Ikegami Brings HDK-95C, HC-HD00 Cameras to Palace Sports & Entertainment

Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) recently added eight new Ikegami CMOS cameras at two of the region's most popular venues: the Palace of Auburn Hills, which is the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, and the DTE Energy Music Theatre amphitheater.

At the Palace, fans watching the center-hung scoreboard's giant HD screens now experience the precision imagery of six Ikegami HDK-95C/BDT Full Digital Portable CMOS camera systems. The new HDK-95C cameras were selected for The Palace as part of a complete renovation to the arena's broadcast center, which produces live in-house coverage of the game itself as well as the timeout and halftime entertainment.

The Palace has a long history of using Ikegami products, which goes back to 1988 when the building first opened, says Mark W. Gavras, P.E., Chief Broadcast Engineer for PS&E. We see Ikegami as being in the top tier of camera systems, and when we got the chance to upgrade, we knew we would go with them again. The HDK-95 provides excellent functionality for the price, and it provides the superior imagery that we expect from Ikegami: The pictures they produce look the most natural, with excellent colorimetry.

Gavras and his team specified Ikegami's new OCP-300 operation control panels to pair with their HDK-95 cameras. The OCP-300 features a touch screen LCD panel interface, and offers the flexibility to operate in an Ethernet or Arcnet network control system, or directly connected to the camera system. We put the OCP-300 in the shading station, and it gives you a full range of everything that you want to do, says Gavras. When you go into the touch screen pages, you have handles for the gammas, knees, flares, and more. It's all there there's nothing you can't adjust.

Part of Ikegami's Unicam HD line, the HDK-95C HD portable digital camera is equipped with Native multi-format 2.5 million pixel, 2/3 inch CMOS sensors. It also features an upgrade path to 24p and 3G formats, including 1080/60p and 4:4:4 24p.

The 15,724-capacity DTE Energy Music Theatre in nearby Clarkston, MI, is recognized as one of the most-attended amphitheaters in the country. PS&E acquired two new Ikegami HC-HD300 camera systems for the venue, as part of a package to provide image magnification for any visiting artists that don't carry their own video equipment.

The newest addition to Ikegami's Unicam HD product line, the HC-HD300 is a highly flexible, docking style camera that represents Ikegami's most affordable HD studio camera system. At DTE Energy Music Theatre, their realistic CMOS imagery feeds five large video screens to significantly enhance the fan experience.

The video magnification show that we do lets you see the tight shots that you would miss without a camera: the sweat pouring off the drummer, or the way a guitarist works the neck of their guitar, Gavras explains. We initially thought that we wouldn't have the financial resources to get Ikegami products at DTE, but when we found out about the HC-HD300 we realized that it would be possible.

We are quite pleased with their performance. They have the natural-looking picture that we've come to expect from Ikegami, and the colorimetry is very good. They also are somewhat lighter weight, which of course our camera operators love.

Ready for the studio or field, the HC-HD300 features a newly-developed 1/3-inch 3-CMOS optical block design, in keeping with the outstanding imagery and same rugged construction of the broadcast-ready Unicam HD line.

CMOS sensors are now exceeding the performance of CCDs in sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio, and resolution. They continue to offer low power consumption, no vertical smear, and a high degree of format flexibility. With extensive ongoing research and development in this technology, the adoption of CMOS for broadcast camera use is now the trend.

With two venues, and thousands of demanding sports and music fans to please year-round, the reliability of Ikegami cameras, along with their world-class support, have made the new HDK-95's and HC-HD300 cameras a welcome addition at Palace Sports & Entertainment.

It's important to know you'll get fast turnaround on service if you need it, Mark Gavras says. We have at least 41 games at the Palace every year, and dozens of concerts at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, so we can't be down a camera. Things are happening live here, and we need the right camera to capture it. Ikegami has worked out very well for us.

Ikegami Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc. is a leading supplier of professional broadcasting products in the Western Hemisphere. With US offices in New Jersey, California, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Georgia, the Ikegami name is recognized globally for its state-of-the-art television cameras and closed-circuit TV equipment. World-class CMOS imagery, multi-format flexibility, and unparalleled customer support define the Ikegami experience for users in broadcast, sports venues, mobile production, houses of worship, education, corporate and many more applications.

LINK:	http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2015/08/ikegami-brings-hdk-95c-hc-hd3...
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