Video Labs Wins Prestigious Award

Video Labs Selected as Recipient of
The Gazette of Politics and Business
Third Annual Exceptional 53 Business Award

Rockville, MD----------September 20, 2010

Video Labs, the Rockville, MD-based media marketing and services firm, is proud to announce its inclusion as one of the 53 most exceptional businesses in the State of Maryland as recognized by The Gazette of Politics and Business.
The P&B Exceptional 53 Award program, produced by The Gazette P&B, acknowledges Maryland's top 53 businesses and organizations based on criteria that included the recipient company's annual revenue and employee growth, as well as noteworthy product or service innovations, community service efforts, strategies for success through the economic downturn, and reputation as a "good place to work."

"I applaud these exceptional Maryland businesses that are consistently on the leading edge of innovation and doing their part to help through their pro-active community service programs. To make the 53 list is a great accomplishment," said Cliff Chiet, publisher of The Gazette P&B.

"Having been in existence for over 32 years, Video Labs appreciates being recognized for its efforts involving community and industry support, along with measures used to enable operational and client-driven efficiencies," stated CEO Michael Weiss. Michael also stated, "It's an honor to be recognized as one of Maryland's best businesses by such a well-respected publication."

With this recognition, Video Labs continues its commitment to invest in technology and media distribution services. Video Labs media solutions offers its clientele the widest range of Videotape/Broadcast duplication, High Definition cloning, International standards conversion, Blu-ray/DVD/CD duplication/replication, authoring, captioning, packaging, distribution, and digital media delivery. Video Labs continues to offer its clientele rush service every day of the year.

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Blu-ray - ooh, ahh!

When our first Blu-ray master popped out of its drawer, the Video Labs staff sighed. After all, we've been monitoring the DVD format wars for some time to see which way it would tumble. Low and behold, Blu-ray has won. Video Labs has long been HD-friendly in tape format and now our new Final Cut Pro system completes the HD circle by allowing us to support our Blu-ray customers with phenomenal disc resolution. For screenings, trade shows and corporate events, clients now request Blu-ray for a top-of the-line viewing experience.

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Video and Media Production for Your Website

It's no secret that website video production has fast become the premiere advertising vehicle in today's market - a clever and informative presentation can entertain, educate and ultimately bring visitors to your website through social media and cost-effective web ad campaigns.

Video Labs' talented team can help plan a targeted campaign by shooting, editing and producing your website video - all to gain you significant exposure.

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Video Labs
15237 Display Court
Rockville, MD 20850

http://www.videolabs.net/

sales@videolabs.net

Captioning for the Web

It's moving fast - very, very fast. Can you imagine the world without the web? It's easily the most important invention of our time. And, it's changed our industry for good. But, for the hearing and vision impaired, web sites present all kinds of new challenges - consider how many times you need to click a mouse, read a monitor or listen to instructions just to navigate. And, according to the US Census, close to 20% of Americans have some form of disability that may require specialized technology for ease of use. Video Labs can help you navigate the world of Captioning and Alternative Media Description so that all users have access to your video and ultimately, your message.

Closed Captioning - One "Size" Does Not Fit All
Most of us who work with the federal government are familiar with the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 that requires accommodation for the hearing and vision impaired (www.section508.gov). With this legislation, the government ruled that all televisions 13" or larger be equipped with devices that capture and decode the closed captioning on Line 21 of the broadcast video signal (www.videolabs.net/multimedia/captioning.htm) and this is still the industry standard for broadcast media.

For web video, it's a whole new ballgame. Government agencies must be compliant for Section 508 for all video posted on the web, but this can get a little tricky. When planning your project, it's best to find out in advance what format best suits the needs and standards of the web site administrator.

Compression Session
Unfortunately, when you digitize and then compress from video tape with captions, the caption signal is not consistently recognized by software used for viewing (like Windows Media Player, for example). So, specific data files are used depending on multimedia programming software being utilized. Someone using Flash to create a website may need a file called .xml in pop-on style, while Windows Media video files can be closed captioned using a data file called .smi. Some prefer English subtitles or open captions that cannot be 'turned off,' ensuring ease of use. For high quality videos with a frame size of 720 x 486, it's possible to preserve standard captions from Line 21 in a Quicktime or Windows Media files for posting on some websites.

For Low Vision and Vision Impaired - Let's "Hear" it for Alternate Audio
We're receiving more requests than ever about Alternate Audio for web site videos - it's a sign of the times. But, how do vision impaired users navigate a computer-based environment where a mouse click is so necessary? Computers are outfitted with specialized screen reader software and refreshable Braille displayers so that the users can find their way. For web programmers, it means allowing for keyboard short cuts for a Braille keyboard user. Alternate audio embedded in the website can help a vision impaired user to navigate through a web site by sound. For more on this subject, Utah State University has provided an excellent website to support and explain these technical standards (www.webaim.org) for compliancy.

For video, Video Labs provides 'media description' services (aka - "alt-audio" or "audio description") so that actions on screen are included as an additional track of audio. For disc media like DVDs or CDs where a menu is used for navigation, our authoring specialists can include extra audio files that, when engaged, instruct the user on how to access the content. Alternatively, a "Read Me" file can be included so that screen reader software installed on a computer can explain needed information. For more information on these enhanced interfaces, check out the article about 'talking menus' pioneered by the Media Access Group at WGBH in Boston. (http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/description/).

To view samples of the different types of web videos in this newsletter - http://www.ada.gov/videogallery.htm

Please view our new brochure which depicts Video Labs multitude of media solutions. You may also want to follow us on Twitter as our staff has much to say and you may even find some of it valuable.