HITACHI HDTV Cameras Enable Higher-Quality Legislative Television Coverage for The FLORIDA Channel

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Legislative television service The FLORIDA Channel has purchased three Z-HD5000 HDTV cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America, Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to enable high-quality video acquisition for its studio productions. The new studio cameras join 26 HITACHI DK-Z50 box cameras installed earlier in the Capitol building's chambers and committee rooms.

Located in the state Capitol building in Tallahassee, The FLORIDA Channel is a public affairs programming service funded by the Florida Legislature and produced and operated by WFSU-TV, the PBS member station owned by Florida State University. It features programming covering all three branches of state government, and is Florida's primary source for live, unedited coverage of the Governor and Cabinet, the Legislature and the Supreme Court. It produces more than 2,500 hours of original programming each year that can be seen on PBS multicast channels, cable systems and PEG (public, education and government access) channels across the state. The FLORIDA Channel also offers 18 web streams that provide live coverage of all proceedings.

Complementing its live session feeds, The FLORIDA Channel produces studio programs including live Capitol Update newscasts, the Florida Face to Face interview series, and Perspectives, which lets members of the Legislature introduce themselves and discuss their priorities. When the channel recently performed a total overhaul of its production studio - including a new set, new lighting, new teleprompters and more - they took the opportunity to also replace their decade-old cameras as part of the project.

The FLORIDA Channel's selection of the Z-HD5000s was fueled by their satisfaction with the previously-installed DK-Z50 units. We were pleased with the signal quality that was produced by those box cameras, and we wanted that same level of quality for the studio, said Terry Longordo, chief engineer at WFSU-TV/The FLORIDA Channel. Everything on the Z-HD5000s matched what we were looking for.

Picture quality was similarly a key factor when The FLORIDA Channel first selected the DK-Z50 box cameras to replace outdated, non-widescreen models in select rooms. While we use some lower-cost, all-in-one cameras for small meeting rooms, they were not well-suited to cover the larger venues we have in the Knott Building at the Capitol Complex and the House and Senate chambers, recounted Longordo. We wanted beefier, better-quality cameras and heavier robotics systems for the larger rooms. Out of the cameras we tested, we liked the results we got with the HITACHI cameras the best. We noticed a remarkable difference in video quality when we changed the old cameras out for the DK-Z50s.

Eight DK-Z50 cameras are now used in the House chamber, with six more in the Senate chamber and another six in each of the two largest committee rooms in the Knott Building. All of the DK-Z50s are paired with FUJINON HAs18x7.6BZD-T5DD zoom lenses and operated robotically on Ross Video CamBot 500 Series pan/tilt heads.

Longordo highlighted the cameras' ability to overcome lighting-related challenges in the Capitol building. The committee rooms were never designed for camera usage, so the lighting is very basic, he explained. We get some harsh lighting conditions, particularly depending on where people are sitting on the dais. The HITACHI cameras work very well despite the lighting limitations we have to work with.

I have been very happy with the performance and the quality we get from both the DK-Z50 and Z-HD5000 cameras, he summarized. They have definitely brought up the quality of the programming we produce and send out to the public.

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About Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. , headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a company that manufactures broadcasting systems, security and surveillance systems, wireless communications and information systems, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Fiscal 2016 consolidated net sales totaled 171,857 million Yen ($1,531million). For more information on Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc., please visit the companys website at http://www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/global/en/index.html.

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