tv production center (tpc) of Zurich, Switzerland, has equipped its HD-1 OB high-def production truck with 10 sets of Telecast's SHED HDX adapters for its Sony HDC1500 cameras. The SHED-HDX units replace the bulky SMPTE hybrid fiber/wire cables the cameras are designed to accept with lightweight, standard single-mode fiber, allowing up to 10 times the range of hybrid cable with only 10 percent of the weight.
Telecast's SHED (SMPTE hybrid elimination devices) solution includes two adapters--one at the camera and another at the base station--to convert camera signals from hybrid wire/fiber cable to standard all-fiber cables and back again. These adapters allow the camera and base station to communicate on two single-mode fibers while maintaining a pure optical path so that the highest-quality signals originated by the SMPTE-hybrid cameras remain pristine. The most popular configuration uses an optional HDX unit, which also supplies power to the camera via short (up to 300 m) runs of hybrid cable.
Commenting on the deployment, Joe Commare, vice president of marketing and international sales for Telecast, noted that SMPTE 311 hybrid wire/fiber camera cable is becoming less popular in production environments and that companies are moving to standard tactical fiber cables that are easier to handle, more durable and compatible with existing venues.
"Swiss First League Football, hockey stadiums, and other sport venues throughout Europe are pre-wired with inexpensive single-mode fiber," Commare said. "By using fiber and our SHED camera adapters, tpc has streamlined their OB operations while maintaining the performance of their state-of-the-art Sony HD cameras."
