Robotic camera systems, fiber transport support HD coverage of Wimbledon

A key element of this year's coverage of the 2013 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships are robotic cameras and control systems from Camera Corps.

Q-Ball remotely controlled pan/tilt/zoom/focus cameras, MiniShot remote pan/tilt heads with Hitachi DKH-100 cameras, long-range optical and electro-optical video/audio links, joystick control panels and RCP remote camera control panels were installed for the duration of the event.

"Our involvement with the Lawn Tennis Championships has increased steadily year on year since we first provided MiniShot robotic pan/tilt heads and cameras in comcam roles 2003," said Camera Corps equipment manager Neil Ashworth.

Q-Ball heads were deployed this year to televise commentators. MiniShots were installed in the players' lounge to cover the action between games. Venuewide images were sourced from HotShot heads mounted on and above the canopy. 

To support contribution of digital HD signals from cameras covering the championship, Camera Corps installed a combination of single-mode optical and Simply SMPTE dual-mode electro-optical long-range links between cameras and the control areas.