Youth specialty ytv has been taking some carefully planned steps toward a digital production environment, a major component of which is an investment in new high-resolution cameras. The broadcaster recently inaugurated the new Sony technology on a live Christmas special.

When Santa Calls went to air the week before Christmas, the jolly one became the first at ytv to host a live broadcast using the television station’s new Sony digital color video cameras. As Santa and Mrs. Claus telephoned children across Canada to review Christmas wish lists, young television viewers were treated to sharp, crystal-clear images of their holiday hero in action.

‘Broadcasters today are keenly aware of the need to move to a digital environment,’ says Stu Turner, director of operations at YTV Canada. ‘However, the costs associated with converting an entire television network to digital technology can be astronomical. At ytv, we have chosen to make our conversion to the digital world in a timely fashion.

‘Our post-sound and most of our editing facilities are already fully digital and next year we expect to introduce digital effects, digital monitors and a digital audio board in our studio,’ says Turner. ‘By bringing in new studio cameras at this time, our crews can experiment with the 16:9 wide-screen format in order to prepare themselves for its full implementation in the near future.’

Back in 1988, Turner was one of 23 people who gave life to ytv at a small studio in downtown Toronto. The studio was so small, in fact, that Turner remembers the cameras being locked off and unmovable. But with ytv’s move to a larger facility in 1991, the station now bustles with more than 150 full-time and 120 contract employees.

ytv has produced hundreds of children’s tv shows including such current favorites as Hit List, the game show Uh Oh and Treehouse tv’s Ants in Your Pants and now boasts a 60-by-40-foot production studio that is going digital.

Several months ago, ytv began planning for the studio transformation by searching for a high-resolution, high-quality switchable digital camera that was easy to use and cost effective. Coincidentally, the station’s mobile truck – which is equipped with the identical 4:3 analog cameras as in the studio – was in dire need of additional cameras for use during ytv’s various cross-country events. It made sense, therefore, simply to move the studio cameras into the mobile and start fresh in the studio with the 16:9 wide-screen digital format capability.

‘In moving the studio to a digital environment, our wish list was simple,’ says Turner. ‘The cameras had to produce high-resolution, high-quality pictures and they had to be switchable from 4:3 to 16:9. Since we won’t have a digital switcher until next year, our crews aren’t yet ready to shoot in 16:9. But with the 16:9 cameras installed now, our crews are able to gain valuable shooting experience so that they will be able to jump in without any trouble as soon as we’re ready.’

Within two months the pieces were in place. Today, the studio is outfitted with three Sony BVP-950 digital color video cameras incorporating an optimized combination of a low-noise ccd and a newly developed advanced 12-bit Digital Signal Processor. The station’s mobile truck, meanwhile, is equipped with the studio’s former 4:3 analog cameras.

ytv has an additional three Sony DXC-D30 field production digital video cameras, featuring dramatic smear reduction and high sensitivity through the camera’s Power had ccd system. These cameras also employ the 16:9 switchable digital capabilities.

‘The digital cameras have increased resolution dramatically – 4:3 format gives us up to 700 lines of center resolution while in 16:9 we are up to 900 lines of center resolution with an extremely high-quality picture, says Turner. ‘The switchable capability of the camera allows us to continue in the 4:3 realm for the rest of the year, allowing our studio crews to train and become proficient with the 16:9, and then convert to 16:9 with the flick of a switch.

‘The 16:9 format also offers us an additional revenue source by giving our shows international appeal. With these cameras we can shoot high resolution in standard-definition, wide-screen digital, and that’s key to ytv’s scheduled digital transition.’

Once the studio goes fully digital, explains Turner, all output will be recorded onto digital tape. And because the cameras are fully compatible with other platforms, all material produced in the studio can be fed in digital format into ytv’s nonlinear edit suites. Output from the edit suite, in turn, can be mastered on the station’s digital Betacam recorders.

Turner says it’s unclear when ytv will move to a totally digital environment. It may be closely linked to the digital set-top box rollout in the cable companies.

‘We want to be in the situation whereby we can convert to digital when it becomes both technically feasible and logical,’ he says. ‘By moving to digital cameras today, ytv is preparing for the future digital domain. With Sony technology, we are able to deliver quality image to our viewers and, at the same time, prepare for the advent of digital broadcasting.’

John Quanz is the general manager, marketing broadcast and professional group at Sony of Canada.