The reputation of Nagra equipment is firmly established among audio professionals. Whether in the television and cinema industries or among radio journalists, Nagras are always appreciated for their sound quality and reliability. Equipment such as the Nagra 4.2 and the Nagra IV-S Time Code are seen as benchmarks in terms of sound recording for cinema productions and have been used on film sets the world over. The performance of this equipment has been recognized with three Oscars® and an Emmy® Award.

It was in 1951, that the Nagra takes a concrete form: a portable audio tape recorder with exceptional specifications, i.e. light, small, self-contained, portable and high quality. In 1952 the first customers, Radio Lausanne and Radio Geneva placed official orders for the Nagra I. Production of the Nagra II began in 1953. The Nagra II is quite sophisticated, driven by a Gramophone spring from language laboratory equipment, and with excellent subjective and audio quality. In 1958 the Nagra III sees the light of day. It was a solid-state machine employing an electric motor with closed loop servo speed control. It was a fully transistorized machine with all the modules enclosed in metal cases. It was powered by conventional “D” type batteries. Moreover, it was equipped with a true peak meter called a “Modulometer”.

Stefan Kudelski invented the “Neopilot” system, and the first Nagra III machines equipped with the system were sold in 1962. Kudelski SA defines Neopilot as follows: “Full track monophonic recorders (Nagra models III, E, IV and 4.2) use a patented system in order to control the speed of the NAGRA during playback to ensure it turns at the exact same speed as the reference (Projector / Camera / Perfo-tape machine). The frequency of the pilot signal is 50/60 Hz and is often derived from the mains. The signal is recorded as a twin track signal 180° out of phase so as to be invisible to the full track playback head. The start point is indicated by the clap of the film clapper board and the synchronization to the magnetic film is maintained using the pilot signal throughout the take.”

Nagra recorders are identified by their model number, which indicates their technological generation and features:

• Nagra I – The very first prototype with clockwork motor and miniature tubes, appearing in 1951.
• Nagra II – The first production model, miniature tubes equipped, clockwork motor, appearing in 1953.
• Nagra II CI – The second generation fitted with printed circuit boards replacing chassis wiring, appearing in 1955.
• Nagra III NP – The first Nagra usable for film work, appearing in 1962.
• Nagra IV-L – Monaural, featuring two microphone inputs and a built in audio limiter. Introduced in 1968.

• Nagra 4.2 – Same as the IV-L, but added powering for microphones and built-in equalizers. Introduced in 1972.
• Nagra IV-S – Stereo Nagra, recording two-track stereo. It had dual level pots, limiters, and equalizer presets. It was introduced in 1971. Originally it was available with a pilottone crystal, and then in 1984, with timecode support. With timecode support an IV-S became a Nagra IV-STC.
• Nagra IV-SJ – Stereo Nagra for instrumentation and logging. Pots are replaced with switches to set gain in precise steps, no limiters, and when present, the microphone inputs are for high-voltage unbalanced instrumentation mics rather than low impedance balanced with T-power and phantom.
• NAGRA E – A simple, single-speed (7.5ips), mono recorder aimed at radio reporters was introduced in 1976.

In addition to these field recorders, Kudelski S.A. produced a studio recorder called the Nagra T-Audio, designed mainly for use in telecines for transferring dailies. All of the above machines use 1/4″ tape.

Kudelski SA has also produced a series of miniaturized reel-to-reel recorders using 1/8″ tape. These machines are referred to as SN (for Série Noire) and production was originally ordered by President Kennedy for the United States Secret Service.

Aside from its line of motion picture sound recorders, Kudelski S.A. originally produced and continues to produce high-quality recorders for electronic news gathering, radio, and music recording. The ARES-PII hand-held recorder for journalists, and the Universal digital recorder, the ARES-BB+, both introduced in 2004, are state-of-the-art digital recorders recording to compact flash PC cards. They offer USB file download and can record both linear PCM or MPEG compressed audio.

Although digital recording is now the norm for most dialog recording in motion pictures and television series, sound effects recordists still use analog Nagra tape recorders for certain kinds of background sounds, particularly explosions, gunshots, and other loud sounds of extreme dynamic range. Engineers advise that while digital recording is technically more accurate, analog tape recording still has the edge in terms of being able to handle unexpected signal overloads.

]]> http://www.mediasplash.in/nagra-recorder/feed/ 0 http://www.mediasplash.in/mobile-entertainment-growth-and-3g/ http://www.mediasplash.in/mobile-entertainment-growth-and-3g/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 13:57:23 +0000 vjaesh http://www.mediasplash.in/?p=953 [...]]]> Entertainment through mobile phones have been present since the time when mobile handsets were equipped with monotone ringtones and the user had the ability to personalise them. Today mobile entertainment have evolved by leaps and bounds. Current generation premium handsets are equipped to perform as a digital camera, personal media player and a portable internet device.

