HITACHI HDTV Cameras Enhance International Television Ministry at First Baptist Church Texarkana
25/04/2018
First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas, has been leveraging the powerful visual engagement and broad reach of television to spread its message and touch followers' lives for over half a century. When the church upgraded the video production capabilities in their sanctuary to high definition, they turned to HDTV cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to provide the exceptional quality and rich features they needed to further elevate their in-house video experiences and broadcasts.
Photo courtesy, Jacob Bain
FBC Texarkana's television effort started over 55 years ago on the local NBC affiliate, and has grown from a regional broadcast to an international TV, radio and internet ministry. FBC Pastor Jeff Schreve, who joined the church in 2003, founded From His Heart Ministries to expand their television reach. FBC Texarkana's broadcasts are now seen weekly on stations and networks around the world - including the NRB TV Network in the U.S. and the Hillsong Channel internationally - as well as streamed online.
Photo courtesy, Jacob Bain
We view what we do through television and video as a mission opportunity, said Jay Budzilowski, director of TV/media at FBC Texarkana. We don't want to just put ourselves out there for people to watch; we want to make a difference in people's lives through this content, and enable more people to be impacted by the gospel.
With a major overhaul of the church's 2500-seat worship center scheduled to commence last summer, replacing everything from seating and carpet to speakers and sound boards, FBC Texarkana also planned to upgrade the sanctuary's video capabilities at the same time, including a new television control room and new equipment. However, months before the renovations began, the church's 12-year-old standard-definition cameras started failing, accelerating their purchase plans.
We knew we were headed towards HD for quite some time, but had been waiting for the right time in our church's budget and operations to do it, said Budzilowski. We wanted to get current with technology again, and the stations broadcasting our programming had been requesting HD. We wanted the quality of our broadcasts to match or exceed the other programs airing right beside ours.
The FBC Texarkana team researched HITACHI cameras at the recommendation of systems integrator The Field Shop in Little Rock, Arkansas, and found the Z-HD6000 studio camera and DK-H200 compact box camera to be ideal fits. Our previous cameras were fine for a local church broadcast, but now that we are going international, we needed to make a step up, explained Budzilowski. As a church, we always need to find the right balance between quality and what we can spend. The quality of the Z-HD6000s and DK-H200s looked great, and the price point fit what we were trying to accomplish. It just all made sense, and when we fired the HITACHI cameras up the first day, we could immediately see the difference they made.
Three Z-HD6000s and two DK-H200s in the sanctuary now capture video both for television broadcasts and for image magnification (IMAG), displaying live in-house productions on an 18-foot by 10-foot screen for an average of 1800 congregants attending Sunday morning services. Two Z-HD6000s at the center-rear of the sanctuary provide tight and wide shots of Pastor Schreve on the stage during sermons, while the third Z-HD6000, mounted on a CamMate 2000 Series jib, captures sweeping shots of the room and its attendees. The DK-H200 box cameras are controlled remotely on Eagle PT-101 pan/tilt heads - one at the rear of the room for shots of the crowd engaged in the message, and one on the stage getting front shots of the audience.
The visual quality that drew FBC Texarkana to the HITACHI cameras continues to impress their staff and congregation. The image clarity is outstanding, and the color reproduction is very good, lauded Budzilowski. Our attendees definitely appreciate the difference. And unlike our previous cameras, we don't have to keep adjusting the color balance - we set up the cameras just once, and they've looked great ever since.
Budzilowski also applauds the cameras' performance in handling lighting challenges. There are some lower-lit areas of the sanctuary that we like to capture images from, he explained. The sensitivity of the HITACHI cameras in low-light conditions is dramatically better than our previous cameras, so we never need to crank the gain up.
Overall, the Z-HD6000 and DK-H200 cameras have been key components in the success of the church's HD upgrade. Coming from a standard definition environment, almost any HD camera would have had a wow' impact, but we had tried other HD options and the HITACHI cameras definitely looked better, Budzilowski concluded. HD itself was a big jump, but compared to the alternatives we investigated, our investment in the HITACHI units is paying off.
# # #
About Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.
Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a company that manufactures broadcasting systems, security and surveillance systems, wireless communications and information systems, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Fiscal 2016 consolidated net sales totaled 171,857 million Yen ($1,531million). For more information on Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., please visit the companys website at http://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/global/en/index.html.
###
Most recent headlines
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/03/2024
Sinclair Selects Embrace as Its Media Orchestration Engine
PARIS Embrace, a developer of advanced automation and orchestration software solutions, has announced that Sinclair Broadcast Group has selected Embrace's P...
