Florida State U. Gets Big Picture With Panasonic
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| Panasonic’s BT-LH2550 LCD video monitor |
TALLAHASSEE, FLA.—
Seminole Productions
is the in-house production company
in the College of Communication at Florida
State University. We provide script writing,
creative development, videography,
3D production, graphics and post production
editing services for departments on
the FSU campus and government-related
entities.
One of our largest clients is Florida
State’s athletic department. We produce
all of the FSU coaches’ shows that appear
on local, regional and national cable channels.
In addition, we are responsible for
weekly sports and magazine shows. and
provide graphics for the live game day
experiences and video boards in all our
sports venues on and off campus.
Under the direction of the professional
staff, our students gain hands-on experience
in every phase of the production
process, giving them the knowledge and
skills needed in today’s competitive production
industry.
MONITORS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS
Video monitoring is a big part of any
such operation and we meet this requirement
with a number of Panasonic models.
LCD production monitors and professional
plasma displays are installed in our master
control facility and we also have smaller
Panasonic LCD units that are used as
electronic viewfinders on our camcorders
in live acquisition. As these small monitors
are battery-powered, we also frequently
use them as utility monitors when we’re
doing live events.
We’ve been using all of this gear for
more than four years with very few problems.
This really bears out Panasonic’s
claim that their monitors are “productiontough.”
We have three 25-inch units in the
middle of the control room, along with
42-inch plasma displays mounted above
and below them. We elected to install a
couple of 65-inch plasmas vertically (portrait
style) at either end of the room. All of
the plasma displays are fed by multiviewers
to provide split-screen views.
FEATURE SET AND FUNCTIONALITY
Our monitor selection was based on
both picture quality and display size. The
Panasonic units are ideal for our application,
providing us with true 16:9 widescreen
high-definition displays. They have
plenty of live camera inputs and CG channels,
and can display all high-definition
television line and frame rates. There’s
a pixel-to-pixel mode that allows us to
view video in its native resolution, and
the monitors’ embedded audio tools let
us display audio information supered over
the image for increased efficiency when
screening video footage.
Early on, when many of our feeds were
still 4:3, we made extensive use of the
monitors’ marking features to ensure that
safe areas were provided for both titles
and video content.
The use of Panasonic gear by Seminole
Productions goes well beyond picture
monitors. We deploy Panasonic P2 HD
camcorders to capture live sports shoots
and football analysis, and we also have professional
3D camcorders to create football
highlight reels and for classroom instruction.
Just as with my colleagues who supervise
acquisition, my years of hands-on
experience with the company’s monitoring
and display products have convinced
me that this Panasonic equipment is rugged,
reliable, and well-built. It easily stands
up to the sometimes rough treatment in
the hands of the student operators.
Jeff Levine is studio supervisor/director
at Seminole Productions and has
been with that organization for nine
years. He may be contacted at jlevine@admin.fsu.edu.
For additional information, contact
Panasonic at 877-803-8492 or visit
www.panasonic.com/broadcast.