Ikegami Press News

'JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE"AND SWEETWATER DIGITAL
LOOK GOOD WITH IKEGAMI HL-60W FULL DIGITAL CAMERAS

Off-Beat Live Broadcasts Supported By
Ikegami's Latest 3-Chip AIT CCD Digital Camera

LOS ANGELES, CA -April 21, 2003: Live broadcasting places an extra demand on the image quality and performance of equipment, so it was no surprise that ABC's newest late-night hit "Jimmy Kimmel Live"is shot with ten new Ikegami HL-60W full digital cameras. Part of a production package custom-made for the show by mobile entertainment specialists Sweetwater Digital Productions, the Ikegami cameras give "Jimmy Kimmel Live"the confidence they need to go live every night to a national audience.

“’Jimmy Kimmel Live"is the first time that ABC has done a live evening show -- other than news "in many years,"notes Joe Shackelford, owner of Sweetwater. "The reliability and integrity of the systems we selected were of the utmost importance, and we went with the Ikegami HL-60W camera. It can pull off incredible pictures, even in low light, has that wonderful Ikegami colorimetry, and the new knee color saturation circuit for improved color reproduction in highlights."

The producers of "Jimmy Kimmel Live"called on Sweetwater to quickly create a fully functioning 601 serial digital control room for the show's studio in Hollywood's El Capitan complex. Sweetwater completed the assignment in a matter of weeks, equipping a 64"x 24"double-wide trailer with a suite of systems that they knew would handle the demands of a live entertainment show. Ikegami cameras, with their rock-solid reliability and support, were a key component in the facility's fast buildup.

“Ikegami has got the very best product support that I've ever seen in my life,"Shackelford says. "Then you buy a camera from Ikegami, they support you every step of the way, and as the product matures, they make sure you're aware of the upgrades. If I need a replacement part on a Sunday, I know I can pick up the phone and get them. Ikegami goes beyond anybody else, and the confidence they give me is one reason why we were able to create an instant, large scale mobile facility that was ready to go."

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 the debut of the 3-chip AIT 520,000 pixel CCD block and, using Ikegami's latest DSP ASIC with 0.18 micron design. Featuring 38-bit internal processing, 67 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 750 TVL resolution, high sensitivity of f11, and low vertical smear of -35dB, the HL-60W realizes high performance with superb 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 9.8W power consumption. Ideal for a wide variety of studio and ENG/EFP applications, the Ikegami HL-60W is available with either ultra-wideband 10MHz component triax or cost saving wideband 8MHz triax configurations.

As the national audience for "Jimmy Kimmel Live"continues to grow, Sweetwater knows that their Ikegami HL-60W cameras made the show look great from Day One. "Te were able to fabricate a complete control room center with very little lead time,"concludes Shackelford. "'Jimmy Kimmel Live' has been very successful, and Ikegami has been the total package throughout. Between the capabilities of the HL-60W and their support, Ikegami has been there every time for us."

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.