28/03/2024
Nielsen and Circle City Broadcasting Renew Local TV Measurement Deal
NEW YORK Nielsen has a multi-year renewal with Circle City Broadcasting, Indianas only locally owned and operated broadcast and digital news media network, for ...
28/03/2024
JVC to Demo Its First Ever 40x Zoom PTZ Camera Series at 2024 NAB Show
LAS VEGAS JVC Professional Video has announced that it will debut its new KY-PZ540 Series PTZ Cameras with 40x zoom at 2024 NAB Show (Booth C4720)....
28/03/2024
Brightcove Launches Cloud Playout 2.0
BOSTON Brightcove has announced the launch of Cloud Playout 2.0, a platform that the company said will offer customers new ways to create linear channels, monet...
28/03/2024
NBC Sports Chicago to Air First-Ever Animated Real-Time Local Sports Telecast
The Chicago Blackhawks and NBC Sports Chicago have announced a collaboration with the NHL to bring fans the first-ever local animated real-time sports telecast....
28/03/2024
The Best News Coverage is Real, Live, Balanced, Professional
The Best News Coverage is Real, Live, Balanced, Professional Andy Marken March 28, 2024 0 Comments Hero image source News of the World, Perfect Wo...
28/03/2024
Smoke and Mirrors: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Smoke and Mirrors: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Af...
28/03/2024
Muvhango: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Muvhango: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African web...
28/03/2024
Gqeberha: The Empire - Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Gqeberha: The Empire - Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The Sout...
28/03/2024
Skeem Saam: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Skeem Saam: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African ...
28/03/2024
House of Zwide: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
House of Zwide: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episode of South African soapie House of Zwide on The South Africa...
28/03/2024
My Brother's Keeper: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
My Brother's Keeper: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The So...
28/03/2024
Uzalo: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [video]
Uzalo: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [video]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African websit...
28/03/2024
Scandal!: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Scandal!: Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African web...
28/03/2024
Umkhokha: The Curse - Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]
Umkhokha: The Curse - Wednesday's episode, 27 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South...
27/03/2024
UKTV sets up second series of Dream Car Fixers for Yesterday and UKTV Play
Wednesday 27 March 2024 - UKTV has commissioned a second series of Dream Car Fixers (6x60) for leading factual channel Yesterday and free streaming service UKTV...
27/03/2024
Inside the Archives: It's Lights, Curtains, Action When Sundance Films Become Stage Productions
By Jen Scott It's time to unwrap those noisy candies and put your phone on ...
27/03/2024
Paving the Way' for Spotify's NextGen Scholarship Recipients
Spotify is committed to amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups, and that starts with empowering the creators who will shape our industry's future....
27/03/2024
Sencore and Showfer Announce Collaboration at NAB 2024, With a Brand-New Content Management and Distribution Solution
Las Vegas, NV, April 14-17, Booth W2401 Sencore, a leading provider of profess...
27/03/2024
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program in Australia, returns for its 21st year with new guests
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program ...
27/03/2024
I Am L3Harris - Sam Bonelli
I'm proud to be a woman in aerospace making an impact on our world and among my peers, team and future generations of women in STEM....
27/03/2024
Bitmovin to Show Live Encoder Running on Akamai Cloud at NAB Show
DENVER Bitmovin has launched its Live Encoder running on the Akamai Cloud Computing, optimizing live streaming and reducing total streaming costs by up to 90%, ...
27/03/2024
Hulu Launches on Disney+
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company has officially launched Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S. in a move that brings together the extensive Disney+ and Hulu librar...
27/03/2024
WJLA Studio A Revamp Features Brightline Lighting
WASHINGTON D.C. WJLA, Sinclair Broadcast Group's flagship TV station in the nation's capital, has revamped its Studio A news studio with lighting soluti...
27/03/2024
NCAA: March Madness Sees Strong Audience Growth
The NCAA has released figures showing that the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and the Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship both saw...
27/03/2024
Mediahaus GmbH Brings SRT Live Streaming to the Mountain Attack with 5G and URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus GmbH Brings SRT Live Streaming to the Mountain Attack with 5G and URSA...
27/03/2024
Instant Latte: NVIDIA Gen AI Research Brews 3D Shapes in Under a Second
Instant Latte: NVIDIA Gen AI Research Brews 3D Shapes in Under a Second Isha Salian March 27, 2024 0 Comments The LATTE3D model rapidly transforms tex...
