Despite a brewing controversy set to boil over, there’s been almost no formal mention at NAB 2008 of what happens with the proposed addition of consumer devices on “white space” frequencies where wireless mics now reside. The issue is conspicuous in its absence.

Orad is providing a variety of products and services to CCTV for this summer’s coverage of the Olympic Games. Orad will help CCTV create two full virtual studios on the Olympic site, along with 3D graphics, virtual outdoor billboards and a host of visual augmentation to the hard sets that will anchor truly unique coverage of the Games.

As a result of size, space and economic constraints, flypacks will have a larger presence at this summer’s Olympic Games, but that does not mean that the production will be scaled down. NEP Visions Limited is equipping NBC Olympics not with traditional broadcast trucks, but with two state-of-the-art HD flypacks, providing yet another parameter that breaks new ground for Olympic broadcasts.

Producing sports in HD is nothing new for the BBC Network, but taking that HD production across the globe to China has created some issues as the countdown to the Opening Ceremonies continues. The BBC’s technical team, however, is up to the task and has found multiple solutions to the problems posed by large-scale HD production.

Clear-Com at NAB showcased its newest intercom system, Eclipse Version 5.0 and the system is heading to Beijing to be used by CCTV for the Summer Games. Eclipse links together Clear-Com’s V-Series panels and CellCom digital wireless system to provide greater communication in a studio or at an on field venue.

Linear Acoustic is showcasing the Upmax: Neo at NAB, but the 5.1 surround field synthesizer will soon be showcased in Beijing, as well. NBC Olympics has chosen the UPMAX:neo to upmix stereo sound to 5.1 digital for this summer’s coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Some of China’s leading broadcasters will be using Vinten heads, pedestals, tripods and other accessories for their Olympics coverage in August this year. The Vinten equipment will be used for live OB productions from trucks on site at various Olympic venues as well as for studio based presenter-led analysis of the action.

Dozens of local TV stations will send news and sports crews to Beijing to cover this summer’s Olympic Games, but the smaller the station, the more critical advance planning becomes. For many of stations and station groups, the Olympics are, effectively, already here.

NVision introduced an array of new routers and master control at NAB. The NV5100MC product line enables broadcasters to customize a powerful master control that fits their facility’s current needs and budget. Introduced on the show floor was NVision’s next Large-Matrix Digital Muiti-format big router NV8576.

The foundation of Chyron Online is the web based graphics system AXIS Graphics. Chyron and AXIS bring innovation to graphics creation workflow and production - and most importantly, the ability for clients to reduce costs. The combined organization allowed clients to be more competitive with the ability to produce higher quality graphics faster.

Gordon Blau is heading up Chyron’s Creative Services Group. Part of Chyron's new Online division, the Creative Services Group is being set up to support the newly acquired AXIS line of products for both client graphics support operations and to provide original graphic design functions, as well as assisting other departments.

Brand new for NAB, Shure has unveiled its smallest bodypack transmitter yet, perfect for use in the sports world. The UR1M micro-bodypack transmitter weighs less than 3.5 oz with two AAA batteries inside, is sweat-resistant and is has a tamper-proof feature that ensures a lineman won’t accidentally turn off the mic on your mic’d up quarterback.

Like several other companies, Motorola is showcasing MPEG-4 encoding at NAB, but unlike those others, Motorola is taking steps to convert the MPEG-4 HD into multiple formats, allowing millions of viewers to access HD content.

DNF Controls, a leading provider of hardware- and software-based control solutions for television equipment, is showing its full line of DMAT (Don’t Miss A Thing) sports controllers at NAB. All of DNF’s controllers provide easy-to-operate, reliable solutions for a variety of markets, making highlight lists and slow motion instant replay available to operators at all levels.

Wohler has traditionally been an audio and video monitoring specialist, but for NAB, the company is entering the intercom world, and urging end users to get touchy-feely with its latest product.

Cisco today announced that SES AMERICOM is using Cisco MPEG AVC high-definition (HD) encoders to launch 40 additional HD channels on its IP-PRIME Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service. IP-PRIME is an end-to-end, turnkey entertainment distribution service that enables rural local exchange carriers (RLECs) in North America to offer a full and diverse menu of hundreds of SD and HD television channels to their subscribers.