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Home July 2007 Echolab meets Asia's MD challenge
Echolab meets Asia's MD challenge
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Echolab president and CEO Nigel Spratling has maintained In a recent interview that the industry is challenged to offer products that can handle multi-format needs at cost-effective prices.
What are Echolab’s offerings for Asia this year?
Nigel Spratling: We have added internal-frame synchronisation and storage options in our Opera multi-format production switcher. We have also introduced our new Ovation MD (multi-definition) HD-ready switcher, which helps ease the transition to HD video production while supporting SD video formats. This product is part of our Ovation MD 4000 Series, which is designed for fast-paced live video productions.
All Echolab switchers have full-function keyers on each M/E, downstream keyers and flexible opportunities for partner-product control.
Recently, we also unveiled the Opera Remote AUX Panel, which is certified for use with the Opera switchers.
Who are your biggest clients?
Spratling: Probably No.1 at the moment is India. We recently shipped 40 systems there. A number of [our systems have also been] purchased throughout the region, including Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
What are the best-selling Echolab products in the region?
Spratling: The most popular product recently has been the Opera 3416, a 16-input multi-format 1M/E production switcher for SD signals. Customers in the region really like the ability to mix analogue- and digital-input signals without the need for conversion equipment. The Opera provides them with powerful production tools, normally only found in larger and more expensive systems, in a very user-friendly package.
What are your strategies for Asia?
Spratling: Over the next year, we shall be introducing products designed to meet the needs of producers in China and South-east Asia, and will address the growing need for MD-signal management and the desire for reduced system complexity. Our Asian customers are keeping a careful eye on the development of advanced TV systems and want to be sure that any equipment purchased has a simple growth path to new production formats as they are adopted.
What are the trends developing in the region and will Echolab play a role in their development?
Spratling: This is a very interesting time in our industry. Consumers are purchasing 16:9 and HD-ready TV sets at a remarkable rate. Telcos, broadcasters and digital satellite-broadcast providers are embracing digital delivery systems that will provide a broad range of Internet
and media services. Producers are focused on ensuring that their products will meet their customers’ demands as these services develop.
The rate of adoption in each country will vary but, generally, the consumer will be exposed to MD programming via the DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, and will expect similar quality from delivery systems. It will be the first time in TV history that a consumer base will exist before delivery systems are fully established. Accordingly, producers will need to give serious consideration to production formats in the short term.
For TV, we will no longer be talking about PAL or NTSC but about systems that will need to be flexible enough to produce and deliver in many formats. Purchasing decisions are now a challenge: No one will want to be replacing expensive system components in a year or two to keep up with market trends, and manufacturers must provide them with cost-effective solutions in the near term. At Echolab, we are addressing this challenge by developing products that allow format-independent production, making at least some of these decisions a little easier.
