At New Mexico’s Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, Canon robotic HD cameras are being used to simulcast horse races to 800 locations around the world.
Sunland has purchased a Canon BU-45H remote-control robotic pan-tilt-zoom HD camera system and installed it in the paddock where horses and jockeys are viewed by fans just prior to the race. The remote camera captures the entire paddock presentation as the jockey mounts the horse to give viewers a close look at each horse right before they compete.
Prior to installing the Canon BU-45H, Sunland used a manned camera and tripod inside the paddock. With the introduction of the robotic BU-45H inside that area, Sunland was able to assign control of the camera to an operator in their control room, allowing maximum use of existing resources.
A MediaZoom PT controller was already in place to control two older Canon NU-700 SD cameras in use elsewhere in the facility. This enabled Sunland to simply connect the BU-45H to the controller and begin shooting.
The Canon BU-45H is located about a quarter-mile from the control room. Cat 5 cable was laid down to connect it and then converted to RS485 to extend the run.
The Canon BU-45H combines an advanced three-CCD HD camera with a 20X optical HD zoom lens (4.5mm-90mm), a remote-control pan-tilt system and a weatherproof outdoor housing.
