American Production Services At the Forefront of HDTV.SEATTLE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1998--The creative promise of digital high definition television (HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates ) has excited the television production industry and a recent crop of projects involving American Production Services (APS) of Seattle will make that promise a reality. APS is one of the first facilities in the U.S. to make digital HDTV production and post production capabilities available to its customers, and the company's equipment includes Sony HDCAM Sony's high-definition digital videotape format. It was introduced in 1997 using 8-bit DCT compression and 3:1:1 sampling (see 3:1:1). HDCAM SR (HDCAM Superior Resolution) came out in 2003 supporting 10 bits, MPEG-4 and 4:4:4 sampling (no additional color reduction). (TM) HDW-700 camcorders, HDW-500 VTRs, HDS-7000 switcher and HDME-7000 multi-effects. APS' current HDTV projects include Whidbey Island Whid·bey Island An island of northwest Washington in Puget Sound northwest of Everett and east of Admiralty Inlet. Films' production of the "National Desk" series for PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, , KTVU-TV San Francisco's production of on-air news promotions and KGW-TV Portland's production of an HD news reel from events in the city. "Sony has worked with American Production Services throughout the development of Sony's digital production tools including the entire line of digital switchers, digital multi-effects systems and edit controllers," said Laurence Thorpe, vice president of camera products for Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Group. "They have been a beta site An organization or group that is beta testing hardware and/or software. See beta test. and an early adopter and their recent commitment to Sony's high definition systems clearly positions them at the top of the industry for innovation and achievement." The six-episode commitment for "National Desk" represents the production of the first public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. program to be shot in HDTV. Location shooting for the award-winning series will be originated on APS' two Sony HD camcorders and will include the integration of digital HDTV graphics rendered in post production. The series will air in the 1998-99 season. "Utilizing HDTV will allow us to present a superior image, comparable or even better than that previously available only by shooting on 35mm," said Conrad Denke, executive producer of "National Desk" and president of APS. "Even with the mass market absent for HDTV reception in these early stages, the difference in clarity of the NTSC (National TV Standards Committee) The committee that developed the television standards for the U.S, which are also used in Canada, Japan, South Korea and several Central and South American countries. Both the committee and the standard are called "NTSC. downconverted material will be very appreciable." KTVU-TV, the Fox affiliate in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , had originally intended to use the HD camcorder to shoot a demo reel about the station's news operation to be shown to advertisers and the public at the U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
"The pictures from the camcorder were perfect, and we were excited to get them on the air, even in an NTSC downconversion," said Steve Poitras, director of marketing for KTVU. "Sitting in the APS edit suite and looking at the quality of the HDCAM pictures convinced me that the technology will take hold faster than people anticipate." KGW-TV was interested in creating an awareness reel for the general public to advance appreciation of HDTV in the Portland market. "We gathered as much footage as we could -- activities around the city, Rose Festival events -- and the images look unbelievable. We were blown away by the quality," said Eric Dausman, director of broadcast operations and engineering at the station. "After the material was posted at APS, the footage was shown by the station at large public events on 80-inch true HDTV See True HD. projection monitors to nearly 8,000 people, and the response has been outstanding." American Production Services will be conducting demonstrations on its state-of-the-art equipment during an open house on Thursday, June 25th. The Broadcast and Professional Group of Sony Electronics Sony Electronics Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif., is the largest component of Sony Corporation of America, the U.S. holding company for Sony's U.S.-based electronics and entertainment businesses. is an Emmy award Emmy award Annual presentation for outstanding achievement in U.S. television. Its name is taken from the nickname “immy” for the image orthicon, a television camera tube. winning, leading U.S. provider of video and audio equipment for the broadcast, production, business, industrial, government, medical, and education markets. Sony offers a wide array of products and systems for image capture, production, and display. Sony also provides specialized equipment and systems for data recording, duplication, electronic photography/publishing, video conferencing, high definition video, interactive and security applications. In the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 1998, Sony Electronics had record sales of $10.5 billion. More information about Sony products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sony.com/professional, or readers may call 800/686-SONY. Additional press information is available at http://www.sony.com/news.
CONTACT: Sony Electronics Inc.
Lisa Young, 408/955-5683
lisa_young@mail.sel.sony.com
or
Technology Solutions Inc.
Jon Reiner, 212/696-2000
jreiner@tsipr.com
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