MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon USA has launched the CR-N400 and CR-N350, two new Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras designed to deliver high image quality, versatile connectivity and advanced control for professional video applications.

The cameras cater to an array of studio productions, live events, houses of worship, corporate settings and educational environments, the company said.

The CR-N400 and CR-N350 address the need of users to access advanced functionality and streamline workflows. Designed to fill the space in Canon’s PTZ lineup between the CR-N300 and the CR-N500, the new cameras provide smooth on-air pan/tilt performance and high-quality imaging for a broader range of users, Canon said.

Both cameras offer 4K 60p imaging with a 20 times optical zoom, extendable to 40 times advanced zoom in Full HD. Their 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor and the DIGIC DV7 image processor provide outstanding image quality and Canon’s color science. Both cameras include a vertical crop feature that allows users to simultaneously output a 9:16 crop of the full image, it said.

The CR-N400 is tailored for professional broadcasters who require a 4K SDI-based workflow, as it features 12G-SDI and 3G-SDI connectivity, genlock and timecode support for seamless integration into professional multicamera setups, Canon said.

The CR-N350 provides a cost-effective solution for users who only require 4K over HDMI/IP or Full HD over its 3G-SDI terminal. With the increasing adoption of IP protocols, such as NDI and SRT, both the CR-N400 and CR-N350 provide a versatile solution for direct IP streaming and remote production workflows, the company said.

With these features, the CR-N400 and CR-N350 are well suited to both live and recorded productions, offering operators the ability to capture dynamic content effortlessly while maintaining a competitive edge in fast-paced settings, Canon said.

The CR-N400 and CR-N350 PTZ cameras are scheduled to ship in late December for an estimated retail price of $5,699 and $3,999, respectively.

More information is available on the company’s website.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon USA has announced key features and availability for its new Camera Color Matching Application, a powerful new Windows-compatible software application designed to streamline the color matching process in video production with the CR-N700 PTZ camera.

Designed for live broadcast, multicamera shoots and content creation, Canon said the Camera Color Matching Application simplifies achieving uniform color matching for Canon CR-N700 cameras to the main production camera, providing professional results with minimal effort and maximum precision.

Color consistency has always been a challenge for production teams, particularly when integrating different camera models and cameras from different manufacturers.

With the Camera Color Matching Application, Canon offers an innovative solution that automatically generates 3D LUTs by detecting color charts, helping reduce time spent on manual adjustments. This powerful yet easy-to-use application provides effortless color matching between Canon and non-Canon Cinema, Pro-video, and PTZ camera models with the Canon CR-N700 PTZ camera with professional results without the need for advanced color grading skills.

Canon also noted that the Camera Color Matching Application offers an intuitive three-step workflow:

1. Capture: Shoot a color chart with the main camera and the CR-N700, saving the still images on the PC.
2. Generate: The application automatically calculates the difference and generates a 3D LUT for color correction.
3. Apply: The generated LUT is applied to the CR-N700, providing a seamless color match across the production.

The Canon Camera Color Matching Application is set to be available on Jan. 16 as a free download. For additional information, please visit usa.canon.com.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon USA has promoted Kiyoshi Oka to executive vice president and general manager of its marketing strategy unit and Masato Mori to senior vice president of its business innovation group, the company said today.

Canon promoted four other executives to vice president, including Karin Harrington of the business partner group; William Lowe and Dawn Rouse of the client services group; and Jami Schultz of corporate human resources, it said.

“It is critical to have strong leaders to guide our organization, and I’m delighted to announce these executive appointments for a group of well-deserving individuals who have been so dedicated to our success,” said Isao “Sammy” Kobayashi, president and CEO of Canon U.S.A. “We are looking forward to a successful 2025, and I’m confident these appointments will contribute greatly to achieving that goal.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

NEW YORK—As a cinematographer, visual storytelling, leading a team, staying on schedule, executing, and elevating my Director’s vision are some of the many things I do everyday. My problem solving skills are always working in the background. I love finding ways to maximize my resources, which was especially relevant in the production of “Scary Good,” which I shot on the new Canon EOS C400 camera, in collaboration with Canon. Problem solving is present in all my work.

