Public television broadcaster WHYY-TV, which is licensed to Wilmington, Del. and serves the greater Philadelphia market, is making the move to high-definition video with Telecast Fiber Systems' CopperHead fiber optic camera-mounted transceivers.
Rather than purchase studio type HD cameras, the station elected to use Sony PDW700 XDCAM camcorders in its Wilmington and Philadelphia studios. Each of these units is equipped with a CopperHead G2 2400 transceiver for muxing all of the camera's output and input signals so that they can be transmitted on a single fiber cable.
"With the CopperHeads, not only have we saved a great deal by leveraging less expensive camcorders in the studio, but we're maximizing our investment in the cameras by using them for field work as well," said Bill Weber, WHYY-TV vice president and chief technology officer. "And, since the CopperHeads also accept SD inputs and outputs, they have enabled us to continue SD production as we complete the build-out of our control room facilities for HDTV--an essential step in our HD transition."
The CopperHead units provide capabilities for the camcorders that would normally only be available in studio cameras. These include tally lights, intercom, prompters, genlock and other signals and functionalities associated with studio camera chains.
