NAB 2009 was the greenest yet and I don’t just mean the thankful shift from paper product information binders to slick reusable USBs. Companies seem to have become wise to the fact that smart use of materials – cards you don’t have to replace twice a year, lighting that pretty much sustains itself – is a major selling point. Plus, we’ve seen leaps in emergent technologies – OLED and solar powering, for example – that provide a preview of the next generation of products. And whatever you think of Autodesk’s rustic, rooty and completely recyclable booth – the company’s second year with the concept – Autodesk wore on its sleeve what many groups have internalized into the R&D process. From practical extensions to major breakthroughs, environmental and energy ‘ saving ideas filled the floor.

Cool It

One of the most straightforward ways to conserve energy is to prevent heat build-up, in other words, wasted energy. It makes sense (as well as cents) to consider the heat output of new purchases, whether you’re specifically trying to help the environment, or save money on your energy bills, or just have products that stick around longer because of less and more efficient wear ‘ and ‘ tear.

Utah Scientific, a well ‘ established rack and switcher company, has increased its products’ efficiency through steadily incorporating technological improvements. “We take advantage of new technology when it comes along,” says Scott Bosen, Utah’s director of marketing and also an environmentalist and electrical engineer. “Every time we do a new generation of routers it’s usually a big decrease in power consumption. That makes our products more efficient and more reliable.” Bosen assembled a study on the evolution of the company’s routing design (chart on p. 18) to show the improvements in power density over a 25-year period, from the AVS-1, with 10×10 architecture, Utah’s first router in 1977, to the UTAH-400, down to 8×8 architecture and up to 30 watts per rack.

Utah Scientific’s principle is simple: when you’re not using a machine, power down. “A lot of times there’s not a requirement to connect everything to everything, so we just power down those components that aren’t being used, so they’re not just sitting there drawing power,” says Bosen. “The main reason we do this is to keep the heat down. Components age faster in higher temperatures. Whatever heat does build up, you have to remove by fans, which generate more power. That leads to savings and environmental efficiency if you can prevent that heat from building up in the first place.”

LaCie’s sleek 4big Quadra, which resembles a modern sculpture more than a piece of storage, feels as cool as it appears. Even powered for a full day, the gray case exudes no heat.

The Quadra is a 4-bay RAID that connects via USB or FireWire. Made to sit on a desk, low-heat expense was certainly a big consideration. It has a nine-blade design and vortex-control notches on the blower airflow, which keeps the volume fewer than 19dBA.

It cuts heat and noise efficiently, but more importantly for energy savings, its “Auto” mode, which signals standby, synchronizes with computer activity to reduce overall consumption.

Filed firmly in the “Dare to Dream Big” category, Grass Valley’s new HD production switcher, Kayenne, made a rainbow-colored splash at NAB. With six keyers per M/E, 20 channels of DPM and up to 96 inputs and 48 outputs in a single frame, not only is this board hard-wired for power, but is also extremely efficient. The unit has switched all processing and fans from a position on the panel to a Panel Control Unit, which can be positioned in the area surrounding, up to 15 feet away.

Another cool touch: the Kayenne sports two rows of configurable OLED source name displays per M/E stripe.

Solid State of Mind

Want products to run more smoothly? Minimize the number of moving parts. That’s one reason, beside the obvious file-based workflow gains, why solid state drives have rapidly become the norm. Though still pricier than more traditional hard drives, their ruggedness and longevity now support an increasing range of new cameras and recorders.

S. two Corporation brought out an uncompressed on-board recorder with removable FlashMag solid-state magazines, the OB-1, at NAB this year.

It is designed to suit the Sony F23 and F35, ARRI’s D-21, and Panasonic’s HPX3700; it records uncompressed 4:4:4 RGB from two cameras simultaneously.

For more about Panasonic’s new economical E-series P2 cards, see on p. 5.

Why LEDs Make Sense

If you can make something last longer, it’s by nature green because you don’t have to replace it as often.

“You’ll never replace a gel with the Zylight IS3,” says Charlie Collias, Zylight founder. The value of the IS3 compared to other traditional shooting lights, he explains, comes in its cost-effective, energy-saving benefits. “In the power consumption area, it’s going to draw a lot less energy than your standard HMI or Tungsten light, so you’re going to save electricity. You’re going to also save money on buying standard gels for your lights and also correction gels. You’re going to be able to carry one instrument with you rather than many, say, if you need a colored wash or a key light or back light. One instrument can double and take up a lot of different positions on your set.”

The Zylight also conserves resources by filling in for different positions on set: “A light that has so many different functions built in is going to save you cash because you won’t need to buy extra equipment.”

The just-launched MicroPro on-camera light from Litepanels is another great example of an energy saving light – it doubles the output of its popular Micro, while overall requiring less power and recharge. The MicroPro produces 1.5 to 6 hours of continuous output, generating no heat. (Charlie Collias, founder of Zylight, demonstrates the rainbow range of the gel-less IS3. watch now).

Another way to get the most lumens from your LED is to buy one that’s highly adjustable. The Sachtler Reporter 8LEDim is just that. It has a 6-24V voltage range, so it can be powered off the battery your camera is using, including Sachtler’s FSB CELL Lithium-Ion battery ( or a solar charger, if you read ahead). The company says that at 8W of power consumption, the reporter can provide 250 lumens of light.

Having a light that adjusts in position or intensity to suit your needs means maybe now you can streamline your kit. (Kevin Baxter, head of R&D at Litepanels, explains from the NAB show floor why LEDs are both a smart and environmentally conscious option for HD production. watch now).

The Living Daylight

OLED (organic light emitting diode) light seems on the surface ideal for production. Created by channeling a current through a layer of organic material, the light material could potentially revolutionize production lighting. Unlike LCDs, OLEDs don’t require backlight, so displays can be thinner and use less power. OLED material is also flexible – think a moldable light or an on-camera light that’s actually embedded in the casing of your camera.

Currently, OLEDs pop up in small ways, like the console buttons on the Grass Valley Kayenne. But a few companies are bringing the technology to the forefront of their product designs. Marshall Electronics introduced the first OLED camera-top monitor at this year’s NAB.

The V-OL761-HDA, V-OL761-HDMI, and V-OL761-3GSDI monitors are indeed thin and the 170-degree viewing angle makes colors appear accurately without shift.

The value hasn’t quite caught up with the technology – the Marshall monitor is priced at $2,099 – but it offers an intriguing glimpse at a more efficiently lit future. (Mark Fisher, product marketing manager at Marshall Electronics, discusses the first OLED production monitor. watch now).

Back to Basics

One of the main buzz generators in NAB’s gear-centered Central Hall, the Anton-Bauer solar battery charger finally makes production sustainable. The approximately 6-foot panel folds into a 12-inch, two pound square – perfectly portable to those remote places where electricity may not follow. It’s a 150-watt power supply and simultaneous battery charger that connects to the solar panel mat, which folds up into an enviably portable 2 lb square.

The charger is still being tested for durability and connectivity, but could signal the start of a solar-focused line. Self-charging camera bag anyone?

Aimed at survivormen and women, the battery charger is going to be priced at about $1,000 when it is released sometime in the last quarter of the year. Shin Minowa, vice president of marketing and business development, says it all started with a few out-there requests from users. “A few people asked if they could attach solar panels to our batteries and we said, let’s give it a try.” (Paul Dudek, director of sales at Anton Bauer, demonstrates the solar charger in action. watch now).

Do these developments in energy, lighting and display signal an end to your energy bills? Well, at least you’ll be taking a few steps in the right direction, without leaving much of an environmental footprint.