MAYWOOD, NEW JERSEY, January 30, 2008 - WINK, a leading television station in the Fort Myers FL market for more than 50 years, has added another first to its long history of broadcast accomplishments by inaugurating newscasts in HDTV. Among the advanced technologies chosen by this Southwest Florida CBS affiliate to accomplish its historic transition were four Ikegami HDK-790EXIII full digital HDTV studio camera systems.
“Having Ikegami cameras in our studio was very important to us as we planned our switchover to HD,” says Keith Stuhlmann, Director of Engineering for WINK-TV. “We were determined to be first with an HD local newscast in our market, but we weren‘t going to cut corners to get there; you need great cameras. You really can‘t beat how sharp and clean the imagery from the Ikegami cameras are.”
The first TV station to go on the air in its market (in 1954), WINK converted its entire infrastructure, which also powers CW affiliate WXCW, to full HD. Already familiar with Ikegami‘s superb imagery and outstanding reliability from the station‘s experience with its long-serving standard-definition Ikegami HK-343 studio/field cameras, Stuhlmann and his team were interested in seeing what Ikegami had to offer to their made-for-HDTV news set, designed with 16:9 specifically in mind.
“WINK always buys top-of-the-line, and we wanted to continue getting the excellent service that we always got with our Ikegami HK-343‘s,” Stuhlmann recalls. “After making HD camera comparisons at last year‘s NAB exhibit, we were very impressed with the Ikegami HDK-790EXIII. We didn‘t see a better camera anywhere. They make great pictures, and perform extremely well under low-light conditions.”
The HDK-790EXIII is Ikegami‘s top-of-the-line full digital HDTV studio camera system, which is engineered for industry-leading picture quality, exceptional functionality, and highly reliable performance. The HDK-790EXIII incorporates newly developed 2/3-inch 2,300,000-pixel 1080i AIT CCD image sensors that achieve a horizontal resolution of 1,000 lines and a S/N ratio of 60dB at f 10. Using sophisticated full-digital process integrated circuits, precision designed at 0.18 um rule, the camera‘s video signals are digitized with 14-bit A/D conversion and up to 38-bit internal digital processing circuits.
Designed as a Companion Camera system, the Ikegami HDK-790EXIII uses the same sensor block and identical video path as the HDK-79EXIII full digital HDTV portable camera system, which provides perfectly matching pictures and the same operating functions. Both cameras can be used for multi-standard, simulcast broadcasting in HDTV or SDTV. Using the down converter incorporated in the Ikegami CCU-790A camera control unit, the HDK-790EXIII and 79EXIII can be also operated as high-end NTSC studio cameras. Both HDTV video and SDTV (NTSC) are provided simultaneously from the CCU-790A in both digital and analog form. Monitoring video signals (WFM and PM) are also provided in both HD and SD to adapt to different system installations and to permit continued use of conventional monitoring. Both the Ikegami HDK-790EXIII and 79EXIII also feature advanced DTL (detail) correction for richer reproduction of details in skin tone and dark backgrounds, important consideration in news-studio applications. A Super Knee system allows for making corrections without changing highlighted parts of the picture and for producing natural color reproduction under high luminance conditions.
Other features of the Ikegami HDK-79EXIII/HDK-790EXIII full-digital HDTV Companion Camera System includes HD SDI output from the camera head, on-line diagnostics, and a low center of gravity for ease and efficiency of use in the studio or the field. Both cameras are available with a wide array of new HDTV system accessories, including the 9-inch diagonal VFL-900HD 16:9 color LCD viewfinder with extra-wide viewing angle and very low lag characteristic. WINK-TV‘s Ikegami HDK-790EXIII full digital HDTV studio cameras are paired with Canon DIGISUPER 25xs HDTV studio lenses.
In addition to WINK-TV‘s new Ikegami HD studio cameras, the station has also chosen new Ikegami HLM series multi-format LCD video monitors and HTM series CRT video monitors for its control room. “This is in keeping with our philosophy of using only A-line gear,” Stuhlmann says. “We‘ve had Ikegami monitors for quite a while now. Their performance has always been outstanding.”
For WINK-TV, leaving nothing to chance for their market‘s premiere HDTV newscast means that only the exceptional imagery and rock-solid reliability of Ikegami will do. “You don‘t want to take a chance with your cameras,” says Keith Stuhlmann. “Ikegami is the gold standard.”
Ikegami Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc. is a leading supplier of professional broadcasting products in the Western Hemisphere. With U.S. offices in New Jersey, California, Florida, Texas, and Illinois, the Ikegami name is recognized worldwide for its state-of-the-art television cameras and closed-circuit TV equipment. Ikegami‘s universal High Definition TV cameras have been widely accepted by the broadcast industry as it continues the transition to the High Definition Television Format.
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For more information and the location of the Regional Office nearest you, call Ikegami‘s Maywood NJ headquarters at 201-368-9171 or visit www.Ikegami.com.
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