“Scary Good” is a mystery/thriller “whodunit” short film that can be seen on YouTube. I had a unique perspective on the overall workflow, since I work in both narrative and documentary background and this time around I got to shoot, direct and help conceive the concept from the beginning.

As the camera stalks and chases a box office attendant, veteran actress, maintenance worker and backstage tech, through the historic United Palace Theatre in New York City, this two-minute film fills audiences with a level of anxiety. Culminating in ultimate relief as the group bursts out of a top floor balcony into the sunlight, it illustrates just how much storytelling relies on sound and visual cues.

The 'Scary Good' Puzzle
The first part of the “Scary Good” puzzle was understanding how far we could push the camera. There are many features included in the EOS C400 camera that I didn’t know could exist at its price point; and it’s also very light and small for the power that it holds.

The crew is always a huge part of the success of every project. My gimbal operator, Nadine Martinez; my ACs, Thom Cameron, Cheryn Park, Lisa Chin; my DIT, George Robert Morse; my lighting designer Alexa Mignon; my key grip, Vinny Davino; and my costume designer, Pamela Shepherd, are all people I’ve worked with before. I’ve developed so much trust and a shorthand with this team. Pam and I met while working on Ziwe (Showtime) and I was always impressed with how she elevated the characters.

My camera and lighting team helped me execute every frame and every camera move. The lighting Alexa helped me create on screen really pushed the element of suspense. Lighting cues motivated sound design and gave the actors something to respond to. Like every production, we had limited time and limited resources. The triple base ISO really allowed us to maximize the dynamic range in the camera given the existing lighting parameters at the theater.

I wanted the theater to look as elegant as it appears in person by being strategic with my exposure and adding lighting to accentuate what was already there. I was really fortunate to have access to the EOS C400 camera and Canon senior technical specialist and sales engineer Paul Hawxhurt’s expertise. He helped me shoot some tests during our tech scout to see which ISO would give us the best latitude in that space.

6K RAW Files
Ultimately, we decided setting the base ISO to 3200 and rating the ISO at 1600 was the best way to create more details in the shadows without causing additional noise. The ways we utilized lighting and camera movements to introduce our characters made the audience feel a bit unsettled. This played into building the dramatic tension throughout, creating almost an extraterrestrial presence, which was amplified by the frenetic energy of the edit, led by our editor, Emily Spiegelman-Noel.

The EOS C400 camera’s ability to record proxies in real-time while recording in-camera 6K RAW files was really helpful for the tight turn-around in post. Our editor, Emily, was able to walk away with a hard drive of proxies to get started on the edit right away. The LUT we chose was the Canon CMT 709. We used this for our on-set monitors and this was the starting point for my DIT, George Robert, and I to create a few CDL’s for our colorist. While we were in the color grade, we made minor adjustments to help accentuate the look and feel of our film. l

Christine Ng is a Hong Kong-born, New York City based cinematographer. She can be reached at ms.christineng@gmail.com and at www.christineng.com.

More information is available at www.usa.canon.com.

NEW YORK—Directed by Academy Award Nominee Joe Berlinger, our four-part Netflix series “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street” delves into the now infamous crimes of Bernie Madoff, a Wall Street titan whose fraudulent tactics cost investors billions of dollars before his eventual downfall and arrest amid the 2008 financial collapse. Through interviews with victims, whistleblowers, investigators, and Madoff’s former employees, the series examines his psychology and the innumerable systemic failures that created fertile ground for Madoff’s decades-long grift. 

Madoff was a fraud. He created the trappings of a legitimate operation, but when investigators peeled back the curtain, it was all fake. We wanted to play with that concept in our series, so we created a staged replica of Madoff’s downtown Manhattan offices in the iconic Lipstick Building skyscraper. 

