NAB 2003

Rush of Innovative Gear at Annual Tech Confab

While a few thousands fewer turned up at April's annual NationalAssociation of Broadcasters convention, neither war nor virus held backa burst of new, innovative hardware and software. Crowds jammed pressconferences and booth demos to hear about video acquisition gearemploying 35mm-sized CCDs (Dalsa), Blu-ray optical disc recording(Sony), and Flash RAM-based recording systems (Panasonic).

Meanwhile, both Avid and Apple delivered well-regarded NLE gear;vendors including Huge Systems and Medéa debuted lower-cost SANsolutions; and the crowds at Aaton couldn't kept their hands offthe sleek, next-generation location audio recorder from this filmcamera innovator. Contributing editor D.W. Leitner couldn't help butwonder whether the future of image and sound "arrived at our doorstepsooner than expected." So here's Millimeter's look at NAB 2003.Was it really "better than it had any right to be," as one attendee putit? You decide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Digital Cameras & Camcorders
DigitalInfrastructure
Editing
Graphics& Effects
Lenses
Storage: Hardware & Software
Telecines & Film Recording