Cameras: News and Updates

(Wayne, NJ) KTWO, the ABC affiliate serving central Wyoming, transitioned to local news in high definition this month with the help of its new JVC GY-HM700 camcorders. The station produces five newscasts every weekday and two on both Saturday and Sunday, plus a weekly sports program.

Moving to an all-HD newscast and a tapeless workflow were two very significant steps for the station, which is owned by Silverton Broadcasting Co. LLC and serves the Casper-Riverton market (currently DMA #197). According to Terry Lane, chief broadcast engineer, the station doesn't have the budget of stations in larger markets, so the transition to HD news has been an economic challenge.

This spring, KWTO purchased 10 JVC GY-HM700 camcorders, most of which will be used for ENG work. However, two have been designated as studio cameras. "Even adding a frame sync for each, they were a budget-friendly choice for our news studio," Lane explained. "Eventually, we'll add a third for roaming shots."

Lane has been impressed the image quality from the new cameras. "We haven't had a problem with artifacts or glitches. The camcorders have even performed well in low-light conditions," he said. "It's amazing that this type of quality is available at such a reasonable price point."

KTWO has quickly embraced the benefits of JVC's tapeless acquisition and the use of non-proprietary flash media. "We certainly reuse our SDHC cards," he added, "but the technology is inexpensive enough that we can archive some cards without seriously impacting our operating budget. Our new JVC ENG cameras give us all the advantages of a tape-based system and all the advantages of tapeless workflow for our ENG work."

The JVC camcorders also help in the KTWO edit suite, where news packages are cut using Apple Final Cut Pro. The HM700 records natively in the .MOV file format, so there is no need to ingest or transcode footage - a reporter simply inserts an SDHC card into a card reader and within seconds begins editing.

"We have spent a lot of money on equipment over the past few years as part of both the government mandated DTV transition and our own strategy to upgrade to local HD news," Lane said. "When you consider image quality and workflow improvements, particularly at such a reasonable price point, our new JVC camcorders have easily given us the best bang for our buck."

ABOUT JVC U.S.A.

Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC U.S.A. is a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan Ltd. JVC distributes a complete line of video and audio equipment for the consumer and professional markets. For further product information, visit JVC's Web site at http://www.jvc.com or call (800)526-5308.