Turnkey Sports Production Integrator, ACE Sports, Leverages JVC Gear for Live Video Feeds
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS — As manufacturers, dealers and installers, the team at ACE Sports knows their way around live sports video production. The company, which not only manufactures arena-sized video boards and scoreboards, also helps integrate the third-party equipment necessary to feed content to live audiences. Recognizing that top-of-the-line video boards need to be fed with high-end video, ACE Sports has appointed JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, as its standard brand of cameras and switchers.
“We went through many different brands during our research process and found that, while everybody has their niche, JVC does unique things that we specifically liked,” says Kevin Stevenson, production specialist for ACE Sports. “For starters, it is easy to choose a model. From the GY-HM170 all the way to GY-HC900, each camera has its own specific function, which makes it quick and simple to find the perfect solution for a client’s needs. Some brands have five cameras that do basically the same thing and you have to figure out what you want. JVC does the work for me by providing models that work best for each specific purpose.”
It’s this level of expertise that Stevenson says really sets the brand, and its products, apart.
“JVC knows their market, they know who they’re selling to, and they know exactly what to sell them,” he continues. “The price point is also just unbeatable – you get more bang for your buck with JVC. From our experience, JVC products have a far superior image quality at a similar or lower price than any other manufacturers’ options.”
Product reliability and reputation has also played a significant role in ACE Sports’ consistently spec’ing JVC cameras for its sales and installations. “Our team sees JVC everywhere – not only at the trade shows and conferences, but most importantly at sports venues around the country,” adds Mark Bridges, director of business development for ACE Sports. “We know that JVC has a truly remarkable and reliable product line, and we want to consistently supply our clients with a quality product.”
In addition to the brand’s complete line of cameras, ACE Sports also specs out JVC’s switchers.
“I really like the JVC 4000S switcher, which we’re using most frequently at the moment,” continues Bridges. “It provides an easy-to-use live feed, instant replay and IFB, which gives our high school and collegiate-level customers a setup that rivals professional sports stadiums. I’ve also consistently spec’ed the GY-HM850 and the GY-HC900 cameras for many of our higher-end, larger market clients, and I would say they easily rival any of the other very high-end manufacturers’ offerings.”
As the leading sports video production firm for secondary and higher education facilities around the country, ACE Sports puts a great deal of consideration into how a piece of equipment will benefit students. “Another big part of what we do is equipment training, most especially for the high school and college students,” says Stevenson. “We want them to learn how to handle a camera that’s the same or similar to what they would use in a real-world application. JVC cameras have the right connectivity, the ideal zoom and industry standard body sizes and internal software details, which are all features we want in the cameras. When it comes to switchers, we’ve looked at, sold, installed and used everything out there, and the compact JVC 4000S sports model, with its touchscreen capabilities, has really stood out; it’s also very easy for the students to learn.”
According to Stevenson, ACE Sports also specs and installs JVC’s PZ100 PTZ camera.
“They have perfected this camera to meet the exact needs of their customer base,” he says. “They know their customers and they created a PTZ that works best for their goals, which works for us.”
Lastly, but not least among the reasons for choosing JVC, ACE Sports cites the brand’s tech support and training as another key factor in their decision to specify the brand. “I’m not tech savvy like Kevin, or even our students, but I like to make sure I learn the basics on how to use the equipment as well,” says Bridges. “Whenever there’s something new out there, I can sit down with one of our friends from JVC and they can give me a fast tutorial that has me up and running in no time. This not only speaks to the quality of their training, but the ease-of-use of the product. We look forward to continuing this relationship, and to seeing what great things are on the horizon from JVC.”
Pictures courtesy of Cutter-Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas.