A fledgling company called Iconix Video (Santa Barbara, Calif.) wants
to change your point of view on HD acquisition, at least in terms of
size and price. Company founder Wayne Upton offered a sneak preview in
Burbank last week of the new $16,000 HD-RH1 multiformat HD POV camera,
which captures images in all common HD resolutions, including 1080p/60.
It uses three 1/3-inch progressive 16:9 CCD imagers inside a compact
camera head that measures 1.32" x 1.5" x 1.92". The camera should be a
hit with motion picture and episodic television professionals looking
for the highest quality when shooting from hard-to-reach angles.
another potential application is multi-head arrays for 360-degree HD
shots (a la The Matrix).
The camera is the brainchild of Upton, who began developing it two
years ago for medical imaging applications. It uses a controller the
size of a small laptop (8.4" x 1.78" x 12") that remotely controls the
head at distances of up to 30 feet. For $16,000, you get the 2.5 oz.
camera head, 3.5 lb. controller, power supply and a video cable. In
addition to its ability to acquire in 720p (actually about 700 lines)
and 1080i (roughly 900 lines), frame rates supported include 24, 25,
30, 50 and 60. By using the dual link option, the camera can shoot
1080p/60. On the other end of the spectrum, the camera offers 525i/625i
and analog outputs. It uses a 1/3-inch C-mount to accommodate a variety
of lenses.
The company also said the HD-RH1 has a low noise threshold (greater
than 54 db S/N, Y channel) and features retractable push knobs on the
front panel to allow users to adjust gain, black and white balance and
color, as well as three user-assignable presets. The back panel has
SDI, DVI-D and analog outputs, along with genlock capability. Lens and
iris control are also available on the panel and can be operated by
menu, along with programmable gamma functions and electronic shutter
enhancements.
In a bit of a departure, the camera's three-CCD prism leverages an
asynchronous signal processing architecture. In most digital cameras,
the imager runs at the same rate as the output signal. With the HD-RH1,
the CCD runs at a completely different clock rate from the output
signal. This maintains the highest quality signal. Upton said this
design could lead to other products, such as a real-time HD codec.
The new POV camera will be demonstrated and available for purchase at
NAB 2006 in April. It will get its first real-world test with European
broadcasters at the World Cup Soccer tournament in Germany this summer.
Several Hollywood studios are also said to be looking at it.
For more information, visit http://www.iconixvideo.com.