(Grass Valley, CA) AJA Video, a leading manufacturer of professional video interface and conversion solutions, announced today that its KONA 2 video capture card is being used on two of the most popular game show in the world – Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! from Sony Pictures Television.
On Wheel of Fortune, KONA 2 is used to drive the High Definition video to the HD contestant wall where scenes of prize destination locations are shown during the game. For Jeopardy!, KONA 2 is used to cut SD material for various segments of the show.
KONA 2, in an Apple G5 located in a small edit suite just off-stage on the Wheel of Fortune set, drives the HD video out of the Final Cut Pro system directly to the large screen projector and onto the 8.4’ by 15’ HD “Contestant Wall”. Projected live, while Wheel of Fortune is being played and videotaped, the Wall shows vivid images of locations around the world shot in HD exclusively for Wheel of Fortune.
“After renting broadcast HD equipment to do the playback on Wheel, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to look at alternative ways to save money, while allowing seamless, live, last minute changes,” said Phil Squyres, Senior Vice President, Technical Operations for Sony Pictures Television. “I knew that a major U.S. television network broadcast the Super Bowl last year using a G5 and KONA 2 for live editing, and that intrigued me.”
Tracey Glynn, an Editor for Wheel of Fortune and already familiar with AJA and KONA, was eager to embrace KONA 2 to drive HD material to the Contestant Wall. “We are very pleased with the quality, reliability, and the friendly interface. Likewise, AJA’s KONA control panel is ideal for routing and switching formats on the fly.” KONA 2 is, for Glynn, “the only way to the wall!” She continued: “The system travels well allowing for overflow and special project editing on location. What began in an upstart post facility editing Jeopardy’s Clue Crew with Associate Director, David Irete, the Apple/KONA system quickly found its way to Sony under the watchful eye of Phil Squyres and Wheel of Fortune’s Bob Sofia, Wheel of Fortune Technical Supervisor.”
"When Wheel of Fortune wanted to use KONA 2 for live playback during the game's videotaping, we knew KONA 2 would be capable of handling the demands of doing a live broadcast which couldn't afford glitches or delays,” said Ted Schilowitz, Worldwide Product Manager, Desktop Video, AJA Video. “KONA 2 had already been used for live editing of the largest television broadcasts of major sports events, including the World Series, Super Bowl, and NASCAR, and had proven that it could provide excellent, broadcast quality editing under the most strenuous conditions.”
Tracey has recently begun utilizing a second G5-KONA 2 system for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in another editing suite located at Garbo Post (also located on the Sony lot) off-set. The original on-stage editing suite is primarily used for HD playback on studio shoot days, but is also used to send Standard Def special projects to the Control Room for broadcast. About AJA Video Systems, Inc.
Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of video interface and conversion solutions, bringing high-quality, cost-effective digital video products to the professional broadcast and post production markets. AJA offers Io (the “ultimate” capture box), KONA and XENA PCI capture cards, miniature stand-alone converters, and a complete line of rack mount interface and conversion cards and frames. With headquarters located in Grass Valley, California, AJA Video designs and manufactures all of its products in the USA, with an extensive sales channel of dealers and systems integrators around the world. For further information, please see our website at http://www.aja.com
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