Recent Work

Four SK-HD1800s raise the quality bar for PEG station’s growing range of studio and field productions

Woodbury, NY, September 1, 2020 — Nā Leo TV (NLTV) is the public access television station run by Nā Leo o Hawai’i (NLOH), the non-profit leader for media services on the “Big Island” of Hawai’i. When the Hilo-based Public, Education and Government (PEG) broadcaster expanded its coverage to include more sporting events, it chose SK-HD1800 cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to elevate the quality of its productions and meet the rigorous demands of live sports.

NLTV delivers relevant, diverse, and interesting PEG programming to citizens across the island through three cable channels, its website, and a mobile app. The station began looking at new cameras last year to achieve its goal of expanding its offerings. “We wanted to start producing more live events such as high school sports, but our existing prosumer-level HD camcorders weren’t up to the task,” said Matt Cordero, production manager at Nā Leo TV. “Our president wanted a higher quality standard, and we needed cameras that would respond well in low light and could zoom all the way down a football field.

“Our previous cameras also required tons of cabling – including separate video, communications, and power – that was cumbersome for field use,” he continued. “I wanted the simplicity of a single SMPTE fiber cable for each camera, the higher quality of 2/3-inch sensors, and the ability to use longer, B4-mount lenses.”

Oahu-based Da Crew Production and Engineering Group arranged a side-by-side comparison between three major camera brands. “I liked what I saw with the SK-HD1800,” Cordero recalled. “Watching on broadcast monitors and multi-viewers, some people couldn’t see the difference between it and more expensive competitors, and the rest of us pointed to the Hitachi camera as having the best quality.”

NLTV purchased four SK-HD1800s and started using them in their studio and field productions in late summer of 2019. The cameras travel around the island in the station’s 24-foot production trailer, which is stored next to the18-foot high, 50×25 foot main studio. This lets them use the trailer as the control room when shooting in the studio. Three of the cameras are typically deployed on Cartoni or Sachtler tripods, with one operated handheld. NLTV purchased five Fujinon lenses – three 22x, one 14x super-wide, and one 99x box lens for sports productions.

In addition to being pleased with the SK-HD1800’s overall visual quality, Cordero has been impressed by the camera’s performance in poor lighting conditions. “The Hitachi cameras’ low-light handling has been awesome,” he said. “A lot of our high school stadiums aren’t very well lit, but we’re able to run the cameras at 6dB gain or less and get very good-looking results.”

The setup simplicity and ease of use of the SK-HD1800 has also proven beneficial for NLTV. “As a public access station, we utilize a lot of volunteers – including high school and college students – who may not understand all the technology,” explained Cordero. “I can get someone with little or no experience up to speed and comfortable with these cameras in just minutes. I also like how the structure and language of the menus are essentially common sense, rather than needing to dive into too many different buttons and submenus to get at the features I’m looking for.”

The move to Hitachi camera systems has also enabled NLTV to manage the cameras from their mobile control room while supporting the streamlined cabling infrastructure Cordero sought. “The ability to control everything remotely from the truck over SMPTE fiber is fantastic, as is using the Ross Dashboard software on a Surface Pro tablet to adjust video settings,” he said. “The cameras are also much lighter than others I have had experience with, which is great for field use.”

While social distancing cut short NLTV’s spring sports season and temporarily reduced the number of productions in its studio, station staff are enjoying the improvements the SK-HD1800 cameras have delivered. “They have enabled us to take on more types of production projects and have enhanced the quality of our programs,” Cordero concluded. “Everything looks much better with these cameras, and people have noticed the difference in our broadcasts.”

About Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a company that manufactures broadcasting systems, security and surveillance systems, wireless communications and information systems. For more information on Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/global/en/index.html.

https://www.hitachikokusai.com/

Jill Perardi appointed as Director of Professional Services

ATLANTA, GA – September 1, 2020 – Visix has overhauled their professional services offering to better support digital signage clients by consolidating multiple teams under one manager, revamping the client onboarding process, streamlining client contacts and improving internal systems.

Jill Perardi, formerly creative services manager for Visix, has been named director of professional services. The position combinescreative services, implementation, consulting, training, user support and technical support under one chief. Perardi graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Communications, has been with the company since February 2012, and has over 20 years of experience in marketing and customer service.

