E-MEDIAVISION.COM LAUNCHES ‘POINT’ & ‘POINT Lite’ 1V3 INNOVATIVE TV ILLUSTRATOR SYSTEM AT NAB 2003

The POINT touch screen system allows operators to “draw” onto a TV picture in real time.

NAB, April 5th , 2003 Booth C-4082 – e-mediavision.com today announced the availability of its new version 1v3 POINT software for its touch screen based TV illustrator system – “POINT”, and the world-wide launch of ‘POINT Lite’. POINT is a video writing tool, giving operators, journalists and presenters the means to highlight any production or presentation easily and cost effectively. POINT Lite is the entry level version and provides a basic set of tools. POINT Lite has been introduced for users who may not require the full suite of tools and features provided by the full version (POINT) and is easily updated to the full version with a simple software upgrade.
POINT is ideally suited to live productions due to its ease of operation. The control surface is a touch sensitive LCD (or Plasma for in-shot use) screen with a simple graphical interface allowing fast and error free operation. The touch screen allows the user to instantly draw freehand, place animated arrows and even recall previously saved graphics and animations. Important buttons such as “undo”, “redo” and “clear” are easily accessible to the user. It is easy to freehand draw by simply touching and moving a finger across the screen. Scalable arrows can be dragged and curved in real time with two or more touches. Pre-saved graphics or names can be recalled, dragged and dropped anywhere in the frame – and it’s even possible to add animations.
In a live situation waiting for things to happen is not an option, so the tools in POINT operate instantaneously, enabling the operator to concentrate on the commentary or presentation. The standard menu is simple and easy to use but the system has been designed for users to create their own menus and set-ups if required. For example, operators can select which buttons and tools appear on the main control screen. It is possible to set up and recall different control environments for different occasions. For instance, one menu may just be used for freehand writing while another could be used for just placing graphics or a combination of both. The tools can be adjusted in terms of size, shape, colour, texture, and perspective to create an individual look and feel of the displayed graphics.
Version 1v3 further enhances the functionality by allowing the toolbar to be resized and placed horizontally or vertically as well as instant resizing of tool icons on the main control screen. New tools include auto (sequence) placement of custom graphics in order for faster and easier operation by the presenter, and pixel spray paint effect.
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THE SPEC
POINT operates on a broadcast standard PC running Windows 2000 – but the operator never needs to see the operating system screen, and the set-up engineers do not need any knowledge of specialist operating systems such as UNIX / IRIX / LINUX. Anybody with Windows familiarity can easily find their way around the system. Using Windows 2000 also means there is ease of networking and the system can be remotely controlled. The internal picture processing is full broadcast quality 10 bit and conforms to CCIR601 standard. POINT is available in both SDI and analogue versions. The analogue version provides for both composite and component working and has an analogue key and fill output. The system can operate either in ‘stand alone’ mode or can be keyed using an external vision mixer / switcher. For live outside broadcast use, e-mediavision.com developed the remote link kit allowing the main computer to remain in the outside broadcast vehicle with the touch screen located at the presenters position on the TV gantry (up to 600 meters 2,000 feet) and interconnected via a single CAT5e standard computer networking cable.
USERS
Some of the worlds leading broadcasters using POINT include: Sky Sports – BskyB, NTV+, TWI, Univision – Miami, Cine Video, Charter ABS, Video Europe, Nine and Ten Network – Australia