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To: let who wrote (41445)	5/24/1999 11:25:00 AM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

And now the news…in HDTV Seattle's KOMO-TV begins 1080i high-def newscasts using Sony dual-format gear By Glen Dickson Fisher Broadcasting's KOMO-TV Seattle last week became the first U.S. broadcaster to offer HDTV newscasts. With last Tuesday's 5 p.m. news, the ABC affiliate began broadcasting all of its news programming--more than 30 hours a week--in 1080i HDTV over its digital TV station. For now, the newscasts combine widescreen HDTV shot in the studio with upconverted 4:3 standard-definition video from the field. But they will eventually use original HDTV field footage. The station is using Sony HD studio cameras, which it purchased along with Sony HDCAM tape decks. Downconverters built into the Sony HD cameras simultaneously output 4:3 standard-definition pictures as well as HDTV, allowing KOMO-TV to use the same cameras for both its HDTV newscasts and its regular analog broadcasts. The same cameras are being used by NBC to produce HDTV and NTSC versions of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. KOMO-TV Senior VP and General Manager Dick Warsinske won't disclose what he paid for the Sony HDTV gear, saying only that the purchase is part of a "strategic partnership" with Sony as Fisher Broadcasting builds an $80 million television facility in Seattle. The station has also committed to buying Sony Betacam SX equipment to replace analog Betacam gear as its ENG format. The widescreen Betacam SX cameras, which will also output 4:3 pictures, will allow KOMO-TV to integrate upconverted widescreen SDTV footage into its newscasts. The station says it is also purchasing Sony HDCAM camcorders to shoot some original HDTV field footage. Larry Thorpe, Sony vice president of acquisition systems, said the KOMO-TV deal represented a sale, not a subsidy designed to get more HDTV programming on air. "I'm one happy camper," says Thorpe. "I've made a very nice HDTV sale and a very nice Betacam SX sale." Both KOMO-TV and Sony executives say the HDTV newscasts will test the interoperability of different DTV formats. KOMO-TV is currently producing and broadcasting its newscasts in 1080i, the DTV format Sony uses for its HDTV equipment. But KOMO-TV is committed long-term to 720-line progressive HDTV (720p), both as an ABC affiliate and by its personal preference, and will continue to show the rest of its DTV broadcast day in 720p. "Broadcasting from the studio in 720p is our ultimate commitment," says Fisher Broadcasting Vice President of Engineering Pat Holland. He expects Sony to honor its commitment to support 720p as well as 1080i. Thorpe says that Sony is currently developing a 720p conversion board that will allow its 1080i cameras to output 720p. He says Sony still hasn't decided whether it will make native 720p imaging chips for its cameras. For now, KOMO-TV is supporting its 1080i newscasts and 720p regular programming by using separate Tiernan encoders that are configured to each format. Holland says switching from one encoder to another causes about a two-second interruption to the station's HDTV picture. It's a pretty minimal impact to the viewing sets, and we expect to improve on that," he says. KOMO-TV is using a Snell & Wilcox upconverter to integrate analog 4:3 news footage into its HDTV newscasts. The station uses the same product to convert its NTSC programming to 720p, except when it gets original HDTV programming from ABC. Warsinske says he expected to be visually jarred when KOMO-TV went from hi-def studio footage to upconverted SDTV field footage, which leaves blank side panels on a widescreen set. Instead, he says the difference is not dramatic. "Frankly, the eye accepts it immediately," he says.