MAYWOOD, N.J. —Manhattan Center Studios’ recent influx of new long-term clients at the facility required MCS to significantly expand their production capacity, with ten new Ikegami HDK-97C Digital 3G Portable CMOS Camera Systems at the heart of the buildout.
The growth is driven by the arrival of Al Jazeera, which has established MCS’ studio TV1 as the home for their NYC broadcasts. MCS dedicated seven of their Ikegami cameras that were already in-house to Al Jazeera, then looked to Ikegami’s new Unicam HD line to restock its inventory.
The Ikegami HDK-97C is part of Ikegami’s Unicam HD camera line, featuring multi-format HD cameras that also provide 3G-SDI performance. Employing three 2.5 mega-pixel 2/3-inch CMOS image sensors, the HDK-97C achieves HDTV video and supports native HDTV and 3G formats, including 1080p/59.94.
At MCS, cameras, crews and control rooms are spread across a complex that includes the purpose-built television studios TV1 and TV2, as well as the The Hammerstein and The Grand. With a range of HD video productions taking place daily, the performance and versatility of the Ikegami HDK-97C made them essential expansion.
“It’s extremely easy for us to place these new cameras on our facility-wide network, and put them into operation anywhere in MCS,” Director of Video Engineering and Operations Marvin Williams said. “They’re our backups as well – we can use them anywhere that the HDK-720’s are in use, since they’ll interface with those CCU’s at the flip of a switch.”
A docking-style camera, the HDK-97C features a 3G fiber-transmission system from the camera head to its CCU. There is also 3G transmission from the CCU to the camera, providing three channels of prompter/vanity monitor video, as well as, Return VF video selected from 4 return inputs. Either a Fiber Adaptor or Triax Adaptor can be mounted on the camera, and the CCU-970M can be fitted with built-in fiber and triax transmission, and a simple front panel toggle switch to select the transmission system.
In addition, MCS is now taking advantage of Ikegami’s 200-series network control panels. As a result, any camera chain can be controlled by any OCP-200 at any of the video control locations on the different floors in the building. Assignment of the OCP is selectable via its color touch screen.
