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Broadcast executives of a certain vintage will remember that in the mid 1990s, Hitachi was the leading broadcast camera brand. However, the company’s camera business was seriously impacted by the EU camera anti-dumping levy and the company has struggled to regain its market position ever since. But now, this year’s IBC saw the company return to the European market with a roar. The product of a major development initiative, Hitachi launched a new camera family including the 16-bit SK-HD1200 1080P/3G production camera and the SK-HD1500 - the market’s first 1080/6G high speed HD production camera, developed for super slo-motion applications and capable of 3X speed 1080-line HD operation. One of the companies that was quick to realise the potential of these new cameras is UK-based Gearhouse Broadcast. In this article, the company’s chief operating officer, Kevin Moorhouse, reports on his initial reactions to using the Hitachi technology in mission critical live sport production environments, especially the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series.
Hear the roar O
ver many decades, at Gearhouse Broadcast we have built an
international broadcast rental, project solutions, systems integration and
equipment sales company that supports sports rights holders and many other customers across the world. We help to televise a range of iconic sporting events from Formula 1 motor racing to the Winter and Summer Games, global football events and several international tennis tournaments.
In all of these live sport production environments it is the skills of our staff, the nouse of our project managers and the technical quality of our production system that secures a successful outcome. Through an almost obsessive focus on these issues we enjoy very longstanding relationships with many of our customers. One of our most important global sports event customers is Tennis Properties Limited (TPL), which operates the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments and for whom Gearhouse Broadcast provides
20 l ibe l november/december 2012 l
www.ibeweb.com
all technical, crewing and production facilities worldwide. We have worked with TPL since 2000 and the fact that our relationship with TPL is as strong in our 13th year together is a great source of pride for us.
Kevin Moorhouse, chief operating officer at Gearhouse Broadcast.
Within our production systems, which are provided as fly-away facilities, the role played by the production cameras is massive. Hence our decision earlier this year to make a major capital investment in the new Hitachi cameras marked a strategic milestone for our company.
Offering the market more choice with Hitachi camera investment
Back in August, we took ownership of 22 Hitachi SK-HD 1200 high-end multi- format 1080p/3G production cameras as well as three SK-HD 1500 HD Supermotion system cameras. Launched last year, Hitachi’s SK- HD1200 represents a high-
performance portable 16 bit A/D HDTV studio and EFP camera with three 2.3 million pixel 1080p IT-CCDs (which are 1080i switchable).
As you would expect, this decision was not made quickly - we had worked with Hitachi for many months putting the cameras through exhaustive trials before making this major investment. After putting the Hitachi cameras through their paces, we discovered a rugged and reliable product that offers real choice to our customers. Furthermore, these cameras are supported by one of the market’s most experienced camera manufacturers that has the necessary technical and operational support systems.
From a very early stage of our discussions with Hitachi we were impressed by the company’s approach. Hitachi Kokusai Electric Europe has a broadcast camera heritage extending over 40 years. The company has stated its intention to expand its camera product range, thereby increasing share in this demanding market. It believes that strategic deals with key customers such as Gearhouse Broadcast will enable it to generate the all-important user feedback and momentum that will enable it to drive this business forwards.
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