Brighton Pride attracts around 450,000 festival goers to enjoy the city centre parade and weekend festival featuring world-class live acts. But not this year. Like the rest of the entertainment industry, Pride 2020 had to abide by government regulations, cancelling all public performances.

Stepping into the breach, the festival launched WE ARE FABULOSO! featuring 12 hours of live and exclusive entertainment filmed and streamed from a Brighton studio space. Over half a million viewers (according to the organisers) tuned into YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Instagram and 13 terrestrial TV channels to watch acts such as Fat Boy Slim, Nile Rodgers, Jess Glynne and Years & Years.

ChyronHego today announced that its Click Effects PRIME fan engagement engine is a confirmed partner for Panasonic's new IT/IP-centric next-generation live production platform. Designed for high-quality video production and delivery, either live or in the studio, the new modular and open architecture platform from Panasonic allows users to optimize and future-proof their investment while maintaining flexibility. The solution pairing from ChyronHego and Panasonic brings powerful capabilities and valuable versatility to modern sports entertainment.

Densitron, a creator of HMI technologies and a global leader in display, monitor, and embedded computing solutions, today announced that it has become an alliance partner with Panasonic IT/IP Platform.

Panasonic has chosen Densitron’s new UReady Touch Control Surface with Embedded Ethernet to be used as an AUX monitor. The control surface offers an ultra-high performance display, proprietary transparent tactile-touch buttons, and TCP/IP connection in a 2RU form factor.

Mo-Sys Engineering, a global leader in real time camera tracking and remote systems, is proud to announce a collaboration with Panasonic. The AW-UE150 and the Mo-Sys StarTracker module will empower AR and virtual studio graphics by together creating engaging content with natural depth and changing the perspective of the virtual background.

Previously planned to launch at NAB, the webinars will be co-hosted by Panasonic and Mo-Sys and will showcase the new Panasonic AW-UE150 - a 4K, wide-angle lens, PTZ head with absolute camera tracking for AR and virtual studio application. With Mo-Sys StarTracker, the venue or event is no longer restricted to a fixed camera position and can be more creative using the PTZ head on a jib, crane or a dolly for unlimited camera motion.

Cobalt® Digital, designer and manufacturer of award-winning edge devices for live video production and master control, and a founding partner in the openGear® initiative, will feature a line-up of openGear compatible products at NAB 2020 that will highlight a new card-based router series that takes flexibility to a new level, a mini frame that answers the industry need for a space-saving chassis but doesn’t compromise functionality and can be operated remotely, and a range of distribution amplifiers that answer the rise of 4K with the ability to distribute 12G-SDI signals within a Rackspace. The new solutions will be demonstrated alongside Cobalt’s entire platform that is designed to help Broadcasters transition to IP, 4K, HDR, the cloud, and beyond.

What's New:

Sonnet Technologies today announced the SF3™ Series – CFexpress™ / XQD™ Pro Card Reader, the latest model in its expanding family of professional media readers. The SF3 Series – CFexpress / XQD Pro Card Reader features dual card slots and a 40Gbps Thunderbolt™ 3 interface. CFexpress 2.0 Type B is a new, ultra-fast recording media developed to support the requirements of shooting 4K and 6K RAW video and continuous capture of high-megapixel photos. XQD cards have been available for several years and share the same form factor and connector as CFexpress 2.0 Type B media.

What It Does:

Compatible with Mac® and Windows® computers with Thunderbolt 3 ports, the SF3 Series – CFexpress / XQD Pro Card Reader ingests footage from CFexpress 2.0 Type B and XQD media at up to maximum supported speeds. Designed for demanding workflows, Sonnet's SF3 Series card readers are built with rugged aluminum enclosures and dual Thunderbolt 3 ports. 

