Vermont Public Television finishes digital studio improvements

Vermont Public Television has completed upgrades to its Colchester, Vt., broadcast studios with four new digital HDTV cameras. Joseph Tymecki, chief technical officer, said in a statement that because the four older analog cameras had lasted nearly 20 years, "we wanted to be sure we were ordering studio cameras that would serve us well into the future." The Hitachi SK-HD1000 cameras are outfitted with Hitachi TU-HD1000 camera control units, VF-HP840 8-inch color LCD viewfinders, RU-1200JY remote control units and Fujinon ZA-22x7.6BERM HD telephoto zoom lenses with 2X extenders. VPT also bought a Ross Vision multi-format production switcher, Chyron LEX3 live HD graphics system, Omneon server and Miranda router. The purchases were the final step of a four-phase upgrade that also included four DTV transmitters, a master control room, and a shift to nonlinear editing workflow.