Ikegami HDL-50 one-piece POV cameras have been a part of some of this year's biggest sporting events, including Super Bowl XLII and NASCAR coverage on Fox, ESPN, and Speed.

Deployed throughout the University of Phoenix Stadium by robotic camera specialists Robo-Vision, the Ikegami HDL-50’s, which feature leading-edge CMOS imaging technology, were central to an innovative new robotic pan/tilt system on both goalposts.  

“The HDL-50 really captured the action on both Super Bowl goalposts,” says Jim Warden, President and CEO of Robo-Vision. “Combining the Ikegami cameras with the new robotic pan/tilt system was very advantageous for covering football. Using this technology, there’s no delay like there often is for joystick-based systems. You can set up exactly as a cameraman, but from a remote location.” 

There was a total of seven Ikegami HDL-50 cameras employed by Robo-Vision at Super Bowl XLII, providing POV from the goalposts, locker room hallways, and other locations where placing a full-size HD camera would have been difficult or impossible. In all, Robo-Vision has recently added 20 Ikegami HDL-50’s to its equipment list, for coverage of NASCAR, Indy Car, Formula One, truck racing, and other thrilling events.

Ikegami’s HDL-50 series one-piece full-digital native multi-format POV cameras employ newly developed 2.5 Mega-pixel CMOS sensors that provide wide dynamic range and superb picture quality. These CMOS sensors include native progressive and interlace modes for multi-format HD operation, including 1080/59.94i, 1080/50i, 720/59.94p, and 720/50p directly from the camera head (the HDL-51 sister-model POV camera supports native 1080/23.98p format operation as well). The HDL-50 series cameras’ 2.5 Mega-pixel CMOS sensors employ a compact, low-power digital video interface between the sensor and the camera’s DSP. End-to-end digital processing is achieved through the use of a highly advanced ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) that assures signal integrity, high picture quality, and stable and reliable operation. 

Adding to the Ikegami HDL-50’s compact, multi-format HD appeal is the value it brings to productions of all kinds, giving Robo-Vision’s Director of Field Operations Rich Glandorff and Field Office Manager Chris Fuydal flexibility in every situation. “At Super Bowl XLII, it was astounding how good the colors looked coming from the HDL-50,” says Warden. “When you consider how relatively inexpensive these cameras are, it’s amazing that they can deliver such high quality for such a low price.” 

Beyond the Super Bowl, Ikegami is one of the Robo-Vision vendors that Wardern believes has been key to transforming the way the world watches motor sports. “I’m really proud of what we have been able to do,” he concludes. “In conjunction with the network crews at FOX and NBC, we really have changed the way NASCAR races are broadcast. In the past, the races were televised only from up-top, but now you’ll notice that the race is televised trackside from corner-to-corner, and today in each corner is an Ikegami HDL-50 bringing the action to the living room."