21st Annual Gemini Special Award Recipients:
openGear Multi-Definition/Multi-Function Terminal Equipment Platform - Outstanding Technical Achievement Award
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is pleased to recognize openGear Multi-Definition/Multi-Function Terminal Equipment Platform, an open architecture for the broadcast industry designed by Ross Video, with this year’s Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.
Established in 1990, this Special Award honours recent and noteworthy technical achievements in the Canadian television industry. Supported by partners Cobalt Digital, Ward-Beck Systems, Claratech, B&M Ltd., Wohler and Telecast, openGear provides Canadian broadcasters, industry manufacturers and vendors with a common platform and standards to support technological advances, thereby providing maximum flexibility of choice in equipment solutions.
Prior to the launch of openGear at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April 2006, the only option for Canadian broadcasters was to use products that would lock the end user into a proprietary solution and force the customer to return to a single sourced supplier for all of their solutions. Designed for multiple functions and signal formats, openGear is capable of handling various HD standards as well as audio and other applications in the same frame.
The adoption of the openGear frame by other terminal equipment vendors, provides customers with a unique opportunity to select products from a range of technological leaders without the requirement of investment in multiple frame standards. Since shipments to broadcast customers began in January 2006, frames have been deployed into the industry, both in studio and mobile truck environments.
At the NAB2006 Conference & Exhibition, openGear received the Award for Innovation in Media (AIM) as well as TV Technology Magazine’s prestigious STAR Award for Superior Technology, which celebrates and showcases the preeminent technological developments available.
Technological advances make it essential that the broadcast industry both in Canada and internationally move towards a common platform. As openGear becomes a standard for the industry, it will take manufacturers and broadcasters alike to new levels of production capability and innovation.
