FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FOX SAVES $33 MILLION WITH JVC's D-9
UNDERSCORES COMMITMENT WITH PURCHASE OF $3 MILLION MORE
Andrew G. Setos Credits JVC D-9 Format
with Archival Image Quality and Material Savings
Wayne, New Jersey (March 22, 1999) - Fox Television, a unit of
the News Corporation, has credited JVC'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 D-9. "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 D-9 because it provided unsurpassed quality and
looked to be a tremendous value. They had initially evaluated
D-9 because of its cutting-edge 4:2:2 intraframe digital
signal processing prowess. Knowing that D-9 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, D-9 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 D-9 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 D-9 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 D-9 machines built up more and more hours with no
visible headwear or loss of quality, maintenance costs were far
less than anticipated. Many D-9 VTRs reached 3,000 hours,
an unheard of achievement. JVC shared in the excitement, even
showcasing an actual working Fox D-9 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 D-9 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
D-9 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 D-9 as it's house
videotape format.
Futher endorsing JVC's revolutionary 4:2:2 D-9 format, Fox
has announced an additional purchase of $3 million dollars worth
of D-9 (D-9) 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
D-9 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 D-9 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.
"D-9 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 D-9
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 D-9, the compression
ratio of 3.3:1, which is considered mild, essentially eliminates
these problems.
D-9 has become a standard for studios and production houses
with their eye on quality and performance. Fox's commitment to
D-9 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. D-9 , by virtue of its highly
reliable «-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 D-9 format. There is no
question that D-9 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 D-9 format, contact David
Walton at 1-800-JVC-5825 or visit our corporate website at
www.jvc.com/pro.
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