“We’re a team dedicated to improving the client experience,” says Perardi. “That may sound basic, but it’s all too common for companies to fall into the silo trap. A client could end up talking to four or five different people depending on their needs, which can lead to repetition, lack of a coherent approach and frustration. After all, our goal is to help our clients communicate better, so we should also be better at communicating.”

Everyone who purchases the company’s AxisTV software and MeetingMinder™ room signs is now partnered with a client success manager who acts as their primary contact and manages all phases of onboarding, implementation, product adoption and relationship management. Software specialists, consultants and the creative team all work in partnership with the client success manager to meet client goals and timelines in a comprehensive and holistic manner.

Software user support and technical support issues are no longer routed to separate departments, but are handled by the same team in order to provide a more cohesive customer experience. Perardi says, “We work with both IT and communications professionals, who come from very different viewpoints and have different needs. However, the client organization is our team’s focus, so whether someone needs help getting a player on their network or figuring out how to use widget in the software, we’re here to help in as efficient a way as possible.”

Visix is also rolling out numerous improvements to their online learning management system to improve the education experiencewith new learning paths, workflow videos and resources being added regularly.

For more information about Visix services, visit visix.com/services.

About Visix

Visix, Inc. offers a robust suite of digital signage software, content designs and meeting room signs for any organization wanting to engage, excite, and inform their audiences. Our products work separately or together, are competitively priced and scalable, and have powerful interactivity and data integration features for a unified, enterprise signage solution. Our award-winning service and support teams consistently rank the highest in customer satisfaction for fast, professional responses and solutions. Learn more about Visix digital signage products and services at www.visix.com.

Xilica® leads business transformation discussions throughout NSCA’s 2020 Pivot to Profit Virtual (2020 P2Pv) thought-leadership campaign, will offer exclusive discount to virtual event for P2Pv registrants

Toronto, August 31, 2020 — Xilica® is proud to announce its sponsorship of NSCA’s 2020 Pivot to Profit Virtual event (2020 P2Pv)and its companion year-long platform for helping integrators through business transformation conversations at a critical market juncture.

To support integrators as they evolve in a constantly changing market, Pivot to Profit began in 2016 as a two-day event focused onall-important business-transformation strategies, such as shifting to service business models and identifying revenue opportunities related to emerging technologies.

Change accelerated in 2020 as businesses battle through the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, NSCA’s Pivot to Profit evolves to take on an even more critical role in driving business transformation for integrators as they identify their value amid the “new normal.”

Pivot to Profit is now a year-long business transformation campaign highlighted by a two-day virtual conference. NSCA, along with sponsors like Xilica, present the P2Pv Series of business transformation resources to drive critical discussions before, during, and after the virtual event.

“NSCA is extremely careful about the company we keep,” says NSCA Executive Director Chuck Wilson. “For Pivot to Profit, we choose sponsors that reflect our objectives to help integration companies and support the channel. Our 2020 P2Pv sponsors are well-positioned to lead conversations and educate integrators about how to battle through COVID-19 business recovery and position themselves for long-term success.”

Accelerating Change to Reboot Business

Xilica has become an NSCA sponsor at a time of aggressive global growth for the company, according to CEO Donny Chow. This includes the hiring of well-known industry thought leaders, several of which have become active content contributors for NSCA’s virtual event and newsletters. The latter will be an especially important strategy for Xilica as the company amplifies its AV and IT value proposition for the commercial integration sector.

“The professional AV industry’s commercial integration sector is consistently challenged as they navigate emerging technologies, changing business models, and an acceleration away from circuit-based to IP-networked topologies,” says Chow. “The NSCA provides a direct outlet to communicate with this audience on a global basis, and we are proud to support their efforts in representing commercial integrators worldwide.”

Throughout the 2020 P2P campaign, Xilica will join NSCA in providing resources – articles, videos, whitepapers, webinars, and more – addressing pivotal business transformation topics in 2020. Registration for the two-day event is $99. Xilica is offering a discount exclusively for P2Pv registrants. Register today at https://www.nsca.org/p2p-2020-registration/ to access the deal. For more information, contact NSCA at 800.446.6722 or visit www.nsca.org/p2p.

