Elmwood Park, NJ (October 15, 1997)- WQPT-TV, the PBS affiliate in Moline, Illinois, made the move to 4:2:2 digital with the acquisition of JVC's BR-D80U and BR-D50U DIGITAL-S studio VTRs.

According to Steve Ellis, chief engineer, "We were looking at DVCPRO but we wanted to stickwith 4:2:2 digital." DIGITAL-S is a 4:2:2 component digital format that records on 1/2-inch tape cassettes. Broadcasters prefer 4:2:2 recording because of its higher color resolution and compatibility with future DTV transmission systems.

WQPT-TV, which is affiliated with Black Hawk College, has been using 1-inch Type-C and 3/4-inch U-Matic VTRs. "DIGITAL-S will replace our U-Matic machines and also eventually our 1-inch when JVC begins shipping the 4-audio channel machines," said Ellis. At NAB, JVC previewed a DIGITAL-S model that has 4 independently editable 48kHz 16-bit audio tracks.

DIGITAL-S recorders are also being used at WQPT to archive material originally recorded on analog formats. Because of its effectively lossless compression, DIGITAL-S copies preserve all of the quality of WQPT's original 3/4-inch and 1-inch recordings. An added benefit is that the smaller cassettes with 104 minute recording time take up much less storage space.

JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, headquartered in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, distributes a complete line of broadcast and professional equipment including cameras, recorders and editing equipment. For more information on JVC's DIGITAL-S format, contact David Walton at 1-800-JVC-5825, or visit JVC's web site at www.jvcpro.com.