Day Two at IBC2023: Interviews and accessibility

David Shapton reports back from a packed day of interviews - none of which were helped by the RAI’s accessibility facilities.

Day Two started with a tour of the ASUS stand. For several years now, ASUS has used its ProArt branding to build a portfolio of products aimed at professional creators. With today’s lineup, they’ve shown conclusively that it “gets it”. The company showed us its new professional 32” monitor with zoned backlighting and built-in colour calibration. Dominating the stand was a gigantic and impressive MicroLED screen for use in viewing and dubbing theatres - anywhere a large monitor with accurate colour might be handy. With such a strong product lineup, seeing where ASUS is in a few years will be fascinating.

We visited the Atomos stand—two new and essential launches at the show: The 7-inch Shogun and Shogun Ultra. Joining the recently announced 5-inch Ninja and Ninja Ultra, the new Shoguns feature a new operating system (AtomOS 11: “Turn it up to 11”!) and also add built-in network capability (wired and Wifi, with Wifi 6 on the Shogun and Wifi 6E on the Shogun Ultra). Each Shogun also features “AirGlu”, a clever wireless timecode protocol - ideal for syncing cameras on a VP stage.

We filmed an interview with the legendary Michael Cioni about his startup Strada. You’ll see the recording here in a few days but suffice to say that it is a remarkable and inspiring conversation. I want to thank Aputure for letting us film the interview on their stand, which, unsurprisingly, was nicely lit.

As always, Matrox has some good stuff. The Quebec-based video card innovator has always lived not on the edge but in the edge of what’s possible with video encoding, processing and streaming. With a history that included some of the very first GPUs and the very first PC-based NLE boards (remember the DigiSuite?), it’s always a company to watch.  

We ended the day at the Global Distribution at the Beach (a little area of the RAI that’s everyone’s favourite beach bar), and we’d like to thank Global for their ongoing and endless hospitality.

Finally, a minor personal rant. I use a wheelchair at trade shows. It’s a great way to travel and rarely a problem. We love the RAI, but it is about as wheelchair-friendly as reversing porcupine. The ironically-named accessible toilets, when they’re not gratuitously locked, are filthy, blocked and lacking basics like clean towels. The only sign in the entire place that wasn’t written in Dutch and English said something like, “If this toilet is locked, you can find a key in a safe on the roof of hall 15, and the person with the combination is on holiday for six months”. (Apologies for the very approximate translation. I have no idea what it actually said.)

A wheelchair ramp between two halls was blocked by a sliding door at the top, and I was told, “We’re not allowed to open it until 10:30”. When I complained that I would miss my meeting, I was told I’d have to wait. A wheelchair lift at the other end of the ramp would have been handy if it wasn’t locked and nobody knew where to find the key. Rant over. Come on, guys, you’re better than this!

Day three now, and that means it’s RedShark Awards time! Doei!