About Xilica

Xilica® is an award-winning manufacturer of innovative, next-generation digital signal processing solutions for AV/IT control and command applications including conference, corporate, hospitality and leisure, retail and transportation. From its headquarters in Toronto, Canada, Xilica sells and supports products worldwide in over 75 countries, gaining rapid acknowledgement for its all-modular, ultra-small-format and high-performance product ranges that solve critical business challenges.

About NSCA

NSCA is the leading not-for-profit association representing the commercial low-voltage electronic systems industry. NSCA is a powerful advocate for all who work within the low-voltage industry, including systems contractors/integrators, product manufacturers, consultants, sales representatives, architects, specifying engineers, and other allied professionals. NSCA is dedicated to serving its contractor members and all channel stakeholders through advocacy, education, member services, and networking designed to improve business performance. For more information, visit www.nsca.org.

Video over IP transport specialist integrates its recent System on Module (SoM) innovation for SDI-to-IP gateway applications into an all-in-one solution that accelerates OEM innovation

SOLANA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, August 31, 2020 — Macnica, a leader in live video over IP transport technologies, announces the immediate availability of a complete evaluation and development kit for product developers. The new EASYSS10 EVK allows any manufacturer to accelerate the creation of broadcast and ProAV products with SMPTE ST 2110 interoperability built in. Macnica will showcase the EASYSS10 EVK on its microsite for the IBC Showcase virtual event, taking place September 8-11 at https://www.ibc.org/ibcshowcase.

Macnica is a vocal proponent of bringing interoperability and open standards to broadcast and AV systems, and transitioning products and facilities to IP. This includes Macnica’s active memberships with SMPTE, AMWA (NMOS) and AIMS, all of which develop and promote open standards for video, audio and data transport over IP networks. The EASYSS10 EVK is based on Macnica’s second generation of SMPTE ST 2110 IP solutions, and will launch with a special reduced price of $5499 (from the list price of $7499).

The EASYSS10 EVK builds a special evaluation kit around the existing EASYSS10 SoM, a full-stack, compact System on Module that helps product developers add SDI-to-IP gateway functions to broadcast and ProAV products. Built for use on 10Gb networks, the EASYSS10 EVK is a rackmountable, fully-integrated solution that can simultaneously convert up to three 3G-SDI streams (1080p) or six HD-SDI streams for bi-directional transport on IP networks using the SMPTE 2110 suite of standards.

“This is the perfect all-in-one solution to evaluate how standards-based video and audio will work with current products, and as a foundation to start new product development processes,” said Andrew Starks, Director of Product Management at Macnica. “The EASYSS10 EVK aligns with our continued efforts to develop open standards for IP transport, and offer product developers a flexible range of 1Gb, 10Gb and 25Gb solutions to cover virtually any transport application and bitrate.”

Product developers using their own software can license Macnica’s Software Development Kit along with the EASYSS10 EVK. In addition to SDI-to-IP gateway functions from the integrated EASYSS10 SoM, the complete kit adds the reference baseboard, power supply, connectors, a web GUI and documentation to ensure immediate progress.

Ideal for integration into hybrid routers, signal processing systems, gateway devices and similar products, the EASYSS10 SoM includes six SDI inputs and six SDI outputs that are compatible with HD-SDI and 3G-SDI, and support bi-directional IP transport. On the networking side, dual SFP+ ports support redundant media networks, including seamless protection switching. A second set of ports provide 1Gb access for control and PTP timing, keeping the 10Gb pipe free for video and audio transport.

About Macnica

Macnica Technology, a leader in live video over IP transport technologies and creator of hardware and software APIs that implement ST 2110, is based in Solana Beach, Calif. Macnica focuses on the specialized technology areas of video/imaging and networking/storage to better support customers trying to develop products and services using these technologies. We offer products at various levels of integration: component-level semiconductor devices, FPGA IP, boards and modules, software and total solutions. Visit Macnica Technology website for more information about video transport technologies at www.macnicatech.com.

