadcast

April 2018 – At the NAB 2018 show in Las Vegas we caught back up with Carol Hess of the HP Workstation group.  Carol talks about the new product offerings for the broadcast industry and the associated capabilities that they bring.  One of the areas is artificial intelligence and the role the workstations will take in bringing these tools to the content creators.

 

This interview was included in the Roadway Media coverage of NAB as part of the Executive Interviews episode of Bright Blue Innovation.

 

SMPTE ETCA highlights creation and distribution

SMPTE ETCA highlights creation and distribution

ETCA, June 2016 – This year SMPTE had a new venue for their Entertainment Technology in the Connected Age (ETCA) conference, relocating to Campbell CA in the center of Silicon Valley from their prior location at Stanford University.  The event was opened by SMPTE President Robert Seidel, who is also the CTO of CBS.  He started by emphasizing that for the past 100 years the group has focused not only on the global standards and methods for content creation, but also on the technologies behind getting that content to the people who can enjoy it.  This includes the identification and use of new devices and methods as well as the definition to be able to share content among them.

Robert was followed by Pat Griffis who is the VP of Education for SMPTE who is from Dolby Labs.  He gave a quick overview of the SMPTE Advanced Technology Conference (ATC) that is being held in October.  The 100th anniversary event will be at the Ray Dolby Theater in Hollywood, CA and will feature an opening night Red Carpet event.

The two day event discussed traditional broadcast over the air as well as the addition of Internet based streaming connections to mobile devices and computers.  A number of the discussions focused on the change from linear television where the programs are available on a set schedule to the on-demand capability of the viewers as well “binge” watching of shows.  It also discussed the place and method of getting user created content up to the cloud, and how to then get that content out to the global viewers.

The lunch time keynote was from AMD announcing their new consumer graphics card for VR applications.  The card that was introduced by Roy Taylor retails for $199 and is called the Radeon RX 480.  It has been qualified on all VR platforms – Occulus, Valve, and HTC.  The price point also makes the card viable for industries that are rapidly adopting AR for their workflows and IT departments.  The goal is to make the product available at a price that is not only acceptable by a large range of consumers, but also for both public and private schools.

Opportunities are huge in transforming IP to the cloud

Opportunities are huge in transforming IP to the cloud

April, NAB – At the end of the day, the market is more and more competitive and we need our customers not only survive but also thrive – stated Charlie Vogt, CEO of Imagine Communications (IC), moderator of the power session “Transformation 2016: Media Technology Using IP, Cloud and Virtualization”. The session that took place at the Imagine Communications booth during NAB show, was featuring the panelists: Antonio Neri, EVP/GM, Enterprise Group, HPE and Steve Guggenheimer, CVP and Chief Evangelist of Microsoft Corporation.

Cloud-based technologies become more and more popular and there is a less speculation and more interest. But as the technology grows in popularity there is complexity involved. The options to choose from, the providers to select in order to put the pieces together.  In the broadcast world everyone knows how complex the market is – stated the panelists – we want to make the complexity understandable. The cooperation between IC, Microsoft and HP Enterprise allow the companies to get full solution and reduce their own risk. So the customer does not need to talk to separate partners. It also to avoid confusion what works together etc. and what is not the best fit.

IC, Microsoft and HP Enterprise provide the leaders innovators solution. Microsoft is platform provider. HP is more cloud broker. Prior to NAB Imagine Communication launched 3 important applications, that required months and months of testing if the new solutions work. As Charlie Vogt mentioned IC and it’s partners goal is their customers to thrive versus not just survive.  The reason is the move to the cloud, while necessary is scary, the broadcast community has been on premise for over 50 years, and the change is new.

The discussion included that cloud is a partnership – the tools, workflow, software and support all need to work together to provide the reliability and features of the current solution.  As it moves to the cloud the partnership with HPE addresses the security aspects of the Azure cloud which are new to the broadcast community.