This month, I’m focusing on a true Skype dream team in terms of bringing great storytelling tools to the masses. Of course, I’m talking about NewTek, Quicklink TX and Riedel, the companies that power the Skype TX experience and bring accessible broadcasting capabilities to all.
NewTek
First stop NewTek: The company was founded back in the mid-eighties by Tim Jenison, a scientist turned artist and musician who was deeply passionate about filmmaking. Together with a small team of equally passionate aspiring movie-makers, Tim set about changing the rules of film making with the goal of making it fun, affordable and a breeze to use.
NewTek’s mission is both powerful and profound in its simplicity. Since their formation, the company have broken new ground in providing tools that make once establishment-only solutions available to everyone. NewTek’s TalkShow technology enables efficient guest scheduling for shows as well as those all-important broadcast capabilities, with the assurance of superb, facility-class video and audio quality in live full HD via Skype TX.
Quicklink TX
Next, on to Quicklink TX: Designed in collaboration with Microsoft, the Quicklink TX is a genius video call management system that enables professional reception and transmission of multiple Skype video calls through an SDI and HDMI interface. Its unique solution centres on the integration of the Quicklink TX transceiver, which has numerous tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to manage multiple units from a single interface, allowing you to broadcast live from virtually anywhere, using Skype-enabled devices worldwide as an ‘on the spot’ reporting team arsenal.
Broadcast quality is generally top notch but, as with all TX technology, Quicklink incorporates automatic fall back to a still image if the video quality drops below a certain threshold, while having the intelligence to switch back to high quality video the moment network conditions improve.
Riedel
And finally, Riedel: Like both Quicklink and NewTek, Riedel’s STX-200 single-box solution allows broadcasters to utilise the power of Skype TX to enable effective and affordable live programming. Riedel’s parameters take a slightly different slant to the other two solutions however, with an emphasis on unique device monitoring functionality, to include temperature measurement and system status, all overseen by a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Riedel’s technology offers two-channel balanced analogue audio as part of its broadcast-grade audio interfaces, as well as SDI embedded audio, negating the need for PC Skype integration with scan and HDMI-to-SDI converters to produce content suitable for air.
Three in a bed equals a marriage made in heaven Skype TX and its dream team are, without a doubt, a broadcasting ‘marriage made in heaven’ (albeit there are three in a bed!) and researching the companies has been an inspirational exercise. I’m in awe of what they can uniquely deliver to today’s budget driven broadcasters and, what I’ve ultimately discovered is that Skype TX is all they need to interact with guests around the globe without compromising on quality.
And that’s definitely something worth sending a Skype message about!
Until Next Time It’s an exciting time to be involved in the digital broadcasting arena and I’m loving the challenge of exploring the ever-evolving seasons of trends among Skype storytellers.
Now, as I sit at my desk with a large glass of elegantly brooding Shiraz beside me, I find myself reflecting upon my journey so far. The October leaves are starting to fall outside my window and there’s a slight chill in the air, but the wine is warming and I take a large sip.
Another season has begun… so this is where an autumnal Dr G signs off.
Originally published in Skype in Media.
