NEVADA CITY, CA – Thomson’s Grass Valley business is introducing new accessories to its line of HD cameras, including the SuperExpander 7-inch viewfinder and the Grass Valley MOBox for interoperability with triax and fiber-optic cable infrastructures as well as improved triax-based performance.
"At Grass Valley, we strongly feel that high-performance broadcast camera systems must be about the most powerful sensor and processing technologies, the highest level of image quality, and the most flexibility and interoperability possible,”says Marc Valentin, president of the Grass Valley business within Thomson. “If a camera lacks any of these features, then it is not a complete camera system. The whole system must be effective for our customers."
The new SuperXpander for Grass Valley cameras combines support for large lenses with a new 7-inch viewfinder, mounted closer to the optical axis of the camera. The camera can stay in the SuperXpander during transport, saving storage space and allowing the camera to be set up on location as quickly as possible.
The new viewfinder uses a monochrome, high-brightness, multi-format CRT to provide maximum sharpness. This feature is in response to requests from operators for a large, precise viewfinder to aid framing and focus, particularly for sports coverage.
The SuperXpander can be used with both SD and HD cameras from Grass Valley. Pricing for a typical SuperXpander configuration starts at $22,600 and availability is scheduled for June.
The Grass Valley MOBox - Mixed Operation Box - enables video contractors working at large sports arenas to switch from triax to fiber optic cable as needed in an operationally simple and flexible manner. Grass Valley HD cameras deliver excellent quality over triax. Where a stadium is fitted with fiber, a new cover is available for each camera's triax adaptor to convert it to fiber, and a compact base station (three cameras in 2U of rack space) performs the reverse in the truck. Trucks fitted with Grass Valley cