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WDBJ7 UPGRADES TO NATIVE HD ENG, ADDS LIVE STREAMING WITH NEW JVC PROHD BROADCASTER SERVER, GY-HM890 CAMERAS

Posted on Friday, April 4, 2014

WAYNE, NJ (April 4, 2014) – JVC Professional Products Company, a division of JVC Americas Corp., today announced WDBJ7, the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va., market (DMA #66), has purchased 16 GY-HM890 ProHD shoulder-mount camcorders, which will replace an aging fleet of Panasonic SD camcorders and upgrade the station’s ENG operations to native HD acquisition. The station has also purchased JVC’s new ProHD Broadcaster server powered by Zixi to produce live HD streaming reports from the field using the cameras paired with 4G LTE modems or hotspots.

The equipment was purchased through JVC broadcast sales representative Digital Video Group (DVG). According to Alan Novitsky, director of engineering and IT, the GY-HM890’s built-in FTP file transfer and live HD streaming made it an ideal choice for the station’s online presence as well as its television broadcasts, because it will help get footage back to the station faster. “We’re not just one screen anymore,” he explained. “Our digital department is very active.”

Although the station has two satellite trucks, three microwave trucks and two bonded cellular backpack systems for live transmission, Novitsky is excited about adding the built-in live HD streaming capabilities of the GY-HM890. “The ability to put 16 live shots out in the field is something that none of our competitors can currently do,” he noted. “We’re also going to true HD acquisition in the field, which will make a better looking picture.”

WDBJ7 is one of nine television stations in six states owned by Schurz Communications, Inc., which is based in Mishawaka, Ind. The station has been using GY-HM790 cameras in its production department for years, and added JVC GY-HD250 cameras in the studio when it upgraded to HD news production in 2008. “JVC’s service is very responsive,” Novitsky said. “We’ve never had a problem with any kind of support or issues.”

While the GY-HM890’s image quality and price point were attractive features, Novitsky is also pleased to be moving away from expensive proprietary recording media to SDHC and SDXC cards, which are significantly less expensive and available at nearby retailers. With a tapeless workflow already in place, Novitsky is not expecting a big learning curve for station personnel. WDBJ7 is also upgrading from a Grass Valley Aurora system to Grass Valley Stratus/Edius, but the GY-HM890 offers native file recording that works with either system, so no transcoding is required at ingest.

JVC’s new GY-HM890 and GY-HM850 3-CMOS cameras include interchangeable Fujinon 20x autofocus zoom lenses to deliver amazing HD (and SD) imagery, even in low light. Dual SDHC/SDXC card slots record footage in a variety of native file formats. Other features include four-channel audio with two XLR mic/line inputs, 4.3-inch LCD monitor and LCOS color viewfinder, HD-SDI and HDMI out, and genlock and time code terminals for multi-camera setups. The GY-HM890 also includes an HD/SD-SDI Pool Feed input for increased ENG flexibility, and is compatible with JVC fiber or multi-core camera modules for studio use.

The new ProHD Broadcaster server powered by Zixi is the central component to JVC’s new Professional Streaming Services. It receives live HD video from the GY-HM890 (as well as the GY-HM850 and GY-HM650 3.0 camcorders), transcodes the signal for a variety of delivery platforms, manages signals for distribution through its built-in matrix switcher, and provides reliable content delivery for broadcast or the Web.