The CopperHead fiber optic system mounts directly onto portable broadcast television cameras, delivering both digital (SD/SDI or uncompressed HD/SDI) and analog video to a remote base station up to 20 miles away, all over a single fiber cable that is one-tenth the weight of ordinary coaxial or triaxial cable. The CopperHead system also transports all of the bidirectional audio, return video, sync, intercom, data, and control signals required for remote broadcasts.
"The CopperHead's patent award is the culmination of 10 years of engineering innovation, developing the miniature revolutionary fiber optic technology that gives ENG-style camcorders the ability to be converted easily to ‘hard' cameras, able to work in single- and multicamera environments," says Jim Hurwitz, Telecast's product manager for camera systems. "While it was developed primarily for broadcast settings in which equipment setup times are a key concern, the system has been adopted in a wide range of other applications, including sports stadiums, entertainment venues, and digital cinematography."
The
CopperHead is the second Telecast product to receive a patent, joining the
company's groundbreaking Cobra system, which permits triaxial camera
systems to be extended over lightweight fiber optic cable.