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from the industry

The SCTE Benelux lecture meeting, with its theme of ‘The IP Invasion Taking Over Our Distribution Networks?", was really rich in terms of the content and subjects which were discussed. It was interesting to uncover trends in next- generation telecommunications platforms as well as Ethernet taking over the future backbone on live broadcast industry and ways to adapt to it. In general, it was a great professional and social experience! I would like to thank the SCTE for its bursary opportunity and for hosting me at the bursary winner dinner in Amsterdam.

I spent some time planning before setting off on my trip as there were over 1700 companies attending from around the world across the various halls of the show. The IBC app was an essential tool to help with keeping a log of who you wished to visit and where you had already been. The map on the app was also pretty handy for navigation. I was interested to see the latest technology involved in the creation and delivery of entertainment as well as the technologies involved in monitoring the quality of streams. Safe to say that I was not disappointed with the scale and effort that the manufacturers who attend the IBC exhibition put into their booths. You could try your hand at being a cameraman with the latest 4k cameras - once everything was recorded, you could visit the Adobe booth and see the many techniques for video manipulation and some incredible effects as well as seeing how the IKEA “Come Home to Play” advert was created. I attended many guest speaker sessions which were held on various booths as you walked around. One of the hot topics was the discussion around the transfer over to IP for the entire broadcast path from video camera to customer premises equipment. There were many demonstrations of the latest technologies. When I visited the ARRIS booth, the E6000 CMTS was on show with a download speed via a cable modem of 1500 Megabits/second and an upload of 314- Megabits/second. The outdoor broadcasting HGVs, outdoor broadcasting vans and an electric helicopter fitted with a 4K camera were also on display. Skyline Communications and Cisco spent time taking me through Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) solutions. These enable targeted fault resolution before any cable customers see a degradation of services. Several booths were targeting an improved WiFi experience inside the home

Dhurata Prapashtica Telecoms Engineer, IPKO Telecommunications, Kosovo

First of all, I would like to thank the SCTE for choosing me as a bursary winner. I really enjoyed IBC - it was a great experience for me! It was also the first time that I had ever attended an exhibition

and conference outside my country. I really appreciated the chance to visit IBC 2016 and see the technology that I have read about in action for the first time. The 5-day exhibition was enough time for me to visit all the halls and watch some of the conference sessions. There was so much to see and to learn, getting in touch with vendors and industry professionals as well as seeing the products displayed. I found the Feature Areas, which tied into the IBC conference running alongside the exhibition, very interesting. The Future Zone was very popular when I explored the show - exhibitors were displaying cutting-edge prototypes and projects, 8KTV, fun VR headsets and holographic displays which were stunning. I really enjoyed the time I spent at IBC. It was a great experience for me - all moments for me were “wow” moments. I would especially like to thank Beverley for being so kind to us and taking care of us during the show.

Stephen Harding Senior Engineer, Virgin Media, UK I work for Keith Holland in Virgin Media, assisting him to type approve new test equipment, maintain our existing test equipment and keep in contact with our suppliers. This year, I applied to the SCTE for a bursary to enable me to

attend the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam. This covers all travel, accommodation and entrance to the IBC exhibition/conference.

Above: IBC Future Zone

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Vol. 38 No. 4 - November 2016 Issue