Fox Saves $33 Million With JVC's Digital-S D-9 and Underscores Commitment With Purchase of $3 Million More in 4-Channel Machines.

WAYNE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 1999--

Andrew G. Setos Credits JVC D-9 Format with Archival Image

Quality and Material Savings

Fox Television, a unit of the News Corporation, has credited JVC's DIGITAL-S (D-9) videotape format with saving the company more than $33 million dollars since it's adoption as the house videotape format for Fox News Channel and Fox SportsNews and the archive standard at the Fox Network Center. As a result, Fox has purchased more than $3 million dollars worth of new 4-audio channel equipment, reinforcing the network's commitment to JVC's D-9 format.

Andrew G. Setos, executive vice president, of the News Technology Group, a unit of the News Corporation attributed savings of more than $33 million dollars to Fox's migration to digital via DIGITAL-S. "These huge savings were exactly what we had anticipated, and the enormous return-on-investment has proven the value and performance intrinsic to JVC's design of DIGITAL-S," noted Setos.

In their search for a high-end digital videotape format, Fox chose to purchase DIGITAL-S because it provided unsurpassed quality and looked to be a tremendous value. They had initially evaluated DIGITAL-S because of its cutting-edge 4:2:2 intraframe digital signal processing prowess. Knowing that DIGITAL-S was less than 1/3 the cost of other digital formats, Fox anticipated saving several million dollars up front in initial equipment costs.

Since its debut three years ago, DIGITAL-S has represented a dramatic breakthrough in both quality and price. Its 4:2:2 8-bit component digital signal processing and very mild 3.3:1 compression combine to produce an astounding picture quality - far better than any analog system or 4:1:1 digital system, and rivaling that of even the most expensive digital systems.

"After evaluating all of the digital format alternatives, we selected DIGITAL-S as our primary digital videotape recording format because it provides uncompromising performance. The picture quality is outstanding, and, therefore, the cost/performance ratio is exceptional," recalled Setos.

But, as the DIGITAL-S machines were put into use, even more savings were realized as monies allocated for repairs and maintenance went unspent.

Initial maintenance and repair budgets had called for head-changing every 1,000 hours and at a cost of $1,300 considerably less than a component analog VTR. Over the first year and a half, as DIGITAL-S machines built up more and more hours with no visible headwear or loss of quality, maintenance costs were far less than anticipated. Many DIGITAL-S VTRs reached 3,000 hours, an unheard of achievement. JVC shared in the excitement, even showcasing an actual working Fox DIGITAL-S VTR with nearly 5,000 hours of head life in their booth at NAB'98 to demonstrate the strength and reliability of the format.

Fox calculated their cost savings, from the initial decision to purchase DIGITAL-S over traditional digital formats, through maintenance and tape costs, and found that the aggregate savings exceeded $33 million dollars. Proof of the robustness of the format is found again in the recent release of a year and a half-long SMPTE/EBU study which equated the quality of DIGITAL-S with that of Digital Betacam. Without sacrificing high-end picture quality, Fox has been able to achieve incredible savings via its partnership with JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY and its adoption of JVC's DIGITAL-S as it's house videotape format.

FOX PURCHASES $3 MILLION MORE DIGITAL-S (D-9)

Futher endorsing JVC's revolutionary 4:2:2 DIGITAL-S format, Fox has announced an additional purchase of $3 million dollars worth of D-9 (DIGITAL-S) products - mainly 4-channel BR-D92 editing recorders and BR-D52 players.

These new BR-D92 and BR-D52 VTRs, introduced at NAB'98, enable Fox to capitalize on the format's original design to support 4 channels of independently editable audio. Fox's new 4-channel machines are fully compatible with their existing 2-channel DIGITAL-S machines, and allow producers to go back and insert two additional audio channels on existing recorded media, if they so choose.

From its initial installation of JVC DIGITAL-S recorders and editing controllers, Fox realized the value in the 4:2:2 format. JVC's 4-channel machines offer exceptional value and broadcast production quality. The BR-D92 offers front panel editing control of any RS-422 capable studio VTR, with proc-amps (process amplifiers) upfront on the redesigned chassis to give operators convenient access. Equipped with video pre-read, a highly versatile advanced feature only available in the highest quality formats, helps editors to perform special effects like layering and dissolves using 2 VTRs and an effects unit. Since the 4:2:2 signal processing captures so much chromanence data, dozens of layers can be built without any noticeable degradation to picture quality.

"DIGITAL-S operates at 50 megabits per second (Mbps), which is an optimal data transmission rate for our purposes," noted Richard M. Friedel, senior vice president of engineering and operations for Fox Digital. "Additionally, since DIGITAL-S offers 4:2:2 digital signal processing we are able to do the kinds of layering effects and keying that our producers demand. This increases their flexibility, and enhances their creativity."

Another consideration in making the selection of a digital studio format is concatenation. In basic terms, concatenation problems create visible artifacts that occur as a digital signal is compressed and re-compressed using different compression systems. Concatenation problems are exacerbated when higher compression ratios are utilized. With DIGITAL-S, the compression ratio of 3.3:1, which is considered mild, essentially eliminates these problems.

DIGITAL-S has become a standard for studios and production houses with their eye on quality and performance. Fox's commitment to DIGITAL-S is shared across the world with over 230 other broadcasters including KITV-TV, the nation's first all-digital broadcast station, as well as dozens of NBC, ABC, CBS and PBS affiliates.

"It's clear to see why broadcast groups have selected D-9," said Scott Spector, National Market Development Manager for JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY's Digital Broadcast Systems Group. "No other digital format offers a seamless migration to DTV and HDTV, while maintaining complete backward compatibility to the company's existing 4:2:2 component digital product lines. DIGITAL-S (D-9), by virtue of its highly reliable 1/2-inch tape transport, is capable of allowing broadcast, entertainment and professional users to cost-effectively grow into digital formats and technologies for the 21st century."

Setos agreed, "Our success with JVC is indicative of the superior technical performance the DIGITAL-S format. There is no question that DIGITAL-S uniquely meets our demand for a high quality digital format, designed to stand up to the rigors of broadcast studio use."

JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, based in Wayne, New Jersey, distributes a complete line of broadcast and professional equipment. For more information about JVC's DIGITAL-S (D-9) format, contact David Walton at 1-800-JVC-5825 or visit our corporate website at www.jvc.com/pro.