In Broadcast September 2012 - 58

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 12 - SEPTEMBER 2012

InGEAR

Hitachi Ships 16-bit 3G SK-HD1200 Camera
Hitachi Kokusai Electric Europe, a world-wide supplier of broadcast cameras, came to IBC 2012 with news that its new 16-bit SK-HD1200 1080P/3G production camera is shipping in Europe. The SK-HD1200 is Hitachi’s fourth generation HDTV camera that employs market leading progressive scan CCD image sensors and highly-developed and patented 16-bit digital signal processing technologies. The camera represents the company’s highest performance, multi-standard HDTV studio and ﬁeld production camera that satisﬁes regional TV systems worldwide having 50Hz or 60Hz AC line power and both analogue and digital signal outputs. The product of a long-term development initiative with Hitachi, the SK-HD1200 is capable of simultaneous SD and HD outputs and supports the widest range of HD signal formats, including 1080p, 1080i and 720p. “We have showcased prototypes of the SK-HD1200 previously, but the news is that this camera is here and available: furthermore the ﬁnished product lives up to all our hopes and expectations,” commented Paddy Roache, Director and General Manager of Hitachi Kokusai Electric Europe. “Already, we have cameras in use with customers and the feedback we are receiving is very encouraging. This is one of the most signiﬁcant new camera introductions we have seen for many years.” The lightweight 4.4kg camera is a two-piece dockable design. Hitachi’s efforts to miniaturise electronic circuitry has yielded not only the smallest and most ﬂexible Hitachi HDTV camera ever, but also one of the “greenest” and most power efﬁcient (22W camera head power consumption) cameras on the market. Hitachi has achieved an extremely low noise HDTV image, which is the foundation for its high performance and superior picture quality. With the integration of new 2.3 million pixel, micro-lens array, native 1080p CCDs, the SK-HD1200 provides signiﬁcantly higher performance than all prior models. These new sensors enable the SK-HD1200 to achieve superior horizontal and vertical resolution, dynamic range response, sensitivity and ultra-low vertical smear characteristics. The SK-HD1200 takes full advantage of the increased dynamic range output of the new imagers by using the latest integrated16bit analogue-to-digital converters (ADC). These high speed ADCs are the bridge between the analogue output of the CCDs and the advanced Hitachi digital signal processor (DSP). All major components of the Hitachi SK-HD1200 camera system possess their own DSP processor. Different DSP ICs are used independently for the HDTV camera head processing, the transmission system and the Camera Control Unit (CCU) processing. The new powerefﬁcient digital signal processor LSI’s are designed under the 40nm rule with dynamic processing capability
Hitachi’s SK-HD1200 in studio conﬁguration

in excess of 38-bits per pixel, per RGB channel. H i t a c h i ’s DSP processors are designed to support the higher bandwidth of progressive readout HDTV sensors. The increased dynamic headroom of the SK-HD1200 allows faithful reproduction of even the most contrasting images. An excellent overall signal-to-noise ratio is achieved by using proprietary lownoise circuit technology without resorting to noise ﬁltering methods. Even at high gain, clear images are obtained with little noise. Hitachi has brought to market the ﬁrst 3Gbps, fully digital optical transmission system in an HDTV production camera. It is the most accurate transport available for the 10-bit, 1080p images from the camera head to the camera control unit. All command

audio and video signals to and from the camera are digitally transmitted and hence totally immune to EMI/ RFI interference. Camera power and cable condition supervision is enabled using standard SMPTE311type Hybrid Fibre Cable. The maximum HFOC length with applied camera power and fully operational facilities is 4,000m (13,200 feet) with no utility power. Unique to cameras in the SKHD1200’s price range are optical power meters at the camera head (via engineering menu) and on the front of the CU-HD1200 camera control unit. These meters indicate the optical condition of both the receive and transmit signals independently to accurately depict the proximity to the “digital cliff”, maximum cable distance or provide basic fibre cable diagnostics in the field. ■

Hitachi SKHD1200 Cam

http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_tab_home_top http://www.twitter.com/inbroadcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzEatLsHdE&feature=youtube_gdata_player http://www.facebook.com/pages/InBroadcast-e-zine/226166444076212 http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/inbroadcast/id468652679?mt=8 http://WWW.INBROADCAST.COM http://www.hitachi-keu.com/content/broadcast/hdtv_broadcast_production_cameras/sk_hd1200_e.htm

In Broadcast September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast September 2012