India, although boasts of 585 million subscribers, still uses mobile phones primarily for voice calls. With spiraling voice call rates, it is no surprise that India along with Brazil are the countries with lowest ARPU’s in the mobile wireless communications sector[1]. Therefore it is of critical importance that VAS (Value Added Services) market is monetised.[2]

The VAS market in India contributed to 7% of the total revenues for the mobile operators in 2006. It was $679 million at the end of 2006 with non voice revenues increasing every year.[2] In 2009, the VAS market contributed Rs 6000 crore accounting to 10% of the operators revenue. The figure is predicted to go up by 18% by the end of 2010.[3]

A pattern regarding the growth of mobile entertainment can be derived from the following data:

VAS Performance- 2005[2]

VAS Performance- 2006[2]

VAS Performance- 2009[1]

The most noticeable trend is the shift in the SMS usage by the mobile consumers. The year 2005 had 80% of VAS being used for SMS (P2P,A2P P2A), 2006 had 55% and 2009 has 49% of the VAS being used for SMS. This phenomenon is due to consumers engaging other VAS products such as CRBT, Games, Email and Data. CRBT’s has had an appreciable rise in terms of percentage consumption. 13%, 35%,49% for the year’s 2005, 2006, 2009 respectively.  Another area of promising growth on the VAS front is data. Email, data and GPRS usage has grown over the years. From an insignificant 1.5% in 2005 and 2006, GPRS has grown to a significant 8% in 2009. Games had a noticeable rise from 1% in 2005 to 3% in 2006. The above figures indicate the consumer’s deflection from the voice model to more data oriented applications.

Data and Voice Break up[2]

The above bar graph indicates the penetration of VAS in the Indian market. Although the growth has been gradual, the VAS intake may go up with the introduction of 3G. According to Mr. Pankaj Sethi, Tata Teleservices, Data services have been contributing to 10% of the VAS market. With 3G, the data consumption could go up. Pricing is also important as India is a price sensitive market.

Currently the EVAS (Entertainment VAS) has been contributing in the fashion as stated below : [1]

The Hindi film industry is the biggest driver as far as EVAS is concerned, followed by regional content, cricket and devotional.

The influence of 3G on the mobile entertainment growth could be accurately studied by analysing the pre 3G and the post 3G scenarios. Unfortunately 3G is yet to be fully functional in the country. Although this is a limitation, few logical predictions can be made about the changes in VAS and EVAS with the introduction of 3G.

• There is a fair chance that data usage would significantly increase. This means that the consumer would be able to stream audio – video content whenever he or she wishes to. BSNL, currently in its 3G offering facilitates the user to watch television content (ex: reality shows) on mobile phone.
• With adequate data bandwidth available, the content creators may not hesitate to invest in made-for-mobile content. These are content that are specifically designed and produced to be accessed on a mobile screen. A current example for made-for-mobile content is Airtel Talkies which provides audio clips of hindi films for its subscribers.
• SMS’s are one of the mediums to  facilitate access to content in mobile phones.  Provided the right pricing, there is a major possibility of SMS’s contributing less in the VAS revenue mix when 3G is established. We may ape the ‘American model’ wherein Emails are use over SMS’s for accessing content as well as text communication.
• A major hindrance to accessing content on mobile phones are the mobile devices themselves. As per Mr. Subash Ghosh,UTV New Media, of the 500 million subscribers in the country, only 10%- 12% have high end handsets. Still a smaller percentage above use data services. On the other hand, Mr Pankaj Sethi believes that this issue would be bypassed as OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Micromax have come up with 3G enabled mobile device priced conservatively at Rs 3500- Rs 4000.

Even before the introduction of 3G, there was a pattern change happening in the VAS market. With low voice call rates and lower ARPU’s, the fraternity has to think of alternate ways to generate income. This makes VAS and EVAS a logical choice. As per my opinion the VAS market in India will continue to evolve gradually with newer and innovative products/services coming in. 3G may will make the process quicker.

References.

1.  Mr. Pankaj Sethi, Tata Teleservices

2. Future of Mobile VAS in India, December 2007, Mr.Mohit S Gundecha, Prof Tom Kosnik, Stanford University/ Mr. Kunal Bajaj, BDA India

3. Mobile VAS summit 2009 Report, September 23- 24, 2009

4. Mr. Subash Ghosh, UTV New Media

- ISO performance: ISO 12800 as standard, expandable to ISO equivalent of 102400 (Hi 3)
- Large pixel pitch: the 12.1-megapixel FX-format advantage
- New and improved D-Movie function
- Image sensor cleaning: assured protection
- EXPEED: Nikon’s comprehensive approach to quality digital images
- Lateral chromatic aberration reduction: edge-to-edge sharpness
- Active D-Lighting:rescuing tone in highlights and shadows
- Picture Control: custom-tailored tone and color
- Speed and readiness throughout the workflow
- 9-frames-per-second* shooting rate in FX-format, 11 fps* in DX crop
- Scene Recognition System: enlightened accuracy and intelligence
- 51-point AF: fast and accurate subject acquisition
- Sophisticated AE with highlight analysis
- Informed auto white balance
- Approx. 100% frame coverage
- Superior durability
- Twin CF card slots
- Long-life battery
- Easy-to-access Live View mode
- Quiet Shutter-release mode for nonintrusive shooting
- 3-in., approx. 921k-dot color, 170º viewing angle LCD monitor
MRP Rs. 289,950/-

It is a well known fact that solid state drives are an emerging technology that has huge market potential. But how do SSDs differ from regular hard disk drives (HDD), and why do they deserve a place in your notebook or desktop PC?

