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PANASONIC
HIGH DEFINITION EQUIPMENT AT THE HEART OF HDNEWS,
THE FIRST NATIONAL 24-HOUR-A-DAY HD NEWS CHANNEL
LAS VEGAS, NV (April 18, 2004) – Panasonic
announced that HDNews (HDN), one of the VOOM HD Originals,
has made a substantial investment in its high-definition
(HD) equipment to enable the channel to operate completely
in native HD. HDN is the first-ever 24-hour-a-day,
7-day-a-week HD news channel and is available exclusively
to subscribers of VOOM, the first television service
to offer a full array of HD programming to customers
throughout the continental United States.
Launched in February 2004, HDN features a news-wheel of top headlines, national
weather, sports highlights, business updates and feature material. HDN is the
first and only national news channel to offer all of its programming in native
HD, including news footage, graphics and in-studio presentation. Anchored by
its state-of-the-art studio in Woodbury, NY, HDNews covers the nation with
regional correspondents in New York City, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
"Panasonic is delighted that our cameras, recorders and graphics systems
were selected to provide the incredible image quality of high-definition to HDN
viewers. Panasonic is a world leader in high-definition, and teaming on an HD
first like the HDN channel is a Panasonic hallmark," said John Baisley,
President, Panasonic Broadcast.
Panasonic native 1080i HD equipment purchased for HDN includes three
AK-HC930 1080i studio cameras (used with robotic control systems) for in-studio
use, eight AJ-HC20A portable 1080i DVCPRO HD camcorders for field acquisition,
and 23 AJ-HD1700 2-hour DVCPRO HD VTRs for studio and satellite recordings.
In addition, two AV-CPG500 real-time HD graphics processors were purchased
to produce the visually-stunning on-air sports visuals and dynamic live graphics.
The Panasonic HD equipment was installed at HDN by systems integrator Diversified
Systems, Inc., of Kenilworth, NJ.
The dual-format AK-HC930 studio camera system is equipped with three 2/3" 2.2
million pixel FIT CCDs for delivering outstanding 1080 interlace performance;
an option is available for 480 interlace acquisition.
Fully operational at 15 pounds, the AJ-HDC20A 2.2 million-pixel 3-CCD camcorder
offers recording in 1080i for field acquisition.
The AJ-HD1700 DVCPRO HD extended-record (EX) format VTR provides extended recording
times, superior slow motion and low-tape costs for high definition program
production. The VTR records for up to 126 minutes of 1080-line interlace or
720-line progressive-scan high definition video on a single XL size DVCPRO
HD cassette, and offers eight channels of uncompressed digital audio to accommodate
5.1 surround sound plus a stereo sound mix, SAP or multi-language programming.
The AV-CP500 multi-application, multi-format HD/SD graphics system, running
vizrt graphic software at HDN, offers real-time rendering of broadcast quality
graphics at 480/60i, 720p/60, 1080i/60 and 1080/24p HD.
About VOOM and Rainbow DBS
VOOM, provided by Rainbow DBS, Cablevision System Corporation’s satellite
service division, is the first television service to provide a comprehensive
array of high-definition (HD) programming for the rapidly growing but underserved
HDTV audience. VOOM’s lineup of more than 30 HD channels features an
exclusive package of brand-new, commercial-free channels such as WorldSport,
Epics and Animania. The service also includes over 70 of the most popular cable
channels in standard-definition (SD), 18 digital music channels, and over-the-air
digital broadcast channels in HD, where available. VOOM is offered across the
continental United States through local Sears’ retailers, by calling
1-800-GET-VOOM, or by visiting www.voom.com.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
The
exclusive VOOM HD Originals package of 21 commercial-free HD channels was created
by Rainbow Media Holdings
LLC. A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming,
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision
Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns
and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The
Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment;
as well as the on-demand services: Mag Rack, Uncensored
On Demand, World Picks On Demand and World Picks
Networks. Rainbow Media’s other businesses
include its regional programming services – MetroChannels,
News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in
addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation
and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow Media
is also a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
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