Broadcast communications program purchases 4K equipment

Pitt-Bradford's communications program is marking 25 years this year, and it plans to buy itself a little present.

Jeff Guterman, associate professor of broadcast communications who founded the program when he came to Pitt-Bradford in 1985 from SUNY Cortland, said that the program has purchased a “4K” camera and monitor display unit.

A 4K camera means virtually 4,000 lines of horizontal resolution. It is also known as ultra high definition television, and Guterman said he was blown away when he first saw it at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2013.

The program already has high-definition cameras and an earmark in the 50 and Beyond Campaign to purchase more equipment, but Guterman said he may take the program straight to 4K. In an experiential learning program like broadcast communications, technology is critical. Guterman came during the end of the analog era, but has kept pace. Pitt-Bradford converted to an all-digital studio in Blaisdell Hall in 2004.

Guterman says that in order for students to find employment, their experiences need to be as close to the working world as possible, and the news packages they submit with resumes need to be like something that would be recorded or produced in a professional studio.

Guterman said he thinks the leap in quality from high definition to ultra high definition surpasses that of the initial leap to high definition.

Jennifer Lewke ’05, an investigative reporter at WRGB-TV CBS 6 in Albany, N.Y., said that Guterman “is really good at looking further down the line and wanting his students to be prepared for whatever changes they may see in their careers.”

Those careers in 25 years have included an ESPN director, an Emmy Award-winning producer for public television, an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning reporter, radio personalities, DJs and producers, directors, and camera operators for stations large and small and independent production companies.