Ikegami HDK-75EX Cameras capture awesome HD Video for the big screens at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden

As the
home of the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, and elite entertainment events
throughout the year, the TD Banknorth Garden hosts 3.5 million annual visitors.
A state-of-the-art 19,600-seat arena, the TD Banknorth Garden is equipped with
three private restaurants, 104 executive suites, 2,400 club seats, a
multi-million dollar video scoreboard, and a giant 360 high-definition video
display. Capturing high-definition video images for this massive screen can’t
be left to just any camera, which is why this world-class arena chose two
Ikegami HDK-75EX full-digital portable HD camera systems, which feature a
sophisticated full-digital design and an integrated fiber adapter that delivers
superb HD video to keep the crowds cheering.

“The look
of Ikegami cameras on our Mitsubishi HD Diamond Vision screen is absolutely
stunning,” says John Mitchell, Director of Audio/Video for TD Banknorth Garden,

Boston. “The performance
is amazing, achieving a crisp picture even in low-light conditions. And now
that our workflow is completely digital, our Ikegami cameras have made life
much easier for our in-house editors.”

The two
Ikegami HDK-75EX full digital portable HD cameras that keep track of the action
at TD Banknorth Garden feature 2/3-inch 2,200,000-pixel IT 1080i CCD image
sensors that achieve superb picture quality with a horizontal resolution of
1,000 lines and a S/N ratio of 56dB. “The HDK-75EX’s deliver terrific
resolution in 1080i,” Mitchell adds. “Everybody was very excited by what they
saw from the Ikegami cameras. Once we integrated them into our set-up, we loved
the fact that they can go SMPTE fiber straight upstairs to our all-digital high
definition control room and editing facilities.”

The
Ikegami HDK-75EX’s integrated fiber adaptor ensures pristine delivery of HD
video direct to the Garden’s new HD control room. This has enabled the TD
Banknorth Garden to establish an extremely efficient workflow, from image
capture straight to editing and final output. “Now everything goes directly
from our Ikegami cameras straight to our EVS replay system and our five HD
non-linear editing systems,” Mitchell points out. “We have first-generation
digital clips of every play. These HD clips can be moved quickly and
efficiently over our gigabyte network, rather than having to wait for
re-digitizing. Our whole way of working has really been transformed.”

According
to Mitchell, Ikegami’s reputation for durability and premier support is on full
display at his facility. “The cameras are holding up in the line of fire,” he
says. “We’re constantly running around the court, grabbing player interviews,
grabbing fan shots, or getting around the Celtic Dancers, and we’ve had zero significant
issues. Whenever we’ve needed any kind of support from Ikegami, they’ve always
stepped up.”

The
Ikegami HDK-75EX is an advanced technology, full-digital HDTV compact portable
camera system that can be converted for studio use with either five- or
nine-inch viewfinders and full studio lenses with the SE-H700 System Expander.
Whether in a portable or studio configuration, the HDK-75EX provides superior
HD image performance and sophisticated design. Incorporating a new,
next-generation digital-process ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit),
video signals are digitalized with 12-bit A/D conversion and up to 38-bit
internal digital processing (quantization) circuits. A detail correction
system—including digitally processed horizontal, vertical, and diagonal
correction signals for red, green, and blue video—is incorporated into the
HDK-75EX camera head and achieves noise-free full-resolution HD picture quality
even when the camera is used in stand-alone configuration. This sophisticated
detail enhancement and color reproduction is accomplished in the digital
domain, including Skin Detail Tracking with the zoom and focus-follow signals
from the lens. Using a down-converter incorporated into the camera control unit
(CCU), the HDK-75EX can also be operated as a high-end NTSC studio camera. Both
HDTV and SDTV video are provided simultaneously from the CCU and in both
digital and analog form.

With
Ikegami in the house, all the views at TD Banknorth Garden are dramatic—from
the court straight to the big screen. “Ikegami is an integral part of our
multi-million-dollar, first-of-its-kind HD scoreboard installation,” Mitchell
concludes. “Going all-digital with Ikegami and our Mitsubishi HD Diamond Vision
screen has taken our fans’ experience straight to the next level. With Ikegami
on the front end, our new HD video boards have been a huge hit with Bruins and
Celtics fans.”