It’s day two at the NAB Show and this afternoon I made the rounds of the outdoor exhibition space located between Central and South Halls.
An early weather prediction for Tuesday rain showers was way off the mark. There was plenty of sunshine as I made my way around the outdoor exhibits.
I am a veteran when it comes to NAB Shows, having attended my first one in 1977. I’ve been a witness to a lot of changes, and the outdoor exhibition space is one of them.
It wasn’t until the broadcast satellite business took off in the 1980s that show attendees found much activity outside the halls. (A lot of the remote trucks back then could easily fit inside the halls.)
The sat businesses are still outdoors, but the dishes have shrunk a lot since the 1980s. I didn’t see much beyond some 4.5-meter jobs today.
The antennas may have gotten smaller, but the trucks have more than made up for it. One of the more interesting ones I visited is a creation of the Mobile TV Group. The driving force behind Mobile is Phillip Garvin, the company’s general manager, and the van on the lot today is part of a 24-vehicle fleet owned by Mobile.
“This one is special; it’s a 3D concept truck, Garvin explained. “It’s an alternative that we created to bringing in two separate trucks to originate 2D and 3D broadcasts.”
The van sports a stereo camera rig on one of the outside stairways, and inside is a Grass Valley Kayenne switcher with split control surfaces set up in two separate areas of the vehicle — one for 2D and one for 3D.