The second generation of Sony’s 30in BVM-X300 OLED master monitor promises users more flexibility and more features for both HDR and 4K production. Starting in October 2016, the new (and as yet unpriced) version of the BVM-X300 will feature updated Version 2 firmware, new hardware with an HDMI input for easy connection to cameras or Blu-ray players, and a second 3G/HD-SDI 4K input for simpler system integration.

The Optical Devices Division of FUJIFILM will provide full on-site technical support for Fujinon lenses in Rio de Janeiro from August 3rd through August 22nd. Engineers from the Fujifilm’s American, European and Japanese branches will be on hand and within service agent Camera 2’s Rio facility. The events in Rio begin on Friday, August 5th and run through Sunday, August 21st.

Pixel Power - the only true, full-functionality live cloud Playout at IBC2016 Pixel Power will confirm its position at IBC2016 as the go-to provider of full-functionality, reactive, linear channel playout in the cloud. StreamMaster delivers the rich functionality expected by premium channels, where full dynamic channel playout with the ability to be reactive to schedules is key.

As SD phases out and HD becomes a commodity, more and more 4K channels emerging and 8K broadcasts already starting in Japan. Will the race ever end for broadcasters, and are any technology investments future-proof?

Montreal-based production and rental house Video MTL and its Toronto location, Dazmo Camera, are the first to put the new FUJINON UA107x8.4 (UA107x) lens into rental rotation in North America. Just introduced at NAB last April, the UA107x is the longest and widest 4K lens ever created for Ultra HD (UHD) broadcast applications. While Video MTL and Dazmo own several Cabrio PL lenses, their purchase of two 107x’s and one UA22x8 portable zoom is the company’s first optics selection for next-generation 2/3-inch UHD cameras.

Montreal-based entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, which currently has more than 15 major shows running worldwide, recently opened its first musical theater production on Broadway, at the Lyric Theater. Paramour, a story set during the Golden Age of Hollywood about a woman who must choose between love and art, features a cast of over three dozen acrobats, musicians and singing actors that are exclusively equipped with Lectrosonics’ SSM Digital Hybrid Wireless micro belt pack transmitters.

RTS equipped six IMSP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions) trucks, two NEP (North Eastern Production) vehicles, and several smaller video and RF hub trucks in the communications compound to live broadcast the recent 100th Indy 500. All race-day communications relating to the actual production (camera cues, commercial breaks, specific camera shots, commentator comments) were supported on an RTS ADAM intercom.

The Department of Media Arts of the University of North Texas’ College of Arts and Sciences recently purchased 30 Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K large-sensor 4/3” handheld camcorders that will be used in classes including narrative, news, documentary and entertainment acquisition techniques, as well as for news production at the university’s cable television station. The Department also bought a VariCam LT 4K cinema camcorder for advanced narrative film classes.

TVU Networks has announced a new service that it says will transmit live video at a minimum speed of 2Mbps over cellular networks from anywhere as long as there is a cell connection. This service, TVU Cellular Assurance Network (CAN), is integrated with TVU’s Inverse StatMux Plus (IS+) algorithm and requires no additional hardware.

The IP Live Studio in Sony’s Digital Motion Picture Centre Europe is getting a little help from Leader, as the test and measurement technology provider announced it supplied its LV5490 4k/HD/SD waveform monitor to assist with IP-based live productions.