QVC®, one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world, is continuing its upgrade to tapeless high-definition production, installing Sony’s XDCAM HD422 PDW-HD1500 optical decks in the control room at its Studio Park headquarters, located in West Chester, Pa. The network will primarily use the decks for the production of its live broadcast.
“We chose this technology to help increase the speed of our workflow and make our operations much more efficient,” said Greg Gialloreto, QVC’s director of production and show support engineering. “The resiliency of the decks was also very critical; it was imperative to obtain technology that could withstand our live operating schedule, with no down time.”
The network said it will use the newer PDW-HD1500 decks to enhance QVC’s control room operations, allowing its 50 operators to realize a seamless transition from the remaining Digital Betacam® equipment currently in use.
“These decks will be perfect for last-minute demos that we don’t have time to put into our servers,” added Gialloreto. “We also plan to use them for offline recording, as well as for second-stream recording for our Web site.”
QVC’s 165,000-square-foot broadcast center includes the QVC Home (living room, bedrooms, kitchen, sunroom, bathroom and multi-purpose/crafting room), sets for beauty, jewelry and fashion, and a family room set. The facility also includes four green rooms, three control rooms, seven post-production suites and a 135-seat studio theater, as well as a product preparation area, sets, props and a mill shop for on-site set fabrication.
QVC currently uses a range of Sony high-definition broadcast and production technology, including HDC-1500 HD multi-format studio cameras and an MVS-8000A production switcher. Additionally, QVC uses XDCAM® HD camcorders in its mobile production vehicle, which functions as an on-location control room to produce its live programming, as well as several PDW-F70 and PDW-F30 decks in the remote unit and post-production and edit suites.