Forget about ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ at this year’s National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, April 11-17. It’s all about lights, cameras and toys.

‘It’s all about the right toys,’ says Kevin Parker, VP Vistek, a Toronto-based re-seller of camera and lighting equipment. ‘And lots and lots of widgets.

‘It’s like being a doctor,’ Parker continues, ‘or a surgeon. Do you just bring a kitchen knife, or do you want the right tools?’

Parker will be among an expected 100,000-plus delegates – including some 3,000 Canadians – heading to NAB right smack in the middle of the digital revolution, which is generating a lot of hardware business in the event’s vendor exhibition halls.

NAB exec VP Dennis Wharton tells Playback that approximately ‘US$50 billion in commerce is generated on the NAB convention floor,’ and that ‘a lot of that has to do with the digital transition in America, where every [TV] station in America has to swap out their analog transmission for new digital equipment [by Feb. 17, 2009].’

Noticeably absent from the exhibition floor this year will be editing equipment giants Avid and Apple.

Avid tells Playback that it plans to use the US$3million to US$4 million it will save in setup costs on more consumer-oriented events and practices [story p. 22], in keeping with client demands.

Apple could not be reached for comment, however, techno website TVTechnology.com quotes Apple’s senior PR manager, Anuj Nayar: ‘Apple is participating in fewer trade shows this year. Often there are better ways to reach our customers.’

Wharton says that the two giants’ prime NAB real estate will be filled by some 220 smaller companies. He also says the fluctuating greenback has contributed to lower expectations in overall numbers of participants, down about 10% from last year’s 111,028 head count, which is in keeping with other gear conventions, including the biggest of them all, CES (also held in Vegas).

NAB is also putting more of a ‘content’ spin on this year’s confab. Its A-list of Hollywood heavy-hitters will speak at various keynote sessions and seminars.

On April 14, DreamWorks’ Todd Bradley, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roger Enrico will discuss how creativity drives innovation. The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman will present a keynote called ‘Redefining Must See TV,’ about what it will take to create the first hit for the web.

On April 15, Lost exec producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof will discuss the ABC hit series and content strategies.

Meanwhile, those craving hardware may see unveilings from the likes of Panasonic, which, according to Parker, has slipped behind Sony’s new PMW-EX1 (Vistek’s current hottest-selling camera), but will likely come back swinging. ‘The number-one seller changes over time,’ he notes.

Sony’s PMW-EX1 was unveiled ‘behind glass’ at NAB 2007 and was in stores by December. ‘It’s essentially the entry level of HD broadcast camera, and has much higher rez than HDV, with proper frame size in full 1080p,’ Parker says of its current popularity. ‘It’s a whole new niche that didn’t exist before.’

Incredible innovations are all in keeping with the ongoing digital revolution, says Parker, noting that HD-DVD’s surrender to Blu-ray earlier this year will ‘take us to another level – the 1080p level.’

Also worth noting in mid-revolution is that comparable broadcast cameras can now cost 25% of what they did five years ago. ‘What you paid $25,000 to $30,000 for can now be bought for $7,500,’ says Parker of Sony’s new XDCAM format. ‘People can actually afford to shoot in broadcast quality.’

Digital has also prompted a need for new storage and archiving systems says Roy Klute, VP operations and a partner in Wanted Pictures, a subsidiary of Toronto’s post house Wanted Sound & Picture.

‘We go to NAB looking for improvements to editing systems,’ Klute explains, adding he’ll also be looking at different archive systems now that ‘storage capacities are getting less expensive to have more drive.’

At the end of the day, it’s still about the toys.

Rob Sim, head of Toronto equipment supplier Sim Video says: ‘The biggest reason we keep going down there is to see new products by smaller companies who may not have the exposure that the bigger companies have. Because of the Internet, we usually know what the bigger companies are bringing – such as Sony or Panasonic – but little companies might have a little micro transmitter or something which could be very valuable to add to our inventory that you may not see anywhere else in the world.’