Raycom Media acquires 125 GY-HM660 camcorders with IP connectivity

The JVC GY-HM660 is the first streaming generator camera on the market with an IFB (Interruptible Fold Back) audio channel, allowing reporters to communicate with the studio from the field, while delivering live HD content over IP.

JVC has announced at NAB that the American Raycom Media has adopted the GY-HM660 ProHD model as ENG for the production of its news with an initial order of 125 cameras. Raycom Media is a long-time JVC customer, having started purchasing its cameras for ENG applications in 2013, standardizing as an official Raycom Media camera in late 2014.

Raycom Media already owns more than 400 JVC cameras of the previous model GY-HM650, which represent almost 65% of its ENG fleet. 10 Raycom Media TV stations use GY-HM650 cameras with JVC ProHD Broadcaster servers to broadcast live news in the field thanks to the IP connectivity of these equipment.

According to David Burke, vice president of technology at Raycom Media, a group of experts spent several months evaluating the cameras before selecting JVC. This group focused on aspects such as optical zoom and low light performance, and also on the available video formats, IP connectivity, compatibility with the technologies and workflows that Raycom Media was already using, and the necessary investment.

“In the end, the result was that all the stations decided on JVC over other alternatives from other brands,” Burke said. “Our results once again confirmed the commitment we already adopted three years ago.”

Since standardizing the JVC as an ENG camera for Raycom Media broadcasters, Burke has seen operating costs reduced, thanks to the use of universal SDHC and SDXC cards, as well as maintenance costs. Raycom Media also made the strategic decision to gradually abandon shoulder cameras, creating a new multimedia journalist (MMJ) model for the network. “We now have an affordable MMJ camera that we can provide to all reporters,” Burke said.

Headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, Raycom Media owns or provides services for 62 television stations in 42 markets in 20 states across the U.S., including 40 stations that produce local news. Burke said the new GY-HM660s will replace cameras from different manufacturers at all of the network's TV stations.

Streaming Generator

Announced earlier this month, the GY-HM660 is the first streaming camera on the market to feature an IFB audio channel. The IFB (Interruptible Fold Back) system allows reporters to communicate with the studio in the field, while delivering live HD content over IP. Replacing JVC's popular GY-HM650 model, the new GY-HM660 also features new CMOS image sensors that offer outstanding F12 (60 Hz) sensitivity and a brighter LCD screen for better viewing in sunlight.

When combined with a 4G modem or access point, the GY-HM660's IP technology offers high-quality streaming, with the ability to select between multiple resolutions, bit rates and formats, without the need to resort to popular streaming dongles or external encoders. To increase the reliability of streaming transmission, the solution that incorporates the JVC camera has an error correction system in accordance with the SMPTE 2022 protocol or Zixi's own protocol (developed in collaboration with JVC), automatic repetition request (ARQ) and adaptive bit rate control. The camera can also connect directly to various content delivery networks (CDNs) such as Ustream and even YouTube.

Designed for news, sports and independent production, the GY-HM660 features a zoom optic Fujinon 23x autofocus, HD-SDI and HDMI outputs, timecode input, 2 XLR audio inputs with phantom power, a 3.5″ LCD screen and a 1.22 Megapixel color LCOS eyepiece viewfinder. It natively records HD and SD video in a variety of formats to SDHC or SDXC memory cards, and can record Full HD to a memory card while delivering video over IP images for live broadcasting.