NAB Show 2026 has officially opened the floodgates, ushering in a year defined by practical innovation rather than mere speculation. From the convergence of AI and cloud workflows to the latest leaps in computing and storage, the industry is no longer just talking about the future—it’s building it.
As the show floor transforms into a working media ecosystem, ProVideo Coalition is on the front lines. We’re tracking every breakthrough in real time to deliver the sharp, on-the-ground insights you need to stay ahead. Here is the standout coverage from Day 1 at NAB 2026. Click each headline to dive deep:
Disguise at NAB 2026 – GX3+ Raises the Ceiling for Real-Time Playback and Virtual Production
At NAB 2026, as real-time workflows accelerate toward new standards of complexity, Disguise’s GX3+ arrives as more than a simple iteration. It serves as a definitive statement on the future of high-end virtual production and live performance.
The hardware represents a fundamental shift in the industry’s baseline. Based on its showing at NAB, it is clear that the industry has moved past treating high resolution and deep interactivity as “edge cases.” Instead, the GX3+ positions these demanding requirements—alongside seamless departmental integration—as the new professional norm.
Atomos at NAB 2026: From On-Camera Capture to Reference-Grade Delivery
Atomos – best known for its lineup of high-codec camera monitors – enters the show floor with grand ambitions. Following its acquisition of Flanders Scientific, which expanded the company’s reach into high-end post-production, color grading, and critical mastering, the company is positioning itself as a complete, end-to-end production ecosystem.
At NAB 2026, Atomos is showcasing a broad slate of announcements. These include new flagship hardware such as the Sumo PRO-19, a 19-inch 4K HDR monitor-recorder-switcher; an expanded ecosystem featuring new PTZ cameras and controllers, as well as new additions to the Ninja monitor line; and enhancements to its ATOMOSphere cloud platform. These updates introduce a cloud-based video editor that enables projects to be edited without downloading media, along with a desktop-connected app for managing ATOMOSphere projects.
Clear-Com Debuts FreeSpeak Cell Intercom System at NAB 2026
Clear-Com pioneers a new era of large-scale production communication at NAB, unveiling a new intercom system that utilizes cellular networks, shifting away from traditional radio-based frequencies. FreeSpeak Cell – designed for large-scale broadcast and live event environments – runs on public or private LTE/5G networks, allowing for wide-area coverage, reduced infrastructure and setup requirements, and support for over 100 beltpacks. The system also integrates with existing Clear-Com platforms like Eclipse HX, positioning it as part of a broader ecosystem.
Scalability, flexibility, and efficiency is at the forefront of this announcement. FreeSpeak Cell enters a world that has largely outgrown conventional intercom systems and traditional RF technologies, meeting the modern-day demands of a fast-paced, scaled-up production.
Puget Systems Debuts “The Puget Experience” at NAB 2026
Puget Systems has partnered with VFX studio and YouTube legend Corridor Digital to debut the Puget Experience: an interactive, creator-focused showcase that replaces the traditional booth format. Designed to prioritize hands-on engagement, the experience features presentations, panel discussions, and live conversations with leading creators, all staged within an elaborate, high-end virtual production environment built in collaboration with Form Studios. The setup offers a live demonstration of cutting-edge content creation workflows in action. The Puget Experience will also welcome guest speakers from major industry players, including AMD, NVIDIA, and ASUS ProArt.
In addition, the event will host a live adaptation of Corridor Digital’s popular “VFX Artists React” series on the show floor, with the Corridor Crew hosting from their signature green couch.
DJI at NAB 2026 – A More Integrated, Creator-First Ecosystem
At NAB 2026, DJI’s presence signals a pivotal shift from isolated product launches toward a cohesive ecosystem strategy. Experiencing the new Osmo 360 alongside the RS5 gimbal reveals a singular objective: stripping away the technical friction between the initial capture and the final delivery.
The core takeaway from this year’s showcase is that DJI has moved beyond mere hardware iteration to focus on workflow refinement. Rather than highlighting specs in a vacuum, the Osmo 360 and RS5 demonstrate how performance translates directly into production speed and creative versatility.
Cobalt Digital at NAB: Improving Accessibility For Visually Impaired Audiences
Cobalt Digital spotlights a new approach to broadcast accessibility, partnering with SineSix Media to integrate its vocalVision technology into Cobalt’s signal processing hardware. The system is designed to automatically generate real-time audio descriptions of on-screen visuals so that blind and visually impaired audiences can more easily follow along. By embedding text-to-speech narration directly into the live broadcast stream, the solution eliminates the need for separate post-production workflows and allows accessibility features to be triggered manually, scheduled, or automated through APIs.
Beyond its technical capabilities, the collaboration reflects a broader shift toward making accessibility a built-in component of live media production rather than an afterthought. The platform supports AI-driven image descriptions, multiple languages, and customizable pronunciation, helping broadcasters scale inclusive services while aligning with regulations like the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.
Kicking off NAB by finding ourselves, sparkles, and alchemy
As the sound designer and supervising sound editor for Project Hail Mary, Erik Aadahl understands that cinematic immersion lives in the auditory sparkle. During his session at the SMPTE Visual Innovation and Brilliant Engineering Conference at NAB, Aadahl described an “alchemy between sound and picture” that serves a singular purpose: to bridge the gap of empathy.
Project Hail Mary explores the profound collaboration between human and alien life—a reflection on humanity that feels increasingly relevant as we navigate our own relationship with AI. Today, our adoption of AI feels strangely paradoxical, as if we are simultaneously ahead of the curve and falling behind.
It is a dissonance not unlike the television screens downstairs in the Westgate. Watching early 2000s music videos like Tal Bachman’s “She’s So High” (a definitive “I’m So Old” moment), I noticed a glaring half-second delay between the audio and the video. It was a perfect, jarring metaphor for our current era: totally unsynced, and somehow ahead and behind at the exact same time.
Wowza shows Video Intelligence Framework at NAB 2026
Wowza introduced its new Video Intelligence Framework to the NAB show floor, a system that embeds real-time AI directly into live video workflows. Built to seamlessly work with the company’s existing streaming infrastructure, the framework analyzes video as it’s being captured: extracting frames, generating metadata, and identifying events on the fly. Instead of waiting for post-production processing, organizations can instantly create clips, overlays, and structured data that can be routed to downstream systems for immediate use.
The approach signals a shift in how live video is valued, turning it from passive content into an active data stream. By enabling real-time insights, the framework opens up new opportunities across industries – including smarter ad placement and automated highlight generation – and redefines video as a dynamic, intelligent asset that can drive decisions and revenue in the moment.