Grass Valley has unveiled a range of HD system cameras that it hopes will be futureproof, including as they do support for progressive production at 1080/50p and 60p, writes David Fox. The new LDK 8000 range also features 14-bit A/D sampling and 24-bit digital signal processing of all HD formats.
“The challenges of developing a new HD system camera are enormous,” said Grass Valley President, Marc Valentin at launch. “But, our customers are desperate to increase their HD capabilities today. The LDK 8000 is a rolling programme, delivering an exciting new camera ready for immediate use, and continuing to innovate with advanced signal processing, packet-based fibre optic connectivity and, once they deliver what we need, CMOS sensors.”
The LDK 8000 uses a new generation of Grass Valley’s HD-DPM+ CCDs. Together with the new DSP, they are claimed to deliver “a brighter, cleaner and sharper picture” than the LDK 6000 it replaces, but still share the same image characteristics, so that the new and old versions can be used together on a production.
The 8000 has the same triax and fibre connections, but Grass Valley is working on a new high-bandwidth fibre system (using 10Gbps Ethernet) to allow fast progressive scanning and advanced super slow motion that today’s fibre or triax systems can’t cope with. The 8000 is due to ship later this year, with prices starting at Euro 95,000. Grass Valley’s HD camera sales have been growing 40% year on year, with more than 1,500 LDK 6000 cameras in use.