Two Cameras, Two Styles
Using in-camera transitions, we seamlessly married present day interviews with recreated sequences, all filmed in exactly the same space with actors and interviewees sharing the same set. We wanted the series to fluidly flow back and forth between the two styles of filming, employing visual slights of hand to echo the way Madoff’s financial stage-craft allowed his long con to flourish and deceive so many.

We filmed the series with two Canon C500 Mark II cameras. The A-camera lived on a Ronin 2 with Cooke 2x Anamorphic prime lenses, most often a 50mm or 75mm, sometimes a 100mm. The B-camera I’d use for graphic plates and lock-offs, as well as the tighter second angle for interviews. 

One surprising trait of the C500 Mark II is that you are able to use Super35 anamorphic lenses with the camera, despite it being a full frame sensor. If we stayed tighter than 40mm we could shoot S35 lenses without vignetting, and with the full frame sensor also pull in a little extra anamorphic texture on the edges of the frame. 

The series required an intense level of planning in pre-production to make our stage build work and sell the illusion. It also required a lot of creative problem solving on our actual shoot days as well to map out those in-camera transitions as we went. Not only was every interview lit and composed to be a standalone interview, every interview was also composed and lit to be the A side of an A to B shot which would transition into an entirely different time/place/scene/frame rate in recreation. Without revealing how we created those transitions, I’ll just say we used a combination of reflections, variable frame rates, real time lighting changes cued off a dimmer board, and camera movement.

IN-CAMERA TRANSITIONS  
VFX assisted us with some of the transitions that were impossible to achieve in-camera. But even with those I was hyper intentional to structure shot sequences so they always had clean ins and outs for easy stitching. 

That meant foreground wipes with extras, pans across office columns, or pulling back from blown-out windows, etc. I’d start and finish all our recreated shots so they could be seamlessly blended in the edit. That kept our VFX additions to a minimum since many of those cuts worked as normal edits without additional assistance.

Keeping the series visually fresh while shooting it all in that relatively confined set space was our biggest challenge. Even though it was a sizable stage build with tremendous attention to detail, we had to max out every square inch of the set given the many recreation scenes and many interviews. 

That was also what made this series such an engaging creative challenge: One of the best parts of production is working within a defined set of limitations—then it’s reliant on your creativity and every other department’s creativity to bring ideas that will elevate the work beyond those limitations.  

For more information visit www.usa.canon.com.

Canon is adding a second 8K camera to its portfolio with the launch of the EOS R5 C.

The camera is a hybrid of video and stills, with users selecting the option they wish to employ.

It includes a high-resolution, full frame CMOS sensor, DIGIC X processor and RF Mount, which enable 8K capture, and 45 megapixel still photo capture at burst speeds up to 20 frames per second, all in a single body.

In a first for Canon, the EOS R5 C has been fitted with a dedicated Timecode In/Out terminal. According to the company, users can make use of the Content Transfer Mobile application for FTP transfers and the editing of ML-G2 metadata.

Canon believes the camera will best suit documentary makers thanks to its Timecode capabilities.

The camera can record in 8K 30p RAW, and can reach 8K 60p when attached to an external power supply. It also has HDR support via PQ and HLG, as well as Canon Log 3 gamma.

Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF system enables the EOS R5 C to offer Eye AF and EOS iTR AF X auto focus technology, which tracks people’s eyes in real time and can also follow their head as they look away from the camera. Working in combination with the Optical IS in compatible lenses, the camera features electronic image stabilisation with coordinated control that mitigates the effects of shaking when shooting hand-held, said the company.

The EOS R5 C will be available in March.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon USA this week announced the CINE-SERVO 17-120 KLL/P1 0.8mm and 25-250mm KLL/PI 0.8mm cinema modification kits.

