The NAB Show and Tele-Vestigial Trends

The people of broadcast television make their way to Las Vegas for the annual gathering of the National Association of Broadcasters.

For broadcasters in particular, it’s a weird time to be in television. The word itself -- television -- is equal parts strongly nostalgic and tele-vestigial.

We took a quick poll of our favorite go-to broadcast-side technologists recently to find out what’s on their shopping lists for the 2014 NAB show. Not surprisingly, 4K video and its consumer-facing brand, UltraHD, will be the main event -- but not all technologists are convinced it’s a go.

“I want to see if live-TV production gear, like big production switchers, has made any progress -- we’re building a big new production facility, but so far it’s only being outfitted for HD,” said one network-side technologist.