Hearst Television is adopting Sony Electronics’ XDCAM EX™ solid-state memory camcorder as its primary ENG and news production technology. The company is rolling out more than 80 shoulder-mount camcorders across several of its stations – a combination of Sony’s PMW-350 2/3-inch camera, as well as 65 of the just-introduced PMW-320 ½-inch cameras.
Hearst Television is adopting Sony Electronics’ XDCAM EX™ solid-state memory camcorder as its primary ENG and news production technology. The company is rolling out more than 80 shoulder-mount camcorders across several of its stations – a combination of Sony’s PMW-350 2/3-inch camera, as well as 65 of the just-introduced PMW-320 ½-inch cameras.
Hearst Stations will also be using about 20 of Sony’s HXC-100 production cameras.
According to Marty Faubell, vice president of engineering for Hearst Television, the new XDCAM technology will deliver greater production flexibility for the station’s news crews working in the field, higher image quality and a more efficient overall workflow. The stations had been using older DV based camcorder technology and after extensive evaluation, determined that the Sony solid-state camcorders delivered the most efficient workflow, from the field to the studio to air.
“This is a long overdue upgrade for us, and will provide us with a solid foundation for the future of our news operations,” Faubell said. “Our crews cover a diverse range of shooting assignments from day to day, and our ENG gear needs to be equally flexible to keep pace. Using this technology, our crews are more flexible in the field in terms of the footage they are able to quickly capture, and when it gets back to the studio, the file-based content can be easily and quickly edited and made ready to use. This all translates into getting news on the air more quickly and more efficiently, which in the end, increases our competitive advantage.”
The Hearst stations that will be using the XDCAM EX camcorders in this first phase of the roll-out include WDSU, New Orleans; WAPT, Jackson, Miss.; KETV, Omaha, Neb., KHBS/KHOG, Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Ark.; and WLWT, Cincinnati.
Both the PMW-350 and PMW-320 camcorders have three Exmor™ full HD 1920×1080 CMOS imagers, and are studio-configurable, with timecode in/out, genlock in, and HD-SDI and HDMI out. The PMW-350 camcorder features a DVCAM recording and playback as an option; with both features offered as standard on the PMW-320.
Users can choose between the lens-packaged models, PMW-350K and PMW-320K, or versions without lenses, PMW-350L or PMW-320L. To enhance editing interoperability with Sony’s XDCAM HD 422 camcorders, both the PMW-350 and PMW-320 camcorders feature 1440×1080 recording mode at 35Mbps.
Both camcorders can also be used in studio configurations, using the optional 50-pin adapter CBK-CE01, as well as the camera adapter, XDCA-55, and camera extension unit, XDCU-55.