Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension

Specialized HD video acquisition has achieved a new level of versatility, convenience, and quality with the introduction of the Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension. This product seamlessly integrates Ikegami’s HDL-40 advanced one-piece full digital box-type HDTV camera with Telecast Fiber Systems’ HD/POV (High Definition, Point-of-View) fiber optic video, audio, and two-way data transceiver module. Offering high-quality 1080i/60i or 720/60p image capture, the Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension brings a wide array of connectivity and control advances to such specialized HD image-acquisition applications such as POV entertainment and sports, high-end robotic surveillance, weather/traffic cameras, medical imaging, and even studio camera use. Chief among these advances is the elimination of copper wires for interfacing the HDL-40 camera, and the use of fiber optics for transmission over long distances (three miles and greater).

The Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension offers one-connector operation for HD/SDI camera output, as well as all camera controls and genlock. It significantly reduces weight and simplifies setup and installation. A bi-directional fiber optic link, the Telecast HD/POV module is designed to fully maintain the quality of the HD signal while providing multiple channels of high speed, duplex data for robotic pan-tilt-zoom and camera control, as well as tri-level sync signal to the camera. Current users of the HDL-40 with Fiber Extension include CBS’ The Late Show With David Letterman, as well as F&F Productions, a remote television production company based in Clearwater FL that uses the HDL-40s for-among other things-goal-post shots.

“The Ikegami HDL-40 With Fiber Extension brings significant enhancements to any HD production where a POV camera is desirable,” explains Alan Keil, VP/Director of Engineering for Ikegami. “Working alongside Telecast Fiber Systems, we have developed a package that replaces cumbersome multi-cable connections with one lightweight fiber optic cable. The result is a low-cost, highly efficient system that streamlines HD production and opens up a world of new options to its users. Telecast made a special housing for its HD/POV product that connects it directly to the HDL-40 camera without external wires. We also modified the base-station side with our own control-panel-type connector so it can use any of the traditional or new Ikegami control panels.”

“Fiber connectivity is a pure path that guarantees that the signal leaving the HDL-40 With Fiber Extension reaches the ancillary equipment exactly as it was intended-uncompressed and uncompromised,” adds Joe Commare, VP of Marketing and International Sales for Telecast Fiber Systems. “Ikegami is well-known for developing high-quality HD solutions, and fiber is a natural choice when it comes to managing the high-bandwidth signals of HD. We are proud to have partnered with Ikegami on this latest innovation.”

Ikegami’s HDL-40 advanced one-piece full digital box-type HDTV camera is a 2/3-inch camera system with superb picture quality that’s designed to address myriad remote-control applications. It is available with native 1080i CCDs, native 720pCCDs, and multi-format CMOS sensors. The HDL-40 incorporates a state-of-the-art 3.3 million-gate ASIC and can output two HD SDI signals without a CCU (camera control unit). The camera body is both compact and lightweight, and it incorporates a range of digital features and options.