TV Station Wral Adopts Sony’s Xdcam Hd System For Eng And News Production

Station to Build Its Tapeless Workflow on XDCAM HD422 Optical Technology

LAS VEGAS, NAB Booth #SU906, April 2008 – Raleigh, N.C.-based television station WRAL is adopting Sony Electronics’ new XDCAM HD422 Professional Disc™ technology. Over the next two years, the station will roll out more than 30 of Sony’s new PDW-700 optical camcorders and several PDW-HD1500 decks for use in its ENG and news production operations.

According to Peter Sockett, director of engineering for WRAL, 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.

WRAL chose the system after extensive field testing and found that the Sony system provided the strongest foundation for its tapeless HD infrastructure, and the broadest level of production flexibility.

“Using this technology, our ENG crews are more flexible in the field in terms of the footage they are able to quickly capture and send back to our studios,” Sockett said. “This translates into getting news on the air more quickly and more efficiently, which in the end, increases our competitive advantage.”

The new HD products deliver recording capabilities at data rates of up to 50 Mbps using MPEG-2 4:2:2P@HL compression technology. They also provide multi-format (1080i/720P) recording flexibility, as well as HD/SD conversion and cross-conversion during playback between 1080i and 720P.

In addition to the enhanced workflow made possible by the camcorder and deck, Sockett said that WRAL was also impressed by the unique capabilities of the Professional Disc media, specifically the dual-layer 50GB version, model PFD50DLA.

Sockett noted that WRAL has always supported an IT-centric and file-based workflow. “The XDCAM HD technology, especially this newest generation, was very attractive to us for the future of our news operations,” he said.