The American network ABC uses live connections from JVC GY-HM890 cameras

The JVC cameras complement the 4 mobile units with microwave link and the 2 SNG satellite link units of KTVX, AB subsidiary in Salt Lake City (Utah).

ABC affiliate KTVX in Salt Lake City, Utah, is already using six cameras JVC GY-HM890 together with ProHD BR-800 server developed by Zixi, to cover live ENG news on the ground. This broadcaster has been using the cameras since June of last year, but since November it began using the cameras' capacity for the production of live HD streaming streams.

The JVC cameras complement the 4 mobile units with microwave link and the 2 SNG satellite link units, whose mobility and operating costs to cover news or local events that, due to their difficulty of access, their degree of urgency or availability on the ground, do not make them very suitable.

According to George Severson, the station's News Director, reporters have been trained to use the powerful HD streaming capabilities of the GY-HM890 cameras, which drastically reduce operating costs for covering this type of news.

Immediacy in coverage

"It's an impressive solution that's in our toolbox permanently. We can respond to any news break as it happens. In mid-January, for example, a team of ours with a GY-HM890 camera was able to provide live coverage of the scene of an attempted bank robbery right at the end of the 11 a.m. news program. It was an incredible opportunity and a complete success for our news department," says Severson.

KTVX shares resources with another affiliate station to produce 8 hours of news, morning shows and lifestyle programming during the week, as well as evening newscasts and a Sunday night sports program on the weekends. Severson says that it is quite common to use 2 live connections for each broadcast, and that currently, most of these connections are already made with JVC's GY-HM890, which link through simple 4G LTE modems connected by a USB port to the camera.

The station also has other ENG cameras such as the light and compact GY-HM650 handheld, which have the same streaming capacity as the GY-HM890 shoulder cameras, and the GY-HM700 that have been in use since 2010.

“The feedback from reporters and operators of the GY-HM890 cameras has generally been extremely positive,” Severson said, due to its ease of use and also its lightness.” We get very good images on the ground,” added Dean Davidson, Director of Engineering.

The JVC BR-800 ProHD Broadcaster server receives live video from any JVC streaming camera and transcodes it for a wide variety of content delivery platforms, ultimately providing reliable and secure signal transmission. Each camera is individually identified, and a built-in mixer with unlimited inputs/outputs makes it easy to distribute signals to multiple destinations. Davidson said the broadcaster uses the ProHD Broadcaster with 2 Teradek decoders to broadcast its HD news live in the field, and thanks to the Zixi signal processing system built into the server, even better images are produced.

The JVC GY-HM890 cameras incorporate a dual codec that allows you to simultaneously transmit live HD video files or transfer files in the background, while the camera operator continues recording material in their normal workflow. When combined with a 4G LTE modem or hotspot, the camera transmits images to the central studio in real time. Zixi Advanced Streaming Technology (AST) maximizes bandwidth to ensure reliable transmission, offering powerful error correction dependent on the image content, and also provides the operator with real-time information on the streaming status.

After more than 3 months of live connections, Severson remains impressed with JVC cameras. "We can get on the air with live news much faster. It makes us more flexible and competitive," he said. "This technology makes it much easier for a multimedia reporter to be almost like a one-man band. It's a great resource to have in mind for any TV station."