When you think of golf and television, you probably think of watching Tiger Woods triumphantly striding the fairway during a televised event from the PGA tour. But the PGA TOUR is active behind the camera as well as in front of it. PGA TOUR Productions operates a state-of-art television studio and production facility, located on the grounds of the World Golf Village, outside Jacksonville, FL. The facility relies on Sony television equipment, and PGA TOUR Productions’ chief engineer, John Martin, relies on Sony’s SupportNET service program to manage his maintenance and upgrade costs.

PGA TOUR Productions is responsible for a variety of broadcast material including live, pre-tournament shows and the Inside the PGA TOUR show on cable television and non- broadcast material, such as promotional videos for corporate events.

The PGA TOURS Productions group moved from temporary quarters elsewhere in Jacksonville to its current home in 1998. The new facility houses three linear editing rooms, and its equipment includes Sony cameras, editors, tape machines, switchers, and digital video effects boxes, with the most recent purchase being a MVS-9000 switcher for live broadcast use. Between the ongoing evolution and upgrading of broadcast equipment and the opportunity to make a wholesale transition to digital technology afforded by its 1998 move in Jacksonville, there’s very little equipment in the new facility that was in the old one.

Martin evaluated his support needs at the time of the Jacksonville move and decided that a SupportNET contract made fiscal sense. “Part of my job as chief engineer is to predict and budget how much money I will need for VTR maintenance each year,” says Martin. “When I compared the amount of money I was spending on parts with the cost of Sony SupportNET coverage, I found the numbers were the same.

“I bought the SupportNET coverage because it gave me an extended warranty on all of my Digital Betacam® equipment for the same amount of money I was spending on parts and doing the repairs myself,” says Martin. “Also, I get free software fixes as a bonus.”

Martin has every intention of sticking with the SupportNET program, he says. “I still compare the value of the service and parts I receive to the cost of the SupportNET coverage, and it still makes good sense to continue.” —Jake Widman

Want to earn valuable merchandise every time you buy Sony data media? Just join Sony’s Storage Sales RewardsSM program. Storage Sales Rewards allows you to earn points on every qualifying Sony data media purchase, including AIT, DDS, DLT, LTO and 5.25-inch MO. Members can save and redeem their points for more than 220 exciting rewards, including popular Sony consumer electronics, Blockbuster® gift cards and movie tickets. What’s more, you can start redeeming rewards with as few as 1,000 points!

“This program puts our loyal customers just where they belong—in the driver’s seat,” says Kevin Handerson, director of the Data Media business unit. “Not only do they benefit by using the best storage media on the planet, but they can choose their own reward when Sony says ‘thank you for your business.’“

Participation has more than doubled since the beginning of 2002 due to the great reward opportunities. All memberships expire two years from the enrollment date. See program for more complete details. Storage Sales Rewards is available only to Sony data media end-users who purchase directly from Sony or through authorized Sony data media distributors.

AN ADDED BONUS: Enroll by December 15, 2002, and Sony will credit your account with 250 bonus points just to get you started. Simply enter the promotional code Network Magazine on your online enrollment form.

www.sonystoragerewards.com

The much-anticipated arrival of digital radio is near, led by iBiquity Digital Corporation. iBiquity developed HD Radio™, the high definition (HD) audio technology for AM and FM radio that converts these longtime analog broadcasts to digital, thereby producing improved audio quality, reduced noise and static, and expanded data services.

rollout in major markets is scheduled for 2003. Who provides the DTRS audiotape this leading edge Columbia, MD, company uses to test its technology? Yes, Sony.

However, iBiquity needs to show that HD Radio works. “In the development and test process, we have to show the FCC and other regulatory bodies that the system works,” says Martinson. “We put digital radio stations on the air, and we record the audio quality in our mobile vans using Sony DTRS media.

“We use the eight audio tracks of the Sony tapes to record digital and analog audio and to compare quality between analog radio and digital,” Martinson says.“The equipment and tape has to be robust. It gets banged around. We’ve purchased over 150 Sony DARS 60MP tapes because we’ve had flawless experience with it.”