SK-HD1800 HDTV cameras simplify video acquisition while delivering superior quality for expanding online audiences and in-venue IMAG

Woodbury, NY, August 12, 2020 — Founded in 1955, Eastview Christian Church usually hosts over 6,000 worshippers each week across two physical campuses – its main location in Normal, Illinois and a second site in Bloomington – and its online services. As video became increasingly important for both its in-person and internet-based worship experiences, the church purchased five SK-HD1800 cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to elevate the quality of its productions. The resulting improvements have proven even more valuable as COVID-19 gathering restrictions drive online attendance to levels far beyond their own congregation.

As Eastview’s previous cameras neared the end of their useful lifecycle, the church started looking for replacements that would bring both operational and visible benefits. “We had been running a mix of four or five professional-class cameras and smaller camcorders but only had CCUs and remote control on two of them, which made it challenging to dial them all in and rely on operators for iris and shading,” said Andy McGirr, associate pastor of technical arts at Eastview Christian Church. “There was also a growing realization of the importance of what’s being viewed online to the overall ministry of our church, and the significance of delivering high-quality streaming experiences.”

McGirr notes that while Eastview started streaming later than many other churches, the organic growth of their online audience over the past three years made it an intrinsic part of their ministry even prior to the pandemic. “As the numbers grew, so too did the respect for the role streaming plays,” he explained. “We hired an online campus pastor, and have really embraced the fact that there are many people who watch our services online not because they can’t attend in person, but because it’s their preferred way to attend church. That was one of the key drivers of our purchase of the Hitachi cameras.”

The same appreciation for the importance of video quality also extends to image magnification (IMAG) in the church’s 2,600-seat main auditorium. “Even though a few thousand people normally sit in our auditorium to attend the services each week, I believe most of them are watching and engaged through our 21-foot and 14-foot projection screens the majority of the time instead of looking directly at the stage.”

McGirr set out to purchase five broadcast-class cameras with 2/3” sensors and global shutter technology, the latter to minimize the visual artifacts often encountered when shooting LED lighting and displays with rolling-shutter cameras. Once these core criteria were met, it was a matter of selecting the vendor and model that fit the church best. “All of the major broadcast camera manufacturers offer great products overall, so for me it was a matter of which had extras that matter to me; wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg; and would give me great service and support. I liked Hitachi Kokusai from day one because of their partnership with Ross Video and integrated DashBoard control, and after meeting their team at the NAB Show, I felt like they were the right company for our needs.”

Supplied by Indiana-based integrator Force Technology Solutions, three of the SK-HD1800s are stationed on Miller tripods in fixed positions, while one is operated handheld and the fifth is deployed on an 18-foot JonyJib2. Shading and iris adjustments are handled from the control room through Ross DashBoard or Hitachi RU-1000VR remote control panels, freeing the volunteer camera operators to concentrate on their shots. Eastview started using the new cameras in December 2019 and saw immediate quality benefits. “The difference from our old cameras was very noticeable in our final product,” said McGirr. “The image was just fantastic, including richer colors and deeper blacks.”

McGirr also highlights the operational advantages of the new cameras. “Our volunteers love them,” he said. “Our older cameras were piecemeal rigs, and when we moved to Hitachi camera systems where all components were tightly integrated, we had an ‘aha moment’ that this is what it should feel like. It closes the gap between the user and the equipment in terms of the final product. Having the right gear makes a huge difference regardless of who operates it.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced churches to temporarily close their doors to in-person worshipers, even more people have been viewing Eastview’s newly enhanced productions. The church saw its weekly online streaming audience soar to over 10,000 – greatly exceeding its usual total attendance. “Our guess is that other small churches in the area were not set up for streaming, so people are attending our services in their place. We were fortunate to already have a robust streaming workflow in place.”

Even once life begins to return closer to normal, McGirr sees his satisfaction with the SK-HD1800s as long term. “I would buy Hitachi cameras again in a heartbeat,” he concluded. “We got great camera systems for a really good price, and I have complete confidence that we will be supported well throughout the life of the cameras.”

About Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a company that manufactures broadcasting systems, security and surveillance systems, wireless communications and information systems. For more information on Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/global/en/index.html.

https://www.hitachikokusai.com/