Cutting Edge

CBS has purchased two For-A FA0820 digital frame synchronizers for use in two mobile production trucks located at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. The trucks are used for location shoots for shows like Malcolm in the Middle, That '70s Show, Will & Grace and The Bernie Mac Show. The FA-820 provides frame synchronization and time-based correction and has analog composite, component and serial digital component inputs and outputs. It also has 32-bit internal processing and 10-bit processing at input and output.

TNT is using Pinnacle's FXDeko II character generators to create and deliver on-air graphics for the network's NBA coverage. The units are located in TNT's mobile trucks as well as in the TNT basketball studio and in master control. As many as six units are used during the nights of coverage. The mobile systems handle on-air scoring displays, graphics and animation while the studio system delivers lower-thirds, full-screen graphics and other elements. Tom Sahara, TNT's senior director of IT and Remote Services, says the units allow the network to deliver a complex look with many moving parts while using far less equipment.

Showtime's Salt Lake 2002: Bud Greenspan's Stories of Olympic Glory began airing this week, a two-hour special shot using Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema cameras. Greenspan and his production company, Cappy Productions, had eight crews covering the 2002 games, a big move from previous games where they relied heavily on film cameras. The AJ-HDC27 VariCam (above) can acquire a 24-frame progressive-scan image and also offers variable frame rates. Cappy also used Panasonic AJ-HD150 DVCPRO HD studio VTRs with AJ-FRC27 frame-rate converters on the mixed-format edit, which integrated VariCam footage, DVCPRO50 material from the Olympics Broadcasting Organization, and video from follow-up interviews. Although the special is not yet available for viewing in HD (Showtime requested an SD master), talks are under way to create an HD master.