SWTV, the mobile production division of Core Digital Technologies, covered the NCAA men's basketball championship series in SD and HD using a retrofitted serial digital hybrid truck carrying a plethora of high-tech HD gear.
The truck was outfitted with six Fujinon XA87x9.3 ESM HD field lenses with internal image stabilization technology and five HA20x7.8 ERM telephoto ENG-style HD lenses. The XA lenses were fitted to Ikegami HDK-790E HD studio cameras, and the HA lenses were mounted on Ikegami HDK-79E HD handheld cameras.
For tournament coverage, a Sony MVS-8000 switcher system, Pesa Cheetah routers and the Fujinon lenses were added to SWTV's 53-foot Sundance Kid serial digital hybrid truck. The retrofitted truck was used in Washington, D.C., for rounds one and two, Lexington, Ky. for the South Regional semifinals and Atlanta for the national semifinals and the championship game.
A new HD/601 dual broadcast truck with the same equipment will appear at the Sony Integration Booth at NAB 2002 in Las Vegas. Built by the Sony Integration Center, it is designed for separate SD and HD video signal paths and aspect ratios, so both signals retain their own pure video layers. The truck will also be able to handle most signal distribution mediums thanks to an Ikegami system that doesn't require local head power and SMPTE fiber cable wiring. The truck's audio package will include an 80-channel, 192-input SSL Axiom MT digital audio console with stereo and 5.1, analog and digital patch panels with router integration and T.C. Electronics' 6000 digital multieffects mixing tools.