What's New:

Sonnet Technologies today announced the Fusion™ Dual 2.5-inch SSD RAID PCIe® 3.0 card, the latest product in the company's line of high-performance storage cards that enable the installation of SSDs into a computer's or Thunderbolt expansion system's PCIe card slot. The Fusion card includes a hardware RAID controller for drive configuration, plus an external USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB-C port with 15 watts of power.

What It Does:

The Fusion Dual 2.5-inch SSD RAID card enables users to install two 2.5-inch SATA SSDs (sold separately) into a full-length PCIe card slot. The attached SSDs are managed by the card's onboard RAID controller, which supports RAID 0, RAID 1, Span, and JBOD configurations and provides users a powerful tool for configuring the SSDs for best performance or data safety without impacting their system's performance. For added convenience, a USB-C port capable of supporting high-performance, bus-powered drives and other USB peripherals is included. The USB-C port also supports the USB 3.0 charging specification that enables simultaneous charging and syncing of an iOS® or iPadOS® device.

As part of a strategy of continuing investment to track with the latest market requirements, Finepoint Broadcast, a leading UK dry hire provider of production and OB equipment to the global marketplace, has announced the further addition of a range of Canon lenses to its hire stock portfolio.

The additions include the standard Canon CJ24, plus the Canon CJ45 and large UJ90 lenses (UHD DIGISUPER).

Finepoint Broadcast Hire Manager Clive Northen said, “Finepoint has not seen the disruptive business peaks and troughs of recent years that have been so prevalent in various broadcast sectors. To the contrary, our growth has been steady and continuous, due in part to our continual evaluation and investment in technologies, such as these Canon lenses, that provide a direct benefit to our customers.”

Finepoint Broadcast Chief Engineer Andrew Mckenzie said, “The Canon CJ24 is an acclaimed telephoto lens with a 24x broadcast zoom and a focal length of 7.5-180mm that offers 4K performance that is ideal for on-the-shoulder newsgathering. The ultra-high zoom CJ45 is packed with innovative, class-leading technology that is perfectly suited to wildlife and live-sport deployments.

And with a 90x zoom, 9-810mm focal length, and image stabilisation that's fully compatible with 2/3" 4K cameras and broadcast environments where HDTV is currently in use, the Canon UHD DIGISUPER 90 lens is perfect for expanding Finepoint Broadcast’s 4K lens range.”

New auxiliary power connector enables support for entire line of high-performance AJA KONA audio and video I/O cards

What's New:

Sonnet Technologies today announced the launch of the Echo™ Express SE IIIe, the newest member of the company's award-winning Echo Express family of Thunderbolt™ 3 to PCI Express® (PCIe®) card expansion systems. The Echo Express SE IIIe is a compact desktop chassis that enables the use of up to three high-performance PCIe cards with computers equipped with Thunderbolt 3 ports. Replacing the popular Echo Express SE III, the SE IIIe supports AJA's complete family of KONA audio and video I/O solutions, including KONA 5, and has been upgraded with the addition of an auxiliary power connector to support cards that require more power to operate, and a new cooling fan for quieter operation.

"A portable video capture and playback setup is a necessity today for most video pros, and the Echo Express SE IIIe, with support for AJA KONA PCIe cards, provides great flexibility. The new auxiliary power connector is an exciting addition, allowing professionals to harness the power of Thunderbolt 3 connectivity with AJA KONA 5 with a smaller form factor PCIe card enclosure."

- Nick Rashby, President, AJA Video Systems

NDI®, a brand of Vizrt Group, today released the 4th generation of NDI technology to both developers and end users at IBC2019 in Amsterdam. Using software, computers and networks, NDI is a crucial part of the organization’s mission of making software-defined visual storytelling (#SDVS) accessible to everyone via the universal power of IP-based video. NDI is the dominant IP standard for digital media by using standard Ethernet networks and mobile environments. NDI changes the picture by giving everyone access to easy-to-use, high-quality video and audio over IP. NDI is royalty free to use software with hundreds of developers making thousands of NDI-enabled products now in the hands of millions of customers around the world.