Canadian Olympic Broadcast Group Taps Hitachi Cameras

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, the official broadcaster for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, has selected Hitachi’s SK-HD1000 cameras for its coverage.

The group recently announced that it will be using a total of 39 of the multi-standard, multi-definition studio/field cameras.

“We chose the Hitachi SK-HD1000’s because we were already very familiar with their HD picture quality, reliable performance, and wide array of features,” said Allan Morris, senior vice president of engineering, operations, and IT at CTV, Canada’s Olympic Network and the lead broadcaster within the Consortium. “We also considered them to be extremely versatile and well-suited to both our HD studio and field applications. Having bought numerous Hitachi cameras over the past 20 years, our positive experience with Hitachi service was also a key factor in our buying decision.”

Some of the Hitachi cameras are being installed on Consortium sets at the International Broadcast Center in Vancouver, with the balance being deployed to various event venues. Morris said that after the Olympics, the cameras will be used to replace aging units throughout the CTV organization, and that they would be called into Olympic coverage service again in 2012 for the London Olympic Summer Games.