The 2012 NAB Show is only a week away, and it seems destined to be one where discussions of image quality — whether 1080p, 3D, or 4K — dominate the conversation. Attendees will have an opportunity to fall in love with images that sparkle like nothing ever seen before on an NAB Show floor. And then they will wander off muttering about the inability to deliver mesmerizing images to viewers and, possibly, build a new business.

AJA Video Systems has announced immediate availability of UDC, a broadcast quality Up/Down/Cross-Conversion Mini-Converter that can convert between SD, HD and 3G video formats. Leveraging AJA’s conversion technology, the UDC provides very high quality conversions in a small and cost effective package. Formats supported include 3G/HD/SD-SDI input and output, HDMI output and two-channel RCA style audio output.

National networks and regional sports nets around the country threw out the first pitch on their 2012 Major League Baseball coverage last week and SVG was all over the diamond with comprehensive coverage of each network’s production plans this season. ESPN, Fox, and Turner Sports all have big plans for its MLB coverage, while Comcast Sportsnets, Fox Sports Nets, Root Sports Networks, and team-owned RSNs like YES, NESN, and SNY continue to face the challenge of making a regional telecast that equals what fans have come to expect from A-level national games.

Filmwerks successfully completed another year of providing CBS, ESPN, Golf Channel, and World Feed uninterrupted power for the Masters. According to Filmwerks owners Mike Satrazemis, this year did not come without its challenges which included bad weather, loss of house power, and long cable runs.

The baseball season kicks off for the Toledo Mud Hens Triple-A (AAA) minor league baseball team this month with livelier stadium video entertainment, thanks in part to the team’s new ZEPLAY multi-channel instant replay solution from Tightrope Media Systems. ZEPLAY brings multi-channel instant replay to home Mud Hens games for the first time, giving operators several camera angles to choose from for in-house projections.

Dalet Digital Media Systems announced more flexible and comprehensive integration support with several non-linear editing platforms. The Dalet Xtend module, originally created to facilitate a more fluid workflow between the Dalet Media Asset Management platform and Apple Final Cut Pro systems, is being expanded to include similar media and metadata exchange capabilities with Avid Media Composer, Avid NewsCutter, Adobe Premiere, and other NLEs.

LiveU has been selected by Gannett’s Broadcasting Division to provide its backpack technology for local electronic newsgathering operations. LiveU’s flagship LU60 units have been deployed to the majority of Gannett’s 23 television stations across the United States, as part of a group-wide deal.

Front Porch Digital announced that Crawford Media Services has added to its existing complement of SAMMA installations with five new SAMMAsolo HD systems. The Atlanta-based media management and postproduction company will use the new systems to streamline and accelerate its HD up-conversion and cross-conversion services to commercial and institutional clients.

More than 600 sporting events in a six-week span, 100-plus events in a single day, 67 games of high-profile March Madness, and “a tradition unlike any other” – and that’s before the first pitch of the Major League Baseball season is even thrown out. It is all just part of an average spring season for MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), which provides the backend streaming infrastructure for a variety of clients beyond MLB, including ESPN3.com, CBS Sports, Turner Sports. Now, after a busy start to spring, MLBAM can now get back to what it does best: baseball.

Elemental Technologies announced that leading international broadcasters with multiscreen delivery rights for the 2012 Olympic Games in London will use Elemental products to power their IP video delivery initiatives. The announcement culminates a series of high profile customer wins for Elemental over the last 12 months in the sports video market.

Convergence may be going mainstream. New research shows that 38% of U.S. homes have at least one TV set connected to the Internet through a gaming console, Blu-ray player, newfangled TV model or other mode, according to the Leichtman Research Group. The figure is up from 30% last year and 24% two years prior.

There’s the hundred-yard dash, the shot put and, of course, Alan Wurtzel’s favorite Olympic event: data measurement on tens of millions of fans over 17 days. “It’s a huge amount of use,” said Wurtzel, NBCUniversal’s president of research and media development. The Olympics give NBCU a chance to look at data on a much larger scale than usual, and this year the media conglomerate is teaming up with Google and Web measurement company comScore to dig into viewer habits on all platforms—TV, smartphone, tablet and PC.

While numerous technology companies across the country continue to design the latest in innovative technology for the sports broadcasting marketplace, ESPN has taken the job into their own hands. ESPN Emerging Technology, which is housed and tests many of its tool at ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Disney World, has developed numerous tools seen on ESPN shows, including Snap Zoom and Ball Track. For 2012, ESPN will debut its Advanced Replay Tool (ART) which allows graphics to be used in a replay, a first in the network’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

NeuLion, the technology service provider for delivering live and on-demand content to Internet-enabled devices, Mississippi State University Athletics, and Bulldog Sports Properties announced a multi-year partnership extension with enhanced digital initiatives for HD video, live highlight editing and mobile applications. Partnering with NeuLion since 2007, Mississippi State Athletics has experienced significant growth in overall platform traffic and subscription revenues as live video, news, stats, schedules, updates and more have become increasingly more accessible.

NAB is less than a week away. Click through for a preview of some of the new audio products, systems, and events that will be of interest to sports-broadcast audio professionals. Highlights include: the Taurus Mini Super-S joining Akitio’s professional storage-product line and new fiber devices, audio cables, and enhanced signal-processing products from BTX.

Sony’s camera lineup is getting some additional help at NAB with the launch of the HDC-2000 and the HDC-2550 for the high end of the market as well as a new XDCAM camcorder and new robotic camera. Both the HDC-2000 and HDC-2550 models feature newly developed 2/3-inch-type CCD image sensor and 16-bit digital signal processing.

