CyLTV upgrades the equipment at its production centres with Sony Professional

Basingstoke, 12th January 2021: as part of an ambitious technological upgrade plan, CyLTV (Castilla y León Televisión), has significantly invested in Sony professional cameras and has also set up wireless workflows for news production for the first time.

CyLTV has acquired 27 PXW-Z280 handheld cameras, 8 HXC-FB80 studio camera chains, and 13 BRC-H900 remote control robotic cameras. As well as improving image quality and streamlining studio operations, CyLTV’s investment in camera technology with connectivity through wireless mobile networks has allowed them to optimise production workflows and broadcast news images faster.

CyLTV is Castile and León’s own autonomous television channel and is managed by the 100% private equity company Radio Televisión de Castilla y León S.A., which is the licensee of the DTT service in the Autonomous Community. It began broadcasting on 9 March 2009 and its audiovisual content is distributed via two channels: La 7, which broadcasts the same material to the whole territory 24 hours a day, and La 8, the autonomous region’s channel with its own provincial identity, which airs different programmes in different territories in certain time slots. CyLTV’s main offices are in Valladolid, where it has two offices for information services and programmes produced in-house. In addition, it also has 10 territorial production centres located in the nine provincial capitals of the Autonomous Community (Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora) and in the province of Bierzo (Ponferrada), and it has a local office in Madrid.

CyLTV has bought recording equipment from Sony Professional ever since it was founded. Its previous positive experience with Sony Professional in addition to the features, performance and robustness of its equipment persuaded CyLTV to put its faith in the Japanese manufacturer again for this important renovation process. In addition, the staff at the television channel are already familiar with the equipment, which provides significant added value at this time of technological change at CyLTV.

For field news recording throughout the region, the television channel has added 27 Sony Professional PXW-Z280 lightweight camcorders to its existing operational equipment. This handheld camera has the most advanced features on the market, with three 1/2″ Exmor CMOS sensors and 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, which make it an exceptionally bright model, reaching a sensitivity of F13 at 50 Hz and a S/N ratio of 63 dB. The 3G and 4G wireless connectivity allows camera operators in the field to stream live content or send recorded files to the production centre. This saves teams from having to travel long distances back from the news site to deliver content, saving valuable time that news production teams can use to their advantage to broadcast news with images as soon as possible.

CyLTV is also using 8 Sony Professional HXC-FB80 studio camera chains to produce news and entertainment programmes at both of its production centres in Valladolid. The cameras have 3 2/3″ Exmor CMOS sensors that produce impressive image quality and can even offer Ultra High Definition and HDR outputs. As a new feature, they can be operated through the HZC-RCP5 control software and a single RCP‑3500 remote panel, so that a single operator can control several HXC-FB80s from a network computer that dynamically assigns control of the cameras to the remote panel.

In addition to this, CyLTV uses 13 BRC-H900 robotic cameras. This model is an integrated PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) camera equipped with 3 1/2″ CMOS sensors with Full HD (1920 x 1080), which makes it the triple sensor robotic camera with the largest pickup devices on the market. These compact cameras are used to produce local programmes and news at CyLTV’s territorial centres. A single team member can operate up to three remote cameras, optimising operations without sacrificing production value.

“At CyLTV we are extremely excited,” says Jorge Losada, CEO of CyLTV. “With this new equipment we will be able to take an important step forward in terms of being able to offer our viewers in Castile and León content that is more agile, versatile and in higher definition. This reinforces our commitment to offer local television, and above all quality public service”.

“Sony Professional is happy that CyLTV has confidence in our entire range of cameras, from ENGs that will be used to report directly from the news site, to robotic cameras that will be used in territorial centres and studio cameras that will be installed in the two offices in Valladolid,” says Héctor Sierra, Sony Professional’s Key Account Manager. “We are very proud to be able to be by their side as technological partners during this important transformation and modernisation process.”