News

WMAR-TV, ABC2News, the Scripps station in Baltimore, has just unveiled its new set from Park Place Studio.
Notice the new LED Soft Video effect left and right of the anchor area -- which is exclusive to our designs. RGB lit prints throughout the set. Excellent collaborative design work by the station staff, and this is the result! Thanks to all!

At NAB 2015, Park Place Studio revealed a new technology that we're proud to begin offering on our sets. These are displays that do not show any seams when on-camera. The displays consists of 400 x 300 mm panels, side by side. The P1.5mm density display that will take a standard video signal through our control software. Scalable, low energy and long life is the new world of video display technology. Stay tuned for more news about our manufacturing partner and new developments in high and low resolution video backgrounds!

Cincinnati: Can a Television News Set Enhance News Content?

Commenting on WCPO’s (Scripps/Cincinnati) new Park Place Studio set, Paul Greeley (@TVMarketShare) wrote in TVNewsCheck, “While I think it’s true that news sets don’t win news ratings, it’s also true that local TV news is in the presentation business. And with many stations airing seven hours or more of local news a day, much of it emanating from inside the station’s studio, the overall appeal of the news set — the position of the talent, the desk, the lighting, the color scheme, the background, the camera angles and the technology — must figure in prominently in the viewing experience, even if it’s subtle and subconscious.”

WCPO’s set, like its groundbreaking sister at KGTV in San Diego features expansive video arrays on a backdrop of colorchanging RGB lightboxes. The set offers more than 20 different shooting positions using WCPO’s five fixed robotic cameras. An additional robotic camera provides panoramic shots from the grid.

“Now, more than ever, set technology adds content,” says Jeff Brogan, VP-GM of WCPO, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati.”

“With touch screens and large TV monitors, we can tell the story in a better way,” Brogan adds. “And how you tell stories wins ratings.”

“When the news is breaking and unscripted,” Brogan says, “our anchors’ interaction with each other, the touch screens, their ability to bring in various sources like maps, websites, live reports from the field, makes for a dynamic presentation. Viewers feel as if they’re discovering the news just as we are.”

WCPO unveiled its new set on Monday, April 21.

Beijing: Abandoned Factory Becomes China’s Newest Shopping Channel

With its 80 years of combined studio experience, award winning designers and full service lighting services, Park Place Studio offered the capability to tackle a massive transformation of an industrial structure in the Chaoyang District on the outskirts of Beijing for Global Home Shopping (GHS).

The goal was to create a fully HD studio design with 7 ground floor and 2 second floor venues, capable of supporting a round-the-clock schedule of new inserts for its channel. These venues included a modular and fully functioning kitchen area, living and dining rooms, an outdoor porch area standup demo area as well as a sweeping circular staircase for runway fashion modeling sequences.

In the concepting phase, Park Place Studio we met with the GHS team in Beijing and begin a Q&A process to investigate all performance requirements, including number of areas, talent positions within them, shooting sequences needed for each program, technical integration and lighting equipment needs.

The design phase included 7 versions until the refinements met with the approval and enthusiasm of GHS. The building conversion, set and lighting design were all implemented under Park Place Studio’s supervision.

Owner Park Warne conducted a week of rehearsal coaching with GHS production crews and on-air talent on his final visit to Beijing in May.