The lens modification kits can be installed at a Canon Factory Service Center by certified technicians who will remove the Drive Unit and install industry-standard 0.8mm ring gearing for focus, zoom and iris.

The modification enables users to integrate the lenses more seamlessly into any cinema-style production. Users can expect the same image quality and overall user experience of the original CINE-SERVO 17-120mm and CINE-SERVO 25-250mm cinema lenses, the company said.

The Canon CINE-SERVO 17-120mm and CINE-SERVO 25-250mm cinema lenses offer 4K optical performance. They use ultra-low dispersion glass and a large-diameter aspherical lens. Combined with Canon’s unique optical design technology, these components work to help correct color fringing and limit chromatic aberration during operation. The lenses feature Canon’s warm color science and an 11-blade aperture that produces a beautiful, smooth bokeh, it said.

The CINE-SERVO 25-250mm features a built-in extender that stretches the zoom range 375mm and allows for full-frame sensor coverage with only a stop of difference in light loss. Both compact and lightweight, the lenses were designed to be rugged and durable.  They are available in EF and PL mount. 

The kits are scheduled for immediate availability and have an estimated price of $1,100 for labor and parts. 

More information is on the company’s website.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon U.S.A. has announced the new XF605 4K UHD professional camcorder and the new 8K resolution 10×16 KAS S portable zoom lens for 8K broadcast cameras that feature a 1.25-inch sensor. 

The new XF-series professional camcorder is billed as offering broadcast-quality features in a compact and lightweight body. 

It has a 1.0-inch CMOS sensor and the ability to record 4K/60p/4:2:2/10-bit/HDR video to dual on-board SD card slots. Equipped with Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF1, the XF605 achieves high-speed and high-accuracy focusing, and is the first XF-series model to include Eye Detection AF, as well as improved face and head detection, enabling more accurate and stable tracking of subjects. The new camcorder also includes new video transmission functionality, making it an ideal tool for broadcast journalists. 

Featuring a Canon L-Series lens with 15x zoom, 3-ring operation, a 1.0-inch CMOS sensor, and a DIGIC DV7 image processor, the XF605 allows for the capture of in-camera HDR video. Users also have the ability to leverage a high frame rate of up to 120 FPS when opting for Full HD recording. Canon Log 3 recording is also available, to provide additional color latitude.

Weighing more than 21 ounces less than the XF705, (which is more than a 25% reduction), the XF605’s compact body is also 10% shorter in both length and height and it provides professionals with a more intuitive user experience.

Using the newly released CTM2 mobile app for iOS, the XF605 can connect and transfer recorded video data via cable3 or wirelessly to compatible iOS devices and transfer proxy footage, audio, and metadata to servers at broadcast stations or other locations.  

The camcorder also features built-in Wi-Fi/Ethernet connectivity for Browser Remote, IP streaming, and FTP transfer. It is the first XF-series model to feature USB Video Class, allowing use as a webcam without the need for a third party HDMI to USB adapter.   

The Canon XF605 4K UHD Professional Camcorder is scheduled to available in mid-October 2021 for an estimated retail price of $4499.00*. 

The 8K resolution 10×16 KAS S is a new portable zoom lens for 8K broadcast cameras that feature a 1.25-inch sensor and is designed to tap into the growing demand for ultra-high-resolution video production equipment, especially in such fields as sports broadcasting and documentary filmmaking. 

The lens features a fast constant aperture of f/2.8 across the entire zoom range that spans 16mm at the wide end to 160mm at the telephoto end, a zoom magnification of 10x. 

This combination of aperture speed and zoom range is ideal for events such as sports and live broadcasting, which often involve frequent changes in focal length, the company said. 

The Canon 10×16 KAS S lens is equipped with lens elements such as fluorite, UD lenses, Hi-UD lenses1 and wide-diameter aspherical lenses that help to reduce chromatic aberrations, spherical aberrations and other effects that could diminish image quality. 