Lightning-fast data transfer
Speed matters when it comes to business and entertainment. With virtually instant access times of less than one millisecond, SSDs enable operating systems and commonly used software applications like web browsers to open faster and run more smoothly, thus creating an overall more enjoyable and lag-free computing experience.

Lower system temperatures
Imaging working on your laptop in comfort, without the heat. In contrast to regular hard disk drives that are constantly in motion within the drive, which creates plenty of heat, SSD’s cool-running stable operation equates to lower temperatures within the computer.

Longer battery run-time
Still carrying a laptop AC adapter around in case your notebook battery runs out unexpectedly? Now you don’t have to. Compared to old-fashioned hard drives, SSDs consume roughly much less power when transferring data, and require less than 1W when idle. In short, an SSD will make your computer consume less power overall, which can significantly improve battery life when used in a notebook computer.

Resistant to shock and vibration
Never underestimate the potential data corruption caused from excessive vibration, shock, or impact. Unlike regular hard drives, SSDs contain no spinning disks, spindles or any other fragile mechanical components. Therefore, there is nothing to break loose, get misaligned or become unreadable in case the drive is accidentally bumped or dropped. Your files will finally get the thorough protection they deserve.

No more annoying hard drive noise
Sometimes you just need a quiet place to concentrate on your work. At times like these, any possible tiny noise will drive you crazy. While traditional hard drives tend to make a buzzing sound because of the vibrations when the spinning disks resonate through the case of your computer, SSDs can be 100% noise free since there are no mechanical moving parts inside.

Exceptional Digital SLR Performance
• High-resolution 16.1-megapixel to record high resolution images
• APS-H size CMOS sensor developed and manufactured by Canon, with noise reduction technology to capture images with greater clarity and colour fidelity
• Dual “DIGIC 4” Imaging Processors for improved colour reproduction for razor sharp images at accelerated processing speed
• 3-layer Optical Low Pass Filter for reducing red fringing and colour casts
• Wide ISO speed range of ISO 100-12,800 (1/3-stop increments, extendable – L: 50/ H1: 25,600, H2: 51,200, H3:102,400)
• Customisable White Balance Settings
- Enables you to manually set up to 5 different personal custom white balance options, especially useful when shooting under multiple lighting conditions as you can switch white balance setting quickly and easily
- The custom white balance can be registered with up to five images shot on the spot, in addition to registering it from an image in the memory card
• Highlight Tone Priority
- To give your images better colour rendition for a more lifelike feel, this function improves gradation within highlight areas
- It effectively preventing your photos from suffering a ‘whitewash’ effect when shooting under bright conditions
• Smaller RAW file format settings gives you the versatility of RAW at a smaller file sizes (M-RAW & S-RAW)
• Auto Lighting Optimizer function with 4 settings (Standard, low, strong and disable) – Analyzes the brightness of the photographic subject, and automatically corrects the dark parts to make them brighter
• Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction setting to automatically even the brightness across the image

Recommended Retail Price: INR 259,995.00

In the new android world a full windows mobile is taking birth. The new phone from windows will beat any android phone with it futuristic features. The “METRO” interface of the phone resembles the one seen in the Zune HD interface. With customizable start screen, Xbox Live gaming,  Zune integration, multi touch browsing and social networking adaptability it will excel in its functionality.

The METRO UI will be a worthy competitor to the iPhone OS or webOS. Xbox Live integration will tie your phone to your Xbox Live account, allowing you to earn achievements, link up with friends, and play multi-player turn-based games.

Cons -Unfortunately there will be no Flash support for the phone  at the moment as there was little time to implement n stuff up other features.  Customers could expect the flash support in its first update.

Canon EOS 550D Highlights:

Highlights include 1080p HD video recording (with full manual control), an 18MP CMOS sensor, 3 inch 3:2 LCD with 1040k dot resolution and the 63-point iFCL metering system first seen on the EOS 7D. As consumers would expect from an EOS DSLR, the EOS 550D is built to a high quality specification. It features bigger, more intuitive buttons which have been redesigned following feedback from users. Based on this feedback, the EOS 550D also features an additional button on the new, battery grip, allowing aperture settings to be changed when shooting with the camera in a vertical position, without having to reorient the body.

Canon EOS 500D vs Canon EOS 550D