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Item No. 08H <br />Type of Business: Consent <br />Meeting Date: April 28, 2003 <br /> <br /> City of Mounds View Staff Report <br /> <br />To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From: Kenneth Gammell, Television Production <br />Coordinator <br />Item Title/Subject: Camcorder Purchase <br /> <br /> <br />Introduction: <br /> <br />This report provides details for the proposed purchase of a camcorder for cable production. <br /> <br />The Capital Equipment fund (Account# 210 – 4350 – 7030) for 2003 is $10,000. For at least <br />two years, research has been done to find the most suitable piece of equipment, based on <br />price and features. <br /> <br />Discussion: <br /> <br />1. Background <br /> <br />After an extensive inventory and review of current equipment and future equipment needs, <br />the cable budget has enough to comfortably support the purchase of a low-end professional <br />camcorder. The most recent camcorder purchased was a Panasonic AG -456 SVHS <br />Camcorder in 1997. Currently the camcorder has no power cable and it cannot be <br />determined at this time whether it works, but indications are that it does not. Nevertheless, <br />this camcorder has already become outdated, and the features are not considered <br />professional quality. <br /> <br />The City of Mounds View should have a working camcorder available on the premises for <br />any videotaping needs. This includes the Police department, whose own camcorder is too <br />old to be reliable. There are numerous local events of public int erest in which the Cable <br />department normally videotapes. The Cable Committee currently is organizing several <br />programs, which are mentioned in more detail on the Cable Update Memo. <br /> <br />2. Digital Video <br /> <br />In the past five years, digital video has become the standard format for recording and playing <br />back video. Digital video offers higher quality image and sound, while taking up less space. <br />During this time, the North Suburban Communications Commission, most commonly known <br />as CTV, has replaced nearly all of their equipment with digital video. The City of Mounds <br />View has also been steadily updating their equipment to digital video, using the DVCAM <br />format. The proposed purchase of a new camcorder would use the DVCAM or Mini -DV