News

Hitachi's new SK-900 Breaks new Technological Ground in High-Performance SDTV Production Cameras (5/4/2005)

Hitachi Denshi America, Ltd.'s Broadcast & Professional Division will introduce the SK-900, a Broadcast-quality, 14-bit Analog-to-digital converter, standard-definition DSP production camera with triaxial cable transmission system and camera control unit. The SK-900 is the companyÕs flagship SDTV production camera and is well suited for high-end studio and field production as well as television broadcast stations.

The solid-performance foundation of the SK-900 is its predecessor, the popular SK-888 model which will remain in manufacture. Most accessories of the existing SK-888 series can be used with the new SK-900.

On the imaging front-end the SK-900 employs switchable aspect ratio, 2/3-inch, 1.2 million pixel, Inter-line transfer CCDs which provide vertical smear and signal to noise performance better than that of the Frame-Interline-Transfer CCD cameras. This improvement is primarily due to the doubling in vertical pixel count as well as new high-efficiency design micro-lens structure on top of the photodiode area of each of the pixels on the CCD.

Hitachi has implemented 14-bit analog to digital converters for each of the RGB signals handled inside the camera. These new analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) allow 16,384 sampling points on each color channel. Compared to 12-bit ADC cameras, this represents a four-fold improvement in dynamic range and color gradation. At the heart of the new SK-900 is HitachiÕs fourth-generation Digital Signal Processor (DSP) with a maximum processing power of 38-bit per pixel per color-channel. This Hitachi VLSIC (Very Large Scale Integrated IC) combines functions of a DSP and CPU thereby assuring complete digital accuracy and stability. Hitachi further includes a completely digital NTSC encoder in its camera DSP which provides pristine quality composite and component video signals.

User features of the SK-900 include functions such as a 5 position Electronic Color Compensation which when combined with the optical filters, provide a wide exposure latitude such as encountered on outdoor productions from dusk to dawn natural lighting conditions. Other time-saving tools of the SK-900 are full Gray-Scale chart automatic setup that allows precise color matching between cameras even with different optics, CF memory card for offline storage and transfer of camera setup parameters, a new design handle and low-rise studio/ EFP viewfinder mount. The new SK-900 also includes SDI output from the camera head using the existing CA-D7 digital adapter.

The triaxial cable CCU (camera control unit), model TU/CX-Z3A, allows the camera to be used with more than 1900 meters of 11.5mm OD triax cable. "A prominent feature of the SK-900Õs triax system is the completely digital intercom and program audio system which is virtually noise and interference free due to use of PCM codecs" said Emilio Aleman Product Manager, Broadcast and Professional Products, Hitachi Denshi America, Ltd. "The SK-900 will appeal to production companies, broadcasters and content creators wanting to capture the most subtle details and color gradations in their scenes and still stay within a tight budget."

Other performance specifications of the SK-900 include 850-line resolution in 4:3 aspect ratio, 800 in 16:9, high signal-to-noise ratio (65db), 2/3-inch CCDs, F11 sensitivity, digital shading compensation, highchroma detail, flesh-tone masking, fully automatic dual flesh-tone detail correction.

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