CBS readies Ed Sullivan Theater for HD transition of Letterman’s ‘Late Show’

CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" is preparing for its transition to HD with technology that will advance its operations and pave the way for HD broadcasts from The Ed Sullivan Theater.

As part of the transition, CBS will outfit the New York theater with Sony's MVS-8000A production switcher, SRW-5000 HDCAM-SR VTR and LUMA LCD monitors. The equipment will increase broadcast image quality and streamline production. At the heart of the theater's upgrade is Sony's MVS-8000A production switcher, offering the flexibility and stability needed to handle the intricacies of producing a nightly entertainment broadcast. The switcher includes digital video effects capabilities, large storage capacity for snapshots and the ability to recall settings on-the-fly. This feature is especially helpful for a show that includes many recurring segments like the Top 10 list and other pre-taped spots.

Sony’s full-bandwidth HD VTR, the SRW-5000, incorporates recording technology, with no pre-filtering, and the ISO-recognized MPEG-4 Studio Profile compression algorithm. It writes 440Mb/s to tape, at 10-bit resolution. It can also record 12 channels of uncompressed audio at 24-bit/48Hz sampling. The SRW-5000 records all 1080-line frame rates from 23.98 to 30fps progressive, and 50fps and 59.94fps interlaced.

For more information, visit www.sony.com/professional.

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