With a wide variety of portable and rackmount devices for quick problem diagnosis, compliance monitoring, and product development, PHABRIX is a global pioneer in broadcast test and measurement. IP video stream production and analysis, sophisticated HDR/WCG visualization, and extremely quick physical layer analysis are some of the technology’s strong points. The premium Qx Series for hybrid IP, 4K/UHD, and HDR/WCG signal production, analysis, and video/audio monitoring is part of the product line. Using video capture and remote access, the sophisticated rackmount Rx series offers quick intermittent fault diagnosis in 3G/HD-SDI applications. The firm also provides the highly regarded Sx family of instruments for applications requiring ultra-portable instrumentation. PHABRIX is headquartered in the United Kingdom, as are its production facilities. One of the firms in the Leader Electronics Corporation group is PHABRIX.
What were the highlights of the NAB show for you?
The highlight of NAB for myself is always in meeting our present, future and always enthusiastic customers. Tradeshows like NAB offer a great opportunity to meet so many interesting people during the show. This year was no exception. We continue to learn from each interaction.
Going by the response at the NAB, what potential do you foresee for your brand?
It is always reassuring for us at Leader & PHABRIX to be warmly received by those customers in need of Test and Measurement products. The topics of interest range from the proof of concept demonstrations we offered for cloud based solutions, through to areas of increasing interest, namely ST 2110 IP, all the way through to products being purchased for existing SDI-based infrastructures with an emphasis on 12G-SDI.
What are your plans and targets for the year ahead?
In the coming year we expect to see a continuation of the above. Ongoing interest in everything SDI, especially in HD/UHD productions utilising HDR. Increasing interest in all things IP, with the current focus on perfecting NMOS SDP analysis and monitoring. Through to showing how T&M can add to cloud-based media workflows checking media quality. We will continue to solicit inputs from our valued customers and monitor trends in the needs, developments and wishes.
Any new developments, or collaborations lined up for you?
It was pleasing to see our Cloud based proof of concept system in active use on the AWS, Sony and Leader booths this year. The feedback from customers was indeed very encouraging.
What is your take on the present scenario of the Media and Entertainment industry?
2024 is likely to be a challenging year as the world and our industry come to terms with the current economic conditions. Higher interest rates and continued inflationary pressures in many countries will stymy new investment, particularly for state owned broadcasters where a fixed annual income results in reduced discretionary spending as increasing operational costs eat into available budgets.
What is your take on the future scenario of the Media and Entertainment industry?
NAB 2024 once again showed the end-customers in the M&E market to be adaptive and creative. New improved workflows will emerge to overcome the economic issues being identified above. The industry will continue to strive to do more with less.
How was this year’s NAB show for you compared to last year?
It was encouraging for us to see that the number of customers visiting the Leader/PHABRIX booth was up on previous years. However, the number of international, and especially European customers attending, appeared to be notably reduced this year. In our reckoning the number of US, North American and South American attendees was clearly higher. This was very encouraging to see, it is likely that NAB is becoming more and more an Americas-centric tradeshow. We will certainly expect to be back in force in April 2025.
How do you see the role of test and measurement equipment evolving in sports and live events, particularly in terms of performance and portability?
As we head into what promises to be a hugely exciting year of sporting action, many broadcasters will be reviewing their T&M inventories and considering if they are really up to the job. We’ve had a notable increase in enquiries lately, especially about our Sx Series, whose handheld products continue to resonate with sports broadcasters tasked with verifying a huge number of sources within stadiums, OB trucks and flypacks. Then there is the sheer time-pressure of a match day, where you are absolutely locked to the specific start time of kick-off. It therefore befalls to the broadcast engineer to verify all of the sources in a compressed time-frame, and if there are any issues – such as no-signal or electrical noise leading to jitter – resolve them as quickly as possible, wherever they may have originated. All of which means that portability is another top priority.
These types of scenarios are precisely why broadcast engineers have developed a real affinity with PHABRIX handheld instruments, including products such as the SxE. This truly portable device offers 3G/HD/SD generation, analysis and monitoring, with advanced SDI physical layer analysis (Eye & Jitter) making it especially conducive to live production. The ability to fix one key issue more than justifies the price of the unit.
Can you discuss the significance of Grass Valley’s recent purchase of a PHABRIX QxP Portable Waveform Monitor?
Grass Valley has been a leading force in broadcast & media solutions development for more than six decades, so it’s a real badge of pride for PHABRIX that GV is a long-term customer of our advanced T&M products. Having already made extensive use of the Qx and QxL rasterizers, the decision to invest in a QxP reflects the continuing need to produce high-quality production equipment that can cope equally well with SDI and IP. The QxP will be an invaluable tool for GV as it continues to cater to the full range of production environments, including those many hybrid facilities using both legacy and newer production formats.
