CNN has developed new digital newsgathering equipment that combines cameras, editing tools and advanced satellite and Internet communications technology into what sounds like a very cool a laptop-based system.
According to the press release:
In effect, fifty pounds of gear is packaged into a lightweight laptop and camera, enabling CNN reporters to report, edit and transmit from nearly anywhere in the world more easily…
The system has proven so successful in the field – notably in coverage of Saddam Hussein’s capture and the revolution in Georgia – that the network has issued the equipment to all of its 28 international bureaus….
The new DNG system enables correspondents to edit packages and file reports on the scene without carrying bulky edit equipment or traveling to satellite feed points. The system integrates a software-based videophone into a laptop computer. With the addition of editing and transmission software, the laptop becomes CNN’s single-solution platform for editing, compression, transmission and live shots.
CNN developed the entire system in-house using largely off-the-shelf technology. With the new technology, CNN correspondents can now compress and transmit broadcast quality video at a range of speeds, depending on the connection options – from 128K ISDN for satellite phones to multiple megabits on high-speed data and remote VSAT lines.
