CBS Television City--the first Hollywood studio built expressly for TV production more than 50 years ago--is rapidly making the transition to HD for production involving Fox Television's reality series "American Idol" and other clients. The evolving production facilities have chosen Canon HD lenses as part of its technical cache.

Specifically, Television City selected four Canon XJ25 x 6.8B IE-D HD studio lenses. One Canon HJ11e x 4.7B WRSE/WASE wide-angle HD portable lens is being used on the current season of Idol. (All new lenses are mounted on Sony HD cameras.) Idol is believed to be the first series entertainment show taped in HD for prime time.

The XJ25 HD lens (also known as the Digi Super 25xs) employs the Canon Power Optical System design technology, including the new optical "X-Element." With a zoom ratio to 25X and a focal length from 6.8-170mm, the Digi Super also is engineered to achieve optimal SD performance. The Digi Super employs a "constant angle of view" while focusing (also known as CAFS - Constant Angle Focusing System), and a digital memory selection for a variety of servo pre-sets.

Canon HJ11, meanwhile, is among the widest HD lenses on the market. CBS purchased the WRSE/WASE version, which features Canon's Crossover Technology for shooting in both 16:9 and 4:3.