Ikegami Press News

IKEGAMI CAMERAS COMPLETE THE PICTURE FOR 'THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW'
SWEETWATER DIGITAL PRODUCTIONS

NBC-Distributed Talk Show Stands Out with Ikegami HL-60W and HL-45 Cameras

LOS ANGELES, CA - December 16, 2003: The priority for "The Ellen Degeneres Show" was an outstanding look, and the spirited talk show achieves that daily with Ikegami full digital cameras. Featuring advanced digital circuitry for extremely high quality video performance, the three Ikegami HL-60W cameras and four HL-45 cameras are central to a broadcast package custom designed for NBC by Sweetwater Digital Productions, a specialist in creating entertainment production facilities.

"The show's producers loved the look of the Ikegami cameras from the very beginning," says Joe Shackelford, Partner and Vice President of Sweetwater. "Their DSP circuits allowed the lighting director to immediately get a look that was never changed. 'The Ellen Degeneres Show' has a low light level, and we needed the most sensitive cameras we could get. We decided to go with the Ikegami HL-60 because of their wide sensitivity range and how quiet they are."

Shot at NBC Burbank in front of a live studio audience of about 200, "The Ellen Degeneres Show" joins ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" as the latest talk show facility created by Sweetwater to use all-Ikegami cameras. Ikegami's consistent video imaging across its camera line gives the show's producers total flexibility when switching between the HL-60's and HL-45's. "The cameras are seamless" you cannot pick out the HL-45 from the HL-60," Shackelford says. "Another thing that has been a big help is Ikegami's new KNEE circuit, which is quite beneficial for the saturated colors that run on the show."

Ikegami's history of rock-solid dependability has also made them welcome on the set, where the cameras are counted on to power through the high-pressure demands of shooting before a live studio audience, four days a week. “Ikegami cameras don't break," explains Shackelford. "Reliability is really high, and if I have any questions or concerns, their support is second to none: I get immediate answers on the phone, or someone comes out right away."

Combining newly developed digital signal processing features with a compact size and low power consumption, the switchable 16:9/4:3 HL-60W brings crisp imagery and value to a wide range of production applications. It extends Ikegami's long history of digital television advances with its 3-chip AIT 520,000 pixel CCD's, and debut of Ikegami's latest DSP ASIC with 0.18 micron design. Featuring 38-bit internal processing, 67 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 75% modulation depth, high sensitivity of f11, and low vertical smear of -35dB, the HL-60W realizes high performance and outstanding specifications. Since all imaging is now performed by a single ASIC, the HL-60W digital processing system is extremely compact and efficient, resulting in a camera head weight of just 5.1 lbs. and a low 10W power consumption. Ideal for a wide variety of studio and ENG/EFP applications, the Ikegami HL-60W is available with either component triax or two-channel triax configurations. With a wide sensitivity range and ten (10) gain settings, the operating range is greatly extended. The Hyper Gain of +48dB allows a minimum illumination of just 0.12 lx. Furthermore, an option allows the sensitivity to be increased up to 120 times by CCD charge accumulation over longer than the standard 1/60 second, for special operation in the dark. The color reproduction in high light areas is improved since the RGB signals are digitally processed with a super KNEE System after they are reconverted to linear signals. This system retains the color in the highlight area where it is washed out in conventional cameras.

The Ikegami HL-45 is a cutting-edge, high-performance digital camera with new-generation ASICs that support reductions in camera size, weight and power consumption. High performance is achieved through three IT CCDs that provide an astounding modulation depth of 75% (5MHz), a dynamic range of 600%, a sensitivity of f10 (HL-45A), f11 (HL-45AW) at 2000 lux and a S/N of 64dB (NTSC) and a switchable 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio(HL-45AW). For cost-savings, the HL-45A/45AW connects with existing TA/BS-OCP-40, and newly developed TA/BS/OCP-45 for wideband triax operation.

While viewers enjoy the new outlet for Ellen Degeneres" unique wit, Sweetwater is happy to experience the same advantages that they've always expected from Ikegami. "Between everything I've ever owned, I've never had better camera support or people who understood what I was trying to do "Ikegami just gets it," Joe Shackelford says. "When I've got Ikegami cameras, they’re the one thing that I never have to worry about.

Ikegami Electronics is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high quality professional broadcast equipment. Ikegami offers a broad range of TV cameras for ENG, EFP, Studio, HDTV, CCTV and Medical Imaging. Ikegami products have received various Emmy Awards for Engineering Excellence. The company's universal High Definition TV Cameras have been widely accepted by the broadcast industry as it continues the change over to the High Definition Television Format.