Hitachi Ships New 3G SK-HD1200 Broadcast System Camera in Europe
16 Aug 2012Reinforcing its stated aim of becoming the leading supplier of broadcast cameras worldwide, Hitachi Kokusai Electric Europe (stand 11.E30) comes 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 today 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.
Setting new standards in imaging and digital signal processing
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.
Multi-Format Digital HDTV Production Camera
The SK-HD1200 takes full advantage of the increased dynamic range output of the new imagers by using the latest integrated16-bit 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 power-efficient digital signal processor LSI’s are designed under the 40nm rule with dynamic processing capability in excess of 38-bits per pixel, per RGB channel.
Hitachi’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 low-noise 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 SMPTE311-type Hybrid Fiber 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 SK-HD1200’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 fiber cable diagnostics in the field.