Sony, Matsushita Sketch Broader Broadcast Terrain

By Yoshiko Hara, EE Times

12-Apr-00

Matsushita and Sony, rival suppliers of broadcast equipment, each outlined a broader scope of broadcast interests at NAB 2000, the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, Nevada this week.""NAB is no longer an event just for broadcast industry, it's a catalyst for the fusion of broadcasting and communication businesses,"" said Nobuyuki Idei, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corp., in a briefing held Sunday, April 9, 2000. Sony has been attentive to the convergence of broadcast and communications businesses as it prepares for the coming era of broadband networks. The company merged its internal Digital Network Solution Co. and its professional broadcasting system company into the Communication System Solutions Network Co. last October to cope with this convergence. Under a ""Complete The Picture"" banner at NAB 2000, Sony said it could offer a total solution for image-production businesses in broadband era, ranging from image creation to distribution and archiving. Datacasting CommitmentKunio Nakamura, President of Matsushita AVC Co., emphasized his company's commitment to data broadcasting, an emerging field. ""Matsushita's commitment to the great transition taking place in our industry - moving from analog to digital and through HDTV to the emerging world of data broadcasting - is getting stronger than ever,"" Nakamura said. Matsushita announced an alliance between one of its companies, Panasonic Broadcast, and two others, Tiernan Communications Inc. and Synergistic Technologies Inc., to offer a ""one-stop shopping"" solution to broadcasters looking to build digital TV and data broadcasting systems. Tiernan is strong in transmission technology and in MPEG compression, while Synergistic is strong in system integration. The members of the alliance have worked together in the past, on HDTV broadcasts of ""Monday Night Football"" and of last year's Super Bowl. Matsushita stepped back from the present debate over data broadcasting methods in the United States, whereby groups such as Geo Cast and iBlast are proposing different data broadcasting methods. ""Matsushita has no intention to assist one particular format or to take the lead of one format by itself,"" said Nick Mori, Senior Vice President of Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co.""Instead, Matsushita has technology, devices and materials ready to offer customers. We want our customers to make full use of them by combining them efficiently."" Matsushita has supplied systems to six companies in Japan preparing data-broadcasting services via satellite, Mori said. The service is to begin operations this autumn.