Small Biz Shines at Vegas Broadcaster Show
LAS VEGAS -- Looks like broadcasting is getting some small business love.
The National Association of Broadcasters' trade show is going on all week here in Las Vegas. And while big companies like
Sony
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, Panasonic,
Harris
(HRS)
and others take a starring roll, I am happy to report that more and more small businesses are leading the way in many areas of innovation.
It's not like broadcasters don't need the help. The show this year had a decidedly ugly undertone. Alternatives to broadcast content are now in their full flower. Everyone from
Apple's
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iTunes content service to movie studios' Hulu.com now offer movies and TV that compete head to head with local broadcasters.
Worse, the Web now leads the way in many forms of video consumption, from YouTube content to user-created blogs -- and that ignores social content such as MySpace and Facebook.
Into this maelstrom is stepping some very innovative small companies. Each of them offers a creative twist on solving a business problem. Here are my picks for the NAB 2008 small business hall of fame:
Zylight z90 (from $875)
Zylight.com
Lighting is the overlooked part of just about any production. After all, it is easy to forget about the tools used to make sure we can properly see Simon trashing yet another hopeful's dreams on American Idol. So innovation in lights catches my attention.
I really like what Chelmsford, Mass.-based Zylight is doing with light emitting diode lamps. The company makes a very small LED, roughly the size of a grapefruit, that comes with a programmable, variable color lamp. The unit lets content creators change the color of the light at will and by very exact increments, obviating the need to attach colored plastic or other means of changing the light's hue.
Photographers will appreciate the ability to get exact control of their color. And better yet, units can communicate wirelessly with a 10-channel control system built right in. Don't like the color of that backdrop? Simply dial in a new one and tell the other lights in the room to change to match.
When I tried out the system, I could not only get the exact color of blue in a lamp, I could tell all the other lights nearby to dial down to that same color.
Pretty impressive stuff.
AOptix Lasercom Video Link
Aoptix.com
The award for shear ingenuity must go to Campbell, Calif.-based AOptix Technologies Inc. The company developed a wireless means of transmitting uncompressed high definition video using, get this, lasers. The technology uses remote cameras to communicate and transmit their signal over vast distances without the need for wires.
The systems use computer-controlled mirrors to align two remote lasers, which can be literally a mile or more apart. The AOptix system then encodes uncompressed video content -- in some cases, full high definition video -- and transmits the signal over space and time.
Know all those wires running to and from the cameras at Yankee Stadium or The Super Dome? This technology replaces that. And honestly, I can't wait to see all major sporting events go wireless since that would make producing them cheaper and allow for more fun stuff like neat special effects during halftime.
Alpha layers
GreenLayers.com
Here's a great idea ... create a stock service for cash-starved producers looking to make special effects on the cheap. Melbourne, Australia-based GreenLayers.com offers a library of thousands of short video clips that just happen to be shot over green screen. That's the technology news station use to put your local weatherman over that incoming cold front.
Called Alpha layers in the production trade, GreenLayers claims to have the largest library of Alpha layers online. The service delivers the clips in a form that is easy to build into complex special effects. And the price is right: images start at just $10 per clip per single use. HD clips start at $50.
And don't think these images are all cheesy. In fact, the ones I saw here were all high quality. It is easy to imagine somebody making a relatively high-quality commercial for well under $500.
How is that for saving money on your shooting budget?
Cinebag HD/DV Backpack ($169)
www.Cinebags.com
Looking to lug all that gear around in style -- or maybe get out of the LL Bean day pack rut? Try a nifty new media bag from Cinebags. The Glendale, Calif.-based maker of professional carrying systems has cooked up a very impressive line of bags and carrying aids for the media business. And for you.
The units are done in very sensible designs; I liked the use of pocket and dividers. Materials are top notch. If you look carefully in the line, you can find a bag for everyday use. It does not hurt that these units are built to lug very high-priced cameras and computers. They are rugged enough to keep even your most precious junk perfectly safe when you travel.
Jonathan Blum is an independent technology writer and analyst living in Westchester, N.Y. He has written for The Associated Press and Popular Science and appeared on FoxNews and The WB.