Content area
Full Text
TRANSITION | More Stations Opt for Hi-Def Newscasts
The rate of stations doing HD newscasts swelled following this year's NAB Show in Las Vegas. At least 10 more TV stations are doing local news in hi-def, although two others have been dropped from the list-Pappas stations KAZR and KREN, both in Reno.
The news divisions at both stations were shut down in March, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. (The Pappas station group has since filed for bankruptcy.)
Inductees to the list include WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Va. WVEC-TV in Norfolk, Va. WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Va. KIRO-TV in Seattle; KSHB-TV in Kansas City; WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; KUTV-TV in Salt Lake City; WPIX-TV in New York; and KESQ in Palm Springs, Calif.
WDBJ'S SETUP
"On Tuesday April 22 at 5 p.m., WDBJ launched our newscasts in HD," wrote Carl Guffey, director of engineering at the Roanoke, Va., CBS affiliate.
"We air in 1080i and have HD studio cameras, graphics and weather presentation electronics," Guffey said. "Our news from the field is gathered in 16:9 and upconverted."
Guffey said the studio, though six years old, was designed to be shot in 16:9.
WDBJ is using adapted JVC GY-HD250s with Canon lenses in the studio. The station's video switcher is a Ross Vision MD/X.
One Chyron HyperX^sup 2^ is employed for character generation and another for still store. The station is using a two-channel Chyron XClyps for playing clips.
"Our weather system is WSI and includes all of their newest software, presentation devices and a weather alert system that generates emergency weather crawls," Guffey said. "We also use HD presentation for our WeatherBug systems."
"The monitoring system in our production control room is Evertz...