NAB 2016: Pixels, Lightfields and Balloons
This is the second of 2 posts looking at NAB 2016. NAB is the largest broadcast tradeshow in the world with over 1800 exhibitors and a million square feet of technology showcases and BBC R&D were there to promote our activities, track what the broadcast industry are doing and meet with suppliers and contacts from across the globe.
Nokia were showing their OZO platform and also announced a partnership with Disney to produce 360 content alongside future movie releases. They also had a multi-camera live stage event streamed from outside the show hall. They are pushing the OZO as the world’s first professional VR camera.
However, Nokia weren't the only 360 players in town. There were a plethora of 360 rigs ranging from action cameras in 3D printed housings to purpose built units from Sphericam. All of these units point to the technology becoming more mainstream.
A number of companies are also working on live streaming of 360 video and also the end user interface. Offering the best seat in the house may not be enough when traditional TV goes some way beyond this, but how content is presented becomes the distinguishing factor.
A few companies were showing augmented reality experiences where if you looked in certain directions replays or scoreboards pop up, or you can see your friend in the seat next to you even though you may be several time zones apart.
Content will be king in augmented reality and 360 and only time will tell if this will go the same way as 3D production did a few years ago.
The other big innovation increasing in popularity was 8K video. The Japanese are leading the way in this with NHK looking to transmit the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in UHD-2. Their OB truck was an impressive beast - built by Sony, it can handle up to 10 Super High Vision (UHD 2) cameras and it is heading off to Rio to provide a trial service from this summer's Olympics.
It is unlikely we will be watching 8K in our homes but some impressively large 8K screens were also on show, the image below shows a section of one such screen which would allow 8K content to be on show in public areas in a quality never seen before.
In previous years we have also seen UAS or drones take off (pun intended) and this year the range was bigger and better with more of this tech on show carrying bigger and better cameras.
DJI announced a new high level model alongside improvements in the other ranges, but perhaps one of the most interesting approaches was a balloon from Aerotain which can be flown indoors, above crowds and above all - silently.
NAB is also a time to show off new cameras. Lytro certainly stole the show with a completely new camera technology which could change how we capture video in the future.
Pair this with the technologies provided by AR and VR and we could start to see some really exciting content.NAB is also a time where we sit down with various manufacturers to discus product roadmaps and whilst I cannot share details here, one model did catch my eye:
It is certainly innovative but to my eye the pictures were a little grainy...