The lens also features a high-performance digital drive unit powered by the high-resolution 16-bit absolute value encoder digital drive unit that has a proven track record of use with 2/3-inch 4K broadcast zoom lenses. This makes possible high-precision position detection, which is vital for productions that incorporate virtual imaging systems. 

The Canon 10×16 KAS S 8K UHD portable zoom lens is scheduled to be available in late October 2021.

For more information about the new lens and camcorder visit usa.canon.com/provideo.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon U.S.A has announced a trio of new 4K/UHD PTZ cameras, as well as a new remote camera controller that can handle multiple PTZ cameras at once.

The first new PTZ camera is the CR-N500, which features a 1-inch CMOS sensor, 3.2μm pixel pitch and a DIGIC DV 6 image processor to capture images with high sensitivity, low noise and a minimum subject illumination of 1.5 lux. The PTZ camera has a 15x optical zoom 4K UHD lens that covers a focal range of 25.5-382.5mm. It has a variable pan and tilt speed of 0.1-degree to 100-degree per second. There is also a built-in three-density ND filter, nine-bladed iris, Dual Pixel CMOS AF and support for Canon Log 3.

Then there is the CR-N300 and its 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, DIGIC DV 6 image processor and a 20x optical zoom lens with focal range of 29.3-601mm. CR-N300 has four scene modes: portrait, sports, low-light and spotlight. Additional features include Canon’s Hybrid AF system combining high-precision contrast AF and high-speed phase-difference AF; and 0.2-degree to 300-degree per second pan speed and 0.2-degree to 170-degree per second tilt speed.

Both the CR-N500 and CR-N300 are indoor PTZ cameras and support HDMI, IP and 3G-SDI. They are also compatible with live production protocols like NDI | HX, RTMP and more, per Canon.

The CR-X500 is an all-weather outdoor 4K/UHD PTZ camera. It has a 1-inch CMOS sensor that captures images in 60p/4:2:2/10-bit, as well as 3.2μm pixel pitch and a DIGIC DV 6 image processor to produce images with a minimum subject luminance of 3 lux. It features the same 15x optical lens as the CR-N500, but when in FHD mode operators can use the camera’s 4K multipixel sensors for up to 30x advance zoom. It also features Dual Pixel CMOS AF, Image Stabilization mode, a built-in wiper and support for Canon Log 3. Support is available for 12G-SDI.

Canon has also introduced the RC-IP100 camera remote controller that is compatible with all three of the new PTZ cameras and allows for the control of multiple cameras simultaneously. The RC-IP100 touts control and seesaw zoom levers and a 7-inch touch panel to control pan, tilt, zoom, focus and iris functions. When connected via IP, it is possible to control up to 100 CR-N500/CR-N300 cameras. When an outdoor CR-X500 camera is connected via RS-422 serial, up to 99 additional CR-N500/CR-N300 cameras can also be connected and controlled.

Canon’s indoor PTZ cameras come with Remote Camera Control Application software included, which allows PC users to register up to 20 cameras and view as many as nine at once.

A newly developed XC Protocol2 has also been announced, offering control and communication with select Canon video production devices for video streaming over IP. Later this year, Canon is expected to release new firmware to introduce the new XC Protocol to select Cinema EOS System cameras.

Canon will release the CR-N500, CR-N300, CR-X500 and RC-IP100 product in the summer. For more information, visit usa.canon.com. 

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Canon U.S.A. has launched two 8K broadcast zoom lenses for 8K broadcast cameras equipped with 1.25-inch image sensors, the company announced last week.

“8K broadcasting equipment is the newest frontier for covering sporting events and documentary productions around the globe,” said Kazuto Ogawa, president and chief operating officer, Canon U.S.A. “Through the addition of our first 8K broadcast lenses, Canon is cementing our position on the cutting edge of the latest ultra-high-resolution digital imaging solutions.”

The new UHD-DIGISUPER 51 (SP51x15.5B) is a long-zoom field lens, and the 7x10.7 KAS S is a portable zoom. The 7x10.7 KAS S offers a 7x zoom and covers a focal range of 10.7-75mm. It delivers a resolution and contrast from the center of the screen to the corners of the periphery that’s compatible with 8K broadcast cameras but also offers the same operability as a conventional 2/3-inch HDTV or 4K portable lens, the company said.

According to Canon, early experiments in 8K coverage of sports played a critical role in determining an image format size that could provide an essential depth of field while ensuring the photosite size of individual image sensors could sustain 8K modulation transfer function (MTF), adequate dynamic range and luma signal to noise, the company said.

The 1.25-innch sensor balances those factors in three-sensor 8K UHD live television cameras, Canon added.

The 7x10.7 KAS S will be available in January 2020 by special order. The DIGISUPER 51 will available via special order beginning in May 2020.

More information is available on the Canon website. 

To put context on the curious crossroads at which the U.S. television industry finds itself in 2018 it is useful to recall the protracted HDTV transition from 1985–2005.

In the 1980s, HDTV represented a very significant advance in television image sharpness and it greatly challenged the related video production technologies (primarily analog-based) of that time—imaging, recording, and display. It is significant to note that HDTV was initially heavily driven by manufacturers of professional production equipment while the consumer electronics manufacturers continued to cling to analog standard definition televisions into the 2000s.

Today, the reverse is true as the industry move to 4K UHD is being largely driven by the consumer electronics manufacturers who appear united in the propulsion of 4K home display systems as alternatives to purchases of new HDTV televisions. This appears to be highly successful (forecasted to reach 30 percent penetration in the U.S. this year)—primarily because these new displays embody built-in upscaling systems that accept traditional 1080i and 720P HDTV signals which very effectively portray on their 4K display panels.

To date, the U.S broadcast industry has shown little appetite to grapple with all that is entailed in updating broadcast infrastructures to handle the far more data-hungry 4K UHD video signal. The cable industry has also remained largely dormant. The central dilemma for 4K UHD is the available sizes of consumer home displays. At the average home viewing distance of 10 feet a screen having about a 140-inch diagonal is desirable to fully stimulate a viewer (having 20/20 vision) with the full “wow factor” of 4K. Therefore, presently available 4K UHD screens—in the range of 55 to 84-inch diagonal—fall short.

More importantly, upscaled HDTV is virtually indistinguishable from native 4K UHD at the average home viewing distance. It is this failure that has convinced many delivery services (broadcasters and cable MSOs in particular) of the futility of making huge investments in new infrastructures that support 4K UHD as adequate returns on such investments are considered elusive.

ALTERNATIVE UHD DELIVERY SERVICES

OTT services of 4K UHD are presently offered by some of the major new video delivery players (primarily the tech giants who have enormous internet user bases that are now accompanied by huge supporting production budgets) and that is further spurring the penetration of the associated home display system.

In the satellite delivery domain, DirecTV is now offering 4K UHD delivery. In terms of the current highest quality delivery to the home. the new Ultra HD Blu-ray disc supports 4K UHD video at frame rates up to 60 frames per second with the program material encoded using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).

THERE IS UHD, AND THEN THERE IS UHD

Adding to the global confusion is the looming specter of possible premature obsolescence of an era of 4K UHD. Hardly had 4K UHD been born as a blueprint for the more immediate future of television when drums began beating for 8K UHD (4x more resolution than 4K and 16x the resolution of HDTV). On the standardization front it arguably made a great deal of sense to simultaneously deal with both 4K UHD and 8K UHD within the international ITU standardization effort because it created a blueprint for the very long term future (spanning many decades) of video services.

[Read: Large Vs. Small Sensor: A Q&A With Canon’s Larry Thorpe]

But in terms of a planned rollout of these new digital television delivery services, one has to wonder at what we are seeing unfold (or trying to unfold) today. 8K UHD makes little sense for home viewing but it surely does make enormous sense in the context of digital cinema and large screen venues like stadium displays and digital signage. What does remain a certainty is that any major industry commitment to 4K UHD will require a lifespan of at least one or two decades to justify the enormous related investments.

TELEVISION’S FUTURE IS MORE THAN ENHANCED RESOLUTION

It is remarkable that the global television industry has remained hugely preoccupied for almost four decades (approximately 1980 to date) with the singular drive for ever-increasing resolution. But, more recently—over the past half-decade—video production has become enveloped in other technological advances that are having significant impact on virtually all of the multiple dimensions of what constitutes image quality, including resolution, dynamic range, color reproduction, picture capture rate, and digital bit depth (Fig. 1).

In most cases these are not the incremental changes to which we have been accustomed over many decades. Rather, they are all now simultaneously in play, their advances are all substantial, and they are all happening very fast. These advances are such that isolated demonstrations of each gain high attention. Center stage is High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG), closely followed by High Frame Rate (HFR) and higher digital bit depths. In terms of related technological developments the industry is positively buzzing with numerous activities on many fronts. In addition, advances in spatial audio promise to make the viewing experience closer than it has ever been before to reality.

NEW GENERATION OF UHD PRODUCTION GEAR

On the television production front, the two-third inch image format size has been center stage for some four decades—in television studios, sports broadcasting, broadcast newsgathering and documentary production. About a decade ago, large image format digital cameras escalated a drive to replace 35mm motion picture film. Today many digital motion imaging variants on the Super 35mm image format are available from a broad range of global manufacturers and they are steadily penetrating all forms of television production as well as moviemaking. Now, discussions of cinematic aesthetics accompany all of the ongoing debate on HDR, WCG, and HFR—in television drama, magazine shows and more recently in sports production. The two-third inch image format is being squeezed, as it were, from above.

Despite this, in the domain of sports production, and also the majority of broadcast television studios, the two-third inch format continues to remain center stage. And, starting about three years ago, a move to 4K UHD lenses and cameras based upon that image format abruptly surfaced—spurred by the recognition that UHD might possibly take off in the not too distant future, and that once again, sports would be one of the most significant driving forces.

What is particularly interesting is that all of the major camera manufacturers are now offering multiformat cameras and camcorders—switchable (albeit via licensing for some) between 4K DCI and 4K UHD as well as 2K DCI and HD. These products speak to the uncertainty of today, which sees the transition to HDTV still underway but also some industry angst that 4K UHD may at some juncture become inevitable during the next decade due to competitive dynamics between disparate delivery services.

In particular, near-term purchases of new 2/3-inch lenses, because of their anticipated long life, argue for consideration of 4K even if HDTV origination remains the near term priority. These lenses do have the distinct advantage of ensuring a visibly higher HDTV performance while also future proofing against some downstream transition to 4K UHD.

It was with this imperative in mind that Canon introduced no less than six new 2/3-inch 4K UHD lenses at the 2018 NAB Show. Canon also introduced B4 to PL/EF mounts that allow these lenses to be used on large format cameras.

In terms of the most contemporary industry discussions—as noted at NAB 2018—there is a growing consensus that a more pragmatic UHD transition would be to 1080P combined with both HDR and WCG. In the views of some, HFR must also be factored in. This movement is premised on the fact that 1080P is already inherent within multiformat cameras and most of these latest products also offer HDR/WCG and even HFR capabilities.

It also has to be borne in mind that in addition to all of the video imaging implications of 4K UHD / HDR/WCG, the industry is also now very heavily preoccupied with planning (and implementing by many) the transition from SDI infrastructures to IP infrastructures. While related standards have also finally emerged on this front, the uncertainties are many and the costs somewhat unknown.

It is arguable that the television industry has never had to grapple with so many technological variables—all in the same approximate time frame—as we see today.

Larry Thorpe is a Senior Fellow at Canon U.S.A.