JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKenwood USA Corporation, will showcase its end-to-end live production workflow, as well as a number of product enhancements and technology demonstrations, at the 2017 NAB Show (Booth C4315), which runs April 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
JVC is spotlighting a bonded cellular solution for ENG and multi-camera live productions, with the ProHD Mobile Bridge and the new ProHD Portable Bridge. The technology has been deployed in several challenging frequency environments, from the PGA National Resort during the Honda Classic to the streets of Philadelphia during the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race earlier this month.
At NAB, JVC will demonstrate the JVC Command Center, a command and control workstation, designed to access all the active “Bridge” cameras in an organization and superimpose their locations over a street map with live image previews. The workstation will also allow the operator to access each Bridge camera on the network, take control, or manage settings.
JVC is also unveiling the ProHD Studio, a portable, four-channel live production and streaming system. Designed to support HD-SDI, HDMI, or IP cameras, the ProHD Studio offers integrated camera control and ISO recording for each camera, full PTZ control of JVC KY-PZ100 cameras, and HD program recording and simultaneous RTMP and MPEG-TS output. The ProHD Studio also supports external signals with keying for PowerPoint and other sources.
Other features include an integrated audio mixer, CG, four key layers, dual-monitor support with PIP and split-screen layouts, built-in encoder for live streaming, and direct streaming integration for JVC VideoCloud and Facebook Live. When combined with the optional ScorePlus real-time sports CG software, the ProHD Studio becomes a complete multi-camera sports production system with professional overlays, scores, and slow-motion replays.
“The ProHD Studio is the component that completes JVC's complete end-to-end news and multi-camera live production workflow,” says Craig Yanagi, product marketing manager, JVCKenwood. “Our ProHD and 4KCAM cameras deliver the industry's best acquisition options for ENG and multimedia journalists, while our ProHD Bridge products transmit the signals back to the studio. The ProHD Studio can handle the production and stream live programming, while our ProHD Broadcaster can deliver live, time-shifting, or on-demand playout. Our JVCVIDEOCLOUD delivers the final program to any number of viewers around the world using the robust Akamai network. ”
Camera and Control Upgrades
New upgrades to JVC's GY-HM850 and GY-HM890 cameras include integrated IFB channels. Introduced last year for the 600 Series of ProHD mobile news camcorders, the IFB upgrade allows talent and camera operators to communicate with the studio while streaming live HD content. Other improvements include support for JVC VideoCloud, JVC's new online video and live streaming platform, as well as additional live streaming formats. The free firmware upgrade for all GY-HM850 and GY-HM890 customers is available now.
The Version 4.0 firmware upgrade for the popular GY-LS300CH 4KCAM Super 35 handheld camcorder is a free upgrade, which will be available in late May. The upgrade is designed to increase color resolution to 4:2:2 in 4K mode recording and expand Ultra HD (3840x2160) output to include 60/50p, according to the company release. The upgrade also provides 4:2:2 (8-bit) 4K recording at 24/25/30p onboard to SDXC media cards. Plus, the GY-LS300CH can output Ultra HD at 60/50p via its HDMI 2.0b port. It is designed to operate seamlessly with the new Atomos Ninja Inferno and Shogun Inferno monitor recorders, triggering recording from the camera's start/stop operation.
With a free firmware update available in September, JVC is upgrading its RM-LP100 remote camera controller to act as a virtual CCU for any JVC ProHD or 4KCAM camera with integrated IP technology. “The upgrade creates a CCU for several camera models that do not have a CCU option. With support for up to 100 cameras, the RM-LP100 will perform white balance and painting adjustments, plus provide color bars, tally control, and more. The RM-LP100 upgrade can save thousands of dollars for studios, particularly for installations where PTZ cameras and studio cameras are used together,” the release states.
JVC is also expanding its on-board customized titling solutions, designed for single-camera productions. In late 2015, the company introduced the GY-HM200SP 4KCAM camcorder with embedded score panel graphics for sports coverage, and last fall added the GY-HM200HW, which features integrated graphics and congregation-specific text for houses of worship. In response to customer recommendations, both cameras will be upgraded through a free firmware upgrade in July to allow full-screen graphic overlays.
Users can add graphics (.JPG and .PNG formats) via an SD card and store them in the camera for future use. As a result, live events can open and close with full-screen graphics and GY-HM200SP users can create graphic loops that present advertising during extended breaks in the action. The firmware upgrade will also include hockey-specific scoring for the GY-HM200SP. JVC will also have a technology demonstration that combines its sports overlay technology with a KY-PZ100, potentially for use in gymnasiums and other permanent installations.
Technology Demonstrations
A new partnership with IBM is central to a unique technology demonstration of real-time multilingual captioning within a single camera. During NAB, JVC will demonstrate the integration of JVC PTZ cameras and IBM's “cognitive-over-IP” cloud computing real-time captioning.
Audio from the KY-PZ100 PTZ network video production camera is transmitted via IP to the IBM supercomputer in the cloud, which automatically provides speech-to-text conversion and sends the data back to the camera (translated in multiple languages, if requested). Users can create a text overlay in the camera for recorded footage or for live captioning during streaming of lectures, worship services, or government meetings.
NAB attendees will also have a technology demo of JVC's virtual reality (VR) glasses and its 360-degree camera. The camera is advertised to produce live, distortion-free 360-degree panoramic video, and detect and track objects and motion.