The Meduza TITAN, the first fully controllable, lightweight, 3D precision single HD camera with two 1080p CMOS sensors will feature a 3ality Technica integrated control system when it makes its debut next week at NAB. Chris Cary, CEO of the Irvine based Meduza Systems Ltd, developer of the TITAN, says the system’s debut as a concept last NAB was to show the industry what it was capable of.

Telestream will use its Wirecast live video production and streaming software to broadcast live news and interviews from NAB. Telestream LIVE will be produced and streamed to the web from Telestream Booth SL1405 on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17 and 18, starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time each day.

Calrec Audio will provide a new demo of its Hydra2 audio routing system, and the system’s ability to interact with third-party control and production automation equipment. To give broadcasters a sense of Hydra2′s potential as a networking solution, Calrec will exhibit its equipment in a scenario akin to how it would be used in an actual production environment.

PESA will introdude its new DRS audio distributed routing system with Enterprise Data Exchange Engine (E-DXE). A full-featured 24-bit, 96 kHz routing system for audio and time code signals, DRS uses high-speed multiplexing technology for signal distribution, rather than a crosspoint matrix array, and its modular architecture makes it easy to tailor the system to fit specific configurations.

T-VIPS will continue to provide solutions for reliable video transport over IP networks with the U.S. debut of the TNS544 Transport Stream over IP Switch and announce high-profile customer wins. The recent sales feature the company’s Video Gateway solutions with JPEG2000 compression and provide real-time integrity monitoring of IP streams and Transport Stream content. T-VIPS will exhibit in Booth SU7907.

The upcoming 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas is shaping up to be at least the fifth consecutive NAB Show to significantly advance the closely-watched 3D content creation, distribution, and consumption sectors. Before enumerating several hot topics in 3D that the nearly 100,000 NAB Show registrants from more than 150 countries should be on the lookout for this year, a bit of history about 3D as it relates to NAB Show.

The clock is ticking away the minutes until December 13, the effective date of the FCC's new Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act) rules. TV broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) attending the upcoming NAB Show in Las Vegas will be looking for the equipment necessary to meet the CALM Act requirements, and they will have plenty to see and do.

The Sports Video Group is pleased to welcome Advanced Mobility Specialty Vehicles as a mobile/integrator sponsor. The company designs and builds high-quality, innovative mobile equipment trailers for the healthcare, television-broadcast, and banking industries and for special events and sports events around the world. Headquartered in Chicago, Advanced Mobility has nearly 30 years of experience doing business nationally and internationally in the mobile-trailer industry.

The Sports Video Group is pleased to announce that Harmonic and Telecast Fiber Systems have renewed their SVG platinum sponsorships. Harmonic Inc. provides infrastructure that powers the video industry. Telecast Fiber Systems, Inc. is known for its portable and fixed fiber optic systems for television broadcast production.

Despite a dramatic two-hole sudden-death playoff on Easter Sunday, the final round of the Masters failed to deliver for CBS, notching the lowest final-round overnight rating since 2004 (the last time the tournament was played on Easter). CBS’s 8.1 overnight was also down 22% from last year’s coverage, which included Tiger Woods being in contention. CBS’ coverage Saturday drew a 5.1 overnight, which is off 25% from last year and the lowest third-round coverage since 2006.

Fox is hoping to change the Saturday- night broadcast network landscape in a major way by offering more than 100 hours of primetime live sports programming stretching 28 weeks, from April 14 through Dec. 8. It's not quite the new cable Fox Sports Network that some predicted Fox parent News Corp. would be creating, but it will offer an unprecedented amount of primetime sports on mostly consecutive Saturdays through 2012.

When the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009, not even the loudest of Yankee fanatics could drown out the outraged howls over its costly tickets, its tax-exempt financing and, of course, its construction atop two city parks. But now, in a bid for redemption, New York City officials have delivered on a long-promised, $50.8 million public ballpark across the street from the stadium. Heritage Field opened this week, more than a year behind schedule, on the site of the old Yankee Stadium — the last of which was demolished in 2010 — and nearly every inch, from the pavement stones underfoot to the three natural grass ball fields, has been elaborately designed to pay homage to the Yankees and their celebrated former home.

RIVA Technologies has brought Carl Roszczybiuk aboard as director of engineering for JFS (Joseph Fiber Solutions). Roszczybiuk, long-time director of engineering for Trio Video until NEP Broadcasting acquired the company last month, will shepherd the newly announced JFS Fiber Caddie Series and will be heavily involved in the company’s upcoming CIER Series of infrastructure solutions.

Ross Video has announced the appointment of Jorge Sobenes to the role of Regional Sales Manager for Latin America. Jorge will be responsible for sales in South and Central America with the exception of Mexico and Brazil. Prior to Ross Video, Jorge worked for Videcorp S.A. Chile – a Sony and Evertz representative – as their Sales and Project Manager. During his time there, Jorge built a solid reputation with both broadcasters and suppliers in Chile.

Miranda Technologies will highlight integrated playout and on-demand solutions at the PBS Technology Conference (TechCon 12). The company will showcase its iTX integrated playout system in Booth 111 and will also present two papers that address file normalization and Video On Demand (VOD).

With new CEO Kazuo Hirai at its helm, the Japanese electronics company said Tuesday it expects an additional tax expense of 300 billion yen in the fiscal fourth quarter ending March 30. It said this non-cash charge stemmed from revaluing U.S. tax assets that are unlikely to be utilized due to its string of annual losses.