Jason Fountaine, managing director of Gyro-Stabilized Systems in Nevada City, offers his insight into how new technologies are changing digital cinema.  For more from Fountaine, read “Reality Check,” in our March issue. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you when it’s available online.

What’s the biggest change in your industry in the past year?

Trends and technologies are always evolving in the high tech industry of designing and manufacturing gyro-stabilized camera systems for the digital cinema production, and live broadcast television/electronic news gathering (ENG) market segments. The last five years at Gyro-Stabilized Systems were led by the production industry due to the acceptance of 4K/Ultra HD as the new resolution standard for filmmaking. In the past year, we have seen a market shift and growing trend toward the professional broadcast/ENG market due to newly adapted technologies that add value to the television viewers experience. Extreme low-light  professional broadcast cameras and geo-referenced augmented reality systems have both been pivotal to the evolving ENG market.

What do you foresee as the biggest change on the horizon in the year to come?

I think we are experiencing the biggest changes now with the evolution of the professional broadcast/ENG market. Some additional new exciting aspects that I also think will happen in the next year for live broadcast events that can afford to invest in the latest technology include: new professional 4K/Ultra HD broadcast cameras from various companies; new 4K/Ultra HD RF wireless transmission systems with less latency; bi-directional wireless control systems; and smaller/lighter/cheaper professional aerial broadcast solutions for use on light aircraft which minimizes total cost-per-flight-hour and helps open up new markets to our gyro-stabilized products.

Got something to add? Let us know in the comments, on social media, or email us at editorial@comstocksmag.com.