As part of an HD upgrade to its Bryant-Denny Stadium and
indoor venue Coleman Coliseum, the University of Alabama has acquired three new
Hitachi cameras and finished a new HD control room to handle the video
displayed in the two venues.
The new HD control room is using a Ross production
switcher, Pixel Power for live HD graphics, Grass Valley for HD replay and a
Yamaha digital mixer for audio. As part of the upgrade, four Daktronics HD
displays were installed in the Bryant-Denny Stadium, which is typically sold
out with 92,000 spectators and a waiting list of 30,000 during football season,
and one Daktronics display in the Coleman Coliseum.
The three new Hitachi SK-HD1000 HDTV studio and field
cameras with Fujinon HD lenses is part of a camera system that includes
Hitachi's CU-HD1000 camera control unit, RU-3400 remote control panel, and a
custom fiber optic cable network.
"We saw competitive cameras like the Sony HDC-1500 and
found that the Hitachi compared favorably on picture quality but at a far more
affordable price," noted University of Alabama Director of Crimson Tide
Productions Justin Brant in a statement.
He also cited the technical support supplied by the
vendor and the fact that it was easy to use by the students who operate them
during games. "One of our chief concerns was that our new HD cameras be as
user-friendly as possible," Brant added.
The Hitachi cameras are also used for remote production
of three post-game shows.