Another advantage of Sony DTRS tape, says Martinson, is its pinpoint control capability. For example, SMPTE time codes can synch automatically with global positioning satellite coordinates from the van, so the results from all locations are precisely documented and can be easily duplicated for the FCC.

Also, iBiquity’s investors are very interested in hearing the broadcast sound quality faithfully recorded. When it comes to reproducing iBiquity’s results, Martinson says,“Sony tape works great.” —Michael Goldstein

Sony Electronics has introduced the PetaApp system for data backup, a pre-configured and pre-tested solution that provides the fastest backup speeds on the market by integrating Sony hardware and software into a total packaged solution.

Based on Sony’s PetaBack™ software and DTF-2 tape drives, which have the market’s fastest data transfer rate of 24 MB/s, the PetaApp system provides a near-custom designed solution to centrally back up data in Network-Attached Storage, Storage Area Network, and heterogeneous storage environments. This packaged solution can eliminate downtime and freezes normally associated with data backup windows in networked environments by enabling serverless backup. The PetaApp system delivers improved cost performance, customized backup size and quick delivery to customers. “The Sony PetaApp system is particularly designed to

Customized to meet the capacity requirements of virtually any size enterprise, the PetaApp system comes pre-assembled with the Sony PetSite® Tape Library, DTF-2 tape drives, a Brocade SilkWorm® Fibre Channel fabric switch and PetaBack software. The system readily attaches to a network via a SCSI or Fibre Channel connection.

The DTF-2 drives at the heart of this system achieve a sustained, native transfer rate of 24 MB/s, the fastest data transmission rate in the industry. By combining high-speed backup with Brocade SAN infrastructure, the PetaApp system allows direct access to the automated PetaSite tape storage library without the data bottlenecks that can impede Local Area Network backups.

www.sony.com/datasystems

To help organizations capture and manage high-quality security video over their IT networks, Sony Electronics is working with Lenel Systems International, Inc. to offer an integrated IP-based networked video surveillance, archive and storage solution.

The solution will marry Sony’s portfolio of IP-addressable security cameras and StorStation™ storage devices with Lenel’s OnGuard® software to run on global high- bandwidth networks. The effort is considered a first of its kind for the security industry, the companies say. By bringing together these two leaders in security imaging, systems integration and networking, the effort will offer a complete solution to organizations seeking to build an enterprise-wide digital surveillance system.

Integrating traditional audio/visual products with IT networks offers the ability to manage high-quality video over data networks, access to images anywhere at any time, and remote control of security cameras.

“Because it’s critical to have access to security and surveillance video, organizations are rapidly adopting open-circuit networking systems and transitioning from closed-circuit monitoring,” says James Sandy, vice president of security and visual imaging products at Sony Electronics’ Business Solutions and Systems Company.“In working with Lenel, we’re offering a solution that can be used in almost every conceivable security application, including building security, visitor management, physical asset management and alarm monitoring.”

“As the IT and electronic security realms continue on their path of convergence, and as digital video surveillance becomes a ubiquitous and indispensable facet in the operation of all organizations, the joint efforts of Sony and Lenel mark a significant step forward for the security industry,” says Rudy Prokupets, chief technology officer and executive vice president of research and development for Rochester, NY-based Lenel Systems. “The cooperation between our two companies will immeasurably benefit our customers, who will realize a more secure environment, an enhanced investigation capability and a greater return on their security investment dollars.” Sony’s IP- addressable cameras includes the SNC-RZ30N pan, tilt, zoom network camera with its built-in web server for remote viewing and capturing of high-quality video; and the SNC- VL10N vari-focal camera featuring TCP/IP, FTP, DHCP and Simple Management Transfer Protocol networking capabilities. Sony’s StorStation storage devices provide automated and centralized data backup and recovery for enterprise-level storage environments.

With its Total Security Knowledge Management Solutions™ software, Lenel Systems International seamlessly integrates different technologies through an open architecture. The company’s flagship product, OnGuard, offers an all-encompassing security environment that integrates and manages access control, ID/credential management, alarm monitoring, physical asset management, digital video, intrusion detection and visitor management functions.

www.sony.com/security
www.lenel.com