NAB 2013 Goodies?!

[Warren Kawamoto]

I missed NAB this year due to schedule conflicts. For those of you who were fortunate enough to go, what are this year's best/most useful products that you got to play with on the floor?
I've read about the BM pocket cinema camera so far
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/04...-cinema-camera
and the Sony
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/video/chann..._applications/

[Chris Hurd]

For me, as always, the show floor is a lot to process and it isn't even the primary reason I go anymore... that being instead the single best opportunity of the year to see old friends and make new ones. I can tell you what my biggest personal disappointment was: not making it over to the Rio for the SuperMeet on Tuesday night, due to the impossibility of finding a taxi due to the current strike (during which 15 cabbies were arrested outside the NAB convention). That really put a damper on transportation out of the LVCC area, at least for me it did.

The exhibits which appealed to me most were the things I normally don't get to see from home on the intertubes, namely all of the 4K (and beyond) ultra-high definition content displayed on large, ample screens in the various theaters located throughout the show floor exhibits... such as Sony, RED, Canon, and several others. It was nice to see Japan's large NHK booth, tucked away in a back corner of North Hall, showing off their "Super Hi-Vision" prototype 8K broadcast systems. Their 8K theater display consisted of video shot at the London Olympics, the STS-135 space shuttle launch, and carnival celebrations in Brazil. Dazzling stuff, but the camera systems are quite large (see pic).

Now that my feet are starting to feel better after a quiet weekend at home, I'll work on preparing a photo journal of what I saw at this year's show. Will advise when that's posted.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Hi Chris,

NAB was a blast and the DVInfo meet up was a real highlight. It was great to meet you and some of the "regulars" in person!

The 8K Hitachi cam wasn't huge. It was a typical ENG size, weighing 5 lbs. Astrodesign had a smaller body cam with the same NHK-developed sensor. But RED stole the show by installing 6K Dragon sensors in customer cameras on the show floor with their portable clean room. :)

Regarding the cab strike, I believe that the Rio is associated with Harrah's and they have a free shuttle between locations. The Palms is the other big, across-the-freeway hotel. Not sure if they have a partner and shuttle. From experience, it's good to have a non-taxi plan to cross the breech.

Only 356 days until exhibits open at NAB 2014. :)

[David Stoneburner]

I didn't go this year, but I can confirm that Harrah's has a shuttle to the Rio. We tend to stay at Harrah's when we go. Maybe next year.

[Dylan Couper]

I have a best of/worst of nab 2013 article coming up very soon that's all about the gadgets.