NBC Olympics has added five Calrec Omega with Bluefin consoles as part of its coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The 56-fader consoles will provide audio mixing for a number of events across several venues. Two consoles will provide audio coverage for both the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics. Two other consoles will be used for gymnastics and trampoline, and a fifth will be used for beach volleyball. “We will have some very large scale venues like ceremonies, track and field, and gymnastics,” says Bob Dixon, NBC Olympics' director of sound design and communications.

Sportscasters looking for easier means of transmitting HD signals have a new option at NAB. IDX is introducing CAM-WAVE, the Model CW-5HD, a new HD wireless transmission system based on MIMO/OFDM technology. By using the 5.2 GHz range of WiFi spectrum it can transmit that uncompressed HD camera signals with less than a millesecond of delay up to 150 feet via line of site or 100 feet through walls.

SDTV, a pioneer in remote multi-camera television production, will debut its new multi-format HD production and uplink truck, HD Expandolink (HDLA), at NAB 2008 (Booth # 0E331). With the release of this state-of-the-art mobile unit, SDTV once again sets the standard of power and performance within the industry.

Intelsat, Ltd., the provider of fixed satellite services, has announced that Raymond Svider, a Managing Partner of BC Partners, Intelsat’s majority shareholder, was elected to the position of Chairman at a recent meeting of the Intelsat Board of Directors. Mr. Svider will replace Mr. Joseph Wright, who recently notified the company of his resignation as Chairman of the Board and Director of Intelsat, Ltd., effective May 1, 2008.

At the NAB show, Sennheiser will showcase the MKE 400 mini-shotgun condenser microphone for use with digital camcorders and the MKH 8000 series of microphones with RF-condenser technology.

Pixel Power will introduce advanced real-time 3D graphics for its Clarity family of products that will be usable by all character-generator operators. The Clarity product line is Pixel Power’s array of single or dual graphics systems designed with simplified hardware.

Many sports broadcasters are moving to digital asset management in an increasingly file-based world. Preview+, a module to Nesbit’s Media Library System (MLS), provides a digital-asset-management system that adds video proxy files to the information managed by the MLS. Preview+ offers a single portal for managing both analog and digital content. The NSi Media Library System is an archival and tracking system for video production.

Clear-Com Communication Systems is introducing several innovative products this year with enhanced features and/or upgrades that extend the company’s voice communications offerings.

As the date for transition from analog to digital nears, broadcasters are moving increasingly to digital workflow. At NAB, Aspera will demonstrate the latest version of its fasp 2.0 platform, which incorporates tools for management of high-speed content delivery throughout a network via a centralized Web interface. What makes the platform especially suited to sports-broadcasting applications is that it is robust under field conditions; in addition, files transfer at extremely fast speeds between workgroups and can be tracked end-to-end.

Graphics professionals will now be able to bridge graphics and video workflows via Vizrt Quattro, a new character generator that enables an operator to create fully animated graphics containing multiple videos from a single desktop interface.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Studer has selected NAB 2008 as the worldwide launch site for its new OnAir 2500 console for on-air radio use. Featuring a fully digital, all-in-one design and well-established software technology derived from the highly acclaimed OnAir 3000, the OnAir 2500 delivers a new standard in ease-of-use for radio broadcast.

NAB attendees will be able to see a new ENG mobile transmitter that MRC says is the most advanced video-transmission system on the market. The company defines the MTX5000 as the only true “software-defined” SD/HD microwave transport that can be managed in the field or in the studio. At NAB, MRC will unveil two products to support video transfers and work in conjunction with the MTX5000.

SOS Global Express has been providing transportation expertise to the sports and production industry for 22 years. Its Web-based pickup and delivery service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Customers include all the U.S. networks, many of the major film studios, and other entertainment/live-event companies worldwide.

At NAB 2008, Glowpoint Inc., an IP-based video communications service provider, will be demonstrating live two-way communications in full 720/60p. Glowpoint pioneered two-way interactive broadcasting at the 2003 NFL Draft delivering SD feeds between all 32 NFL team sites and their clients.

Orad Hi-Tec Systems is looking to make lens modification a thing of the past for virtual-graphic–enhancement systems. Making its debut at NAB, the MVP system is expected to be available later this year and will eventually serve as a replacement for the CyberSport system.

Sony Creative Software is expected to announce new tools to help support Blu-ray disc production at this year’s NAB convention. Sony Creative Software has also been very focused on integrating its applications with Sony hardware over the past year in an effort to bring Blu-ray into the post-production environment.

Technicolor Creative Services has purchased four Digital Vision DVNR 2k image processing systems for use in high-definition DVD compression and authoring work. The systems, equipped with AGR4 ME and ALS options, enable Technicolor to manage film grain and video noise and correct for the artifacting that often occurs when encoding images for high-resolution formats such as Blu-Ray.

Signal processing and control is always a concern for sportscasters and Qustream’s latest signal processing and distribution modules, the Integrity 600 lineup, will give NAB attendees some new options.

NewTek, manufacturer of video and 3D animation products, at NAB will offer a look at the company's line of TriCaster portable video production and live virtual set systems, as well as LightWave v9.5 3D and SpeedEDIT, Newtek’s video editor.

Show Partners has entered into an agreement with SUN Sports & Entertainment for the Fox Sports Net telecast of its new mixed martial arts television series, "GI vs. Pro."

Technicolor hits the NAB show floor nearing its 100th anniversary, proving that longevity doesn’t necessarily translate to being stuck in the past. Since the early part of the millennia Technicolor has invested heavily in digital technologies as it looks to the future and serving the future needs of a Hollywood and TV community that increasingly looks to digital media in all its forms.

Wohler hits NAB with the Wohler Plus line of audio products, state-of-the-art processing and monitoring tailored to the needs of digital broadcasting, whether terrestrial, video over IP, cable, or satellite.

Envivio Inc., the technology provider of IP video convergence encoding solutions from mobile to HD, 4Caster C4 convergence encoding system is the world’s first to provide video compression for all three screens of consumer video – TVs, PCs and mobile devices – on a single platform.