Elmwood Park, NJ (October 30, 1997) – FOX affiliate KAYU-TV in Spokane, Washington, recently upgraded its commercial production and industrial video services to digital with JVC's DIGITAL-S format.

KAYU-TV is acquiring its video in 4:2:2 DIGITAL-S with a BR-D40 dockable recorder mounted to a new JVC KY-D29 Digital Signal Processing camera. The station, which previously used 3/4", is also now using JVC's BR-D80 DIGITAL-S edit recorder with an Avid Media Composer 1000.

According to Kevin Oliver, Director of Operations and Creative Services at KAYU-TV, the staff examined all of the digital formats on the market and did extensive research at NAB before choosing DIGITAL-S. "We were sold on the 4:2:2 digital signal processing," said Oliver. "We do a lot of chroma keying, and 4:2:2 gives us twice as much chroma as 4:1:1, so we get a much cleaner chroma key."

"We realized that we needed to upgrade our production quality to differentiate ourselves from the competition, and win back market share we had lost over the past five years," Oliver said. "After we purchased DIGITAL-S, we held an open house, and to our complete surprise and satisfaction, more than 70 percent of our guests instantly became clients. They could not pass up the quality of our new edit suite."

KAYU-TV is the only station in its market that is shooting and airing its commercials in a digital format, and according to Oliver, their signal quality has been greatly improved with DIGITAL-S. "We air using an Avid Air Play, and when we started using DIGITAL-S for acquisition, we achieved virtually no signal loss from acquisition to air," he said. "The quality is absolutely unbelievable. DIGITAL-S is an incredible format because the quality is just as good as Digital Betacam, but it costs a fraction of the price."

The superior quality of DIGITAL-S is also helping KAYU-TV build its industrial client base. "Most video production companies in this region are using Beta SP," Oliver noted. "So, when we recently told a potential client that we were using DIGITAL-S with 4:2:2, they chose to use our services. They were very excited about the quality we could provide."

In addition to 4:2:2 8-bit component resolution, the ½" DIGITAL-S format uses very mild 3.3:1 compression. The format is technically superior to any analog system and even the most expensive digital systems.

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