F&F Serves US Open With Ikegami HD Gear

F&F Productions is capturing the action of the US Open tennis tournament (Aug. 27-Sept. 9) in high-definition with newly released Ikegami HDK-79EC HD Native Multi-Format CMOS Camera Systems in its newest mobile production unit, the GTX-15, a double expando.

The truck also includes space-saving Ikegami Multi-Format LCD HDTV/SDTV monitors in 22- and 17-inch sizes.

“We built the GTX-15 to be absolutely state-of-the-art,” said Bill McKechney, F&F Productions’ vice president of engineering. “The key to achieving this objective was the design of the mobile unit and outfitting it with the most advanced equipment available at this time.”

The new GTX-15 made its debut at the U.S. Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. In addition to the Ikegami camera systems, the truck—capable of accommodating up to 24 CCU’s with three complete video positions—is also equipped with two Ikegami HDL-50 compact full-digital HD cameras for POV shots. The use of Ikegami SE-79D System Expanders will give F&F flexibility between handheld or “hard” camera setups for its HDK-79EC HD CMOS cameras. Each System Expander includes a very large 9-inch 16:9 color LCD viewfinder, with an especially wide viewing angle and low lag.

The HDK-79EC employs three 2/3-inch 2.5 megapixel-specified CMOS imaging sensors. These 1920x1080 sensors are the first of their kind in the broadcast television industry and are switchable between interlace and progressive readout modes, according to Ikegami.