Larry Thorpe, Canon
ALEXANDRIA, VA. Larry Thorpe has a long industry background in imaging. A senior fellow of the imaging technologies and communications group (in the professional engineering and solutions division) of Canon U.S.A., Thorpe is a renowned expert in the field of video acquisition.
A visionary who spent more than 20 years at Sony pioneering the development of HD and digital production technologies in the U.S. broadcast and motion picture industries, Thorpe holds 10 patents in the field of broadcast development. He has also authored or co-authored a variety of papers on camera technology, HDTV imaging, HD lenses and optics.
As a result of his leadership, contributions and achievements, Thorpe received the NAB 2000 Television Engineering Achievement Award, the Montreux 2000 Gold Medal Award for Digital Cinematography, and in 2004, the Broadcasting & Cable Technical Leadership Award in 2004 and the Television Academy's Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Thorpe has also held senior positions at RCA, and in 1981 was awarded the David Sarnoff Award for his innovations in automatic studio color cameras.
Thorpe is an IEE graduate (1961) of the College of Technology in Dublin, Ireland, and received his Chartered Engineer (C. Eng.) and MIEE distinction in 1965 from the Institute of Electrical Engineers in London. He is a Life Fellow of SMPTE.
Thorpe graciously agreed to answer some questions for Broadcast Engineering Extra about camera sensor sizes and their effect on production.
This is what it looks like when you attach a $1,300 large-sensor camera to a 55x box lens.
In the meantime, a video tinkerer with time and money decided to see if an expensive high-quality studio/sports box lens could be attached to a relatively inexpensive large-format sensor camera. A YouTube user called SirJonnyCargo fitted a $60,000 55x Fujinon lens with a $1,300 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 camera and got surprisingly good results. You can read more about it and watch an interesting video by visiting www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/a--lens-on-a--camera/276317.
Back to Larry Thorpe:
BE Extra: In terms of sensor size and configuration, what type of camera do you recommend for episodic TV production? Why?
Thorpe: Super 35mm large-format lens and single-sensor camera are recommended for your typical episodic. This is because episodics were for many years shot on 35mm film and that cinematic look is strongly established. A broad range of S35mm lenses both zooms and primes are readily available, and their unique optical characteristics are also a significant contributor to that look.
BE Extra: Are there certain kinds of scenes when a different type of camera will give better results? If so, what's an example?
Thorpe: There can be many scenes where a deep depth-of-field may be desirable, and here a small image format camera can be beneficial. There can be fast-action scenes and scenes entailing high mobility that can exploit the small physical attributes of some of the available small-format cameras.
BE Extra: What are the benefits of using multiple sensors (such as a three-chip camera) instead of a single sensor?
Thorpe: Tri-sensor cameras offer high sensitivity and excellent colorimetry. They are available in 2/3-inch image format size, and 1/2-inch and 1/3-inch thus offering flexible options for increasingly deep depth-of-fields. They also directly originate full-bandwidth RGB 4:4:4 (no de-bayering algorithms being required), which certainly in the case of HDTV can make excellent final HD video.
Most strikingly, in broadcast television sports coverage where very long focal length zoom lenses are a necessity large-format lenses cannot compete with established 2/3-inch field lenses and cameras.
BE Extra: What about a station that wants to upgrade its news studio cameras and is thinking about leveraging the cost/performance of single large-sensor cameras? Good or bad idea?
Thorpe: Generally television station studios require a broad focal range zoom lens as well as wide-angle options. Studio box lenses are typically in the 25:1 zoom range. Studio portable lenses are generally in the 22-24:1 zoom range. Large-format zoom lenses don't come close to such focal ranges.
Equally important is the expected systemization of studio cameras requiring triax/fiber cabling to CCUs in central control rooms and also remote video operational panels. Few large format cameras offer such systemization, and those that do are very expensive.
BE Extra: Do you know if anyone is doing this?
Thorpe: Some stations and networks are using large format single sensor cameras for their news magazine shows where they seek a more cinematic look especially for interviews. I know of no television station using a large-format camera for any cost advantages. Small format cameras are readily available from multiple manufacturers today that are highly cost-effective.
BE Extra: What are one or two important things regarding single large-sensor cameras vs. multiple small-sensor cameras that might not be immediately obvious?
Thorpe: A large-sensor camera sensor for HDTV generally has larger-sized photosites that offer greater dynamic range and lower noise than the small tri-sensor cameras. At a time when HDR is emerging as a desirable enhancement to digital imaging (both HD and UHD), this will become increasingly important.
Television stations that are considering acquiring new cameras need to first assess the nature of the program genres they will be originating. Some productions will find a shallow depth-of-field cinematic look desirable, while other shows will need to maintain the established look that is offered by small format lens-camera systems. Operational needs must also be factored in and this entails lens focal ranges, viewfinder requirements and studio systemization. Interfaces must also b
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Larry Thorpe, Canon 