27/03/2024
NAB Show Exhibitor Insight Matrox Video
TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2024 NAB Show? TVT: What will be your most important product news? TVT: Ho...
27/03/2024
I knew there were cameras, lighting, some buttons and microphones involved': How Crew Room Academy is inspiring the next generation
TVBEurope hears from some of the students who took part in Crew Room Academys Sc...
27/03/2024
Adobe reveals Gen AI solutions for content supply chain
Elsewhere, Adobe revealed a new feature in Adobe Firefly, which uses the companys generative AI to easily apply the structure of an existing image to newly gene...
27/03/2024
Best of Show Awards for 2024 NAB Show entries close soon
The awards, from industry-leading brands of Future plc, provide a great opportunity for companies to stand out at one the most attended shows in the industry B...
27/03/2024
Meet the director of IT and operations
By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 27, 2024 CueScript's director of IT and operations, Meghan Tyler, tells TVBEurope about how she started her media c...
27/03/2024
CueScript Poised to Transform the Prompting Experience wi...
CueScript, the leading developer of professional teleprompting solutions, is poised to transform the prompting experience with a line-up comprised of world firs...
27/03/2024
BeckTV to Focus on Systems Integration for Sports Venues...
Visit Beck TV at 2024 NAB Show at Booth C4035 BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, will showcase its facility design, enginee...
27/03/2024
Arkona to Introduce BLADE master Control and Orchestratio...
arkona technologies GmbH, provider of IP core infrastructure solutions for top-tier broadcast productions, is cutting through the complexity of live production ...
27/03/2024
KRK Launches ROKIT Generation Five Studio Monitors
As the unwavering cornerstone of professional audio monitoring for over three decades, KRK earned its reputation through a rich history of innovation and precis...
27/03/2024
Join Maxon for NAB 2024
Maxon, developers of professional software solutions for editors, filmmakers, motion designers, visual effects artists, and creators of all types, is excited to...
27/03/2024
OpenDrives Reinvents Media Industry Infrastructure Invest...
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, will unveil its new Atlas platform and busi...
27/03/2024
Pixotope NAB 2024 Virtual Production Showcase Shapes the...
Pixotope, the leading software platform for end-to-end real-time virtual production solutions, is ushering in a new era of immersive storytelling at NAB 2024. A...
27/03/2024
Dolby Atmos-enabled CMP Studio Tackles Immersive Mixing W...
Like many in the industry, Multi-platinum, Award-winning Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Songwriter and Musician Clint Murphy's latest work has been consumed by ...
27/03/2024
Ateliere Creative Technologies Unveils the Future of Medi...
Ateliere Locations: AWS Partner Village W1343 F, W1343 S and Fontainebleau Hotel Contact: Arianna Ruvalcaba, Arianna.Ruvalcaba@ateliere.com Century City, Cal...
27/03/2024
Imagine Enables Unified Control of Hybrid On-prem and Clo...
At the 2024 NAB Show (April 14-17, Las Vegas Convention Center, booth W2467), Imagine Communications is making it easier for media companies to efficiently oper...
27/03/2024
LG Studio Series DVLED Displays Make Virtual Production A...
LG Business Solutions USA, a leading innovator of cutting-edge display technologies, has introduced LG Studio Series DVLED, a new family of advanced giant-scree...
27/03/2024
ZTransform Appoints Bob Hawkanson as SVP of Sales for Nor...
Systems and solutions provider continues team expansion and accelerates nation-wide growth strategy ZTransform, a leading technology systems and solutions pro...
27/03/2024
Appear Showcases Groundbreaking Live Production Technolog...
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate its innovative solutions for contribution, remote production and distribution at NAB S...
27/03/2024
Grass Valley expands PHABRIX T and M inventory with QxP p...
Test & measurement innovator, PHABRIX, has announced that Grass Valley has expanded its already-extensive inventory of PHABRIX test & measurement (T&M) equipmen...
27/03/2024
Arrow Media Targets High-Efficiency Story-Telling with Li...
Arrow Media, an award-winning producer of documentary, factual and non-scripted content, creates high quality programming covering a wide range of subjects. Est...
27/03/2024
Planetcast Expands OTT Solutions with Acquisition of Switch Media
SYDNEY & DELHI Planetcast Media Services, a leading media technology services provider in India and Southeast Asia, has acquired one of its key partners, Switch...
27/03/2024
Sony Pictures Expands its FAST Business
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced plans to launch its portfolio of free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels on LG Channels, Samsung...