NAB 2026 opens tomorrow in Las Vegas and runs through April 22. For anyone who follows gear, technology, and production trends, this is the week when a lot of announcements land.
On the cinematography side, CineCentral sessions this year include a talk by Roberto Schaefer ASC, panels on exposure and lighting, immersive production, and a session on vertical 9:16 production -- which continues to be a growing conversation as more content gets designed for mobile-first formats.
Even if you are not attending in person, NAB week tends to generate a wave of hands-on reviews, manufacturer announcements, and workflow discussions that are worth following. Film and Digital Times will be on the floor and is a solid resource for practical, no-nonsense coverage if you want to track what is being shown.
A few things worth watching for this year: where the virtual production conversation goes, any large-format film developments, and how manufacturers are positioning AI-assisted tools in a post-production and on-set context.
Are any of you heading to Las Vegas this week? And what are you most hoping to see come out of the show?
Lindsay Thompson, this is such a great overview, NAB always feels like a pulse check on where the industry is heading.
My husband actually used to attend every year, but I’ve never had the pleasure of going myself. It’s definitely one of those events that always sounds like such an incredible mix of innovation, community, and hands-on discovery. I’m especially curious to see where the virtual production and AI-assisted tools conversations land this year, it feels like everything is evolving so quickly in those spaces.
Are you planning to make the trip this year?
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Ashley Renée Smith Thank you -- that is a great way to put it, a pulse check is exactly what it is. Your husband has good taste in conferences.
I am not making the trip this year, but I will definitely be following the coverage closely. The virtual production and AI conversations are the ones I am most interested in tracking, too. Both are moving fast enough that what feels cutting-edge at one NAB can feel standard practice by the next. It will be interesting to see how manufacturers are framing the AI tools in particular -- whether it is positioned as a workflow aid or something more significant.
If anything stands out from the coverage this week, I will share it here. Always worth keeping the lounge in the loop on what is coming down the pipeline.