IBC 2013: Rumoured launch of Arri Ultra HD camera is one of the big talking points ahead of the show

The manufacturer on the lips of most IBC delegates ahead of the show is Arri, with mounting expectation that it will launch a new, 4K camera in Amsterdam.

Broadcast asked a number of post houses, systems integrators, finance companies and hire firms what they were expecting from the show.

Damian Dolniak, Splice managing director

The management of huge amounts of content is likely to be a theme at this year’s show, with more talk about whether cloudbased collaborative editing is a viable technology option.

My shopping list also includes systems for media asset management automation, big disk and big tape storage, plus rendering solutions for visual effects and multi-channel audio metering.

Aspera is one of the ‘must see’ exhibitors, as I’m keen to continue our development of secure, encrypted delivery of file-based rushes into the facility over IP.

Simon Craddock, Onsight chief executive

3D is still important to us but 4K is obviously a big opportunity, and we will be looking at camera kit that straddles the worlds of TV and film.

We have been shooting 4K for a while, mostly with Red cameras, but Sony has moved into that field and I wouldn’t be surprised if Arri follows.

The company often says it is about better pixels rather than more pixels, but I suspect it will have more and better pixels at this year’s show.

Kevin Moorhouse, Gearhouse Broadcast chief operating officer

Our main focus is going to be 4K and we are planning to get a 4K flyaway system up and running by April, so we’ll be looking at everything from cameras and lenses to servers.

We’ll be talking to a lot of manufacturers in this regard, including Miranda, Evertz and, of course, EVS, which always seems to pull something interesting out of the bag.

We’re also speaking with Sony about its 4K camera offering for OB applications, and Hitachi, which has an 8K OB camera system in development.

Danny Dawson, Alias Hire general manager

4K is likely to dominate camera kit. The popularity of the Sony F5 and F55 is really gathering pace now that the updates for both are nearly complete, and they are set to be capable of a whopping 240fps at 2K RAW.

For the F5 in particular, that’s an amazingly economical hi-res, slow-motion camera.

Plus there’s a rumour that just won’t go away, that Arri may be presenting something in terms of a 4K sensor camera.

Robin Howell, Wire Broadcast director

We are starting to get asked to consider 4K/Ultra-HD on new installations and I’ll be looking at product developments, particularly for glue and infrastructure products.

There is going to be a live demonstration of a rugby match captured in 4K/UHD that should be worth seeing, transmitted and shown in true 4K on the Intelsat stand.

Other areas of interest will be IP KVM-based products, and I’ll be looking at the upgrade to the AdderLink Infinity.

David Phillips, TSL managing director

We are looking to see how the industry is engaging with 4K, AVB (audio video bridging) and SMPTE 2022 distribution technology, and how the manufacturers are positioning their technology in a public/private cloud environment.

4K has more chance to succeed than 3D, though it will be a couple of years yet at least.

The same applies to cloud technologies; some aspects, such as editing and transcoding, can be performed to some extent using current cloud infrastructure, but the cloud doesn’t yet offer a comprehensive solution.

Ian Munford, Dock10 commercial director

We want to see how BBC R&D’s Stagebox and Sony’s IP55 solutions have evolved and understand what other products are on the market that will enable us to route HD and 4K signals over our campus wide Cisco network to support 4K production and post production in The Studios.

We will also be expanding our nearline storage in the coming weeks, so we’ll be confirming which nearline storage solution will support our requirements and deliver the scalability we’re looking for to support our future expansion.

And we’re looking to confirm pricing on LTO6 and determine if our SpectraLogic expansion should use this media or remain LTO5 for the time being.

Jim Duncan, RR sat Europe (formerly JCA) chief engineer

I will be very interested to hear about IaaS (infrastructure as a service), which would enable our clients to move from a capex to an opex environment quickly and effectively.

Developments in file-based loudness measurement and correction in a multiaudio environment are also of interest.

I will also be hopping onto the bandwagon surrounding public and private cloud computing platforms.

Samantha Arlow, Fineline area sales manager

There’s a lot of interest surrounding a ‘baby’ Arri Alexa or smaller Arri model designed primarily for the needs of the HD broadcast market.

Also, everyone is keen to see Sony’s PXW-Z100 4K camera with VF and XLR audio as the specification suggests it’s a lot of camera for the money.

Sony will be championing 4K acquisition and is reported to be streaming live 4K footage direct to the show by satellite, which is likely to generate a fair bit of interest in its F5 and F55 range, particularly from the hire companies, which could use this as a cost-effective way to update existing trucks.

Peter Savage, Azule managing director

There will be a lot of 4K action but, from a personal point of view, I’m a bit worried that Arri could slow down the camera market by announcing another camera.

If people think a new release is just around the corner, they might hold off on purchases.

I expect a few promotions because I think the manufacturers have full inventories of goods they are not able to shift.

There will also be a lot of activity around the storage market; it’s an area where Avid is doing very well and is being a bit more aggressive than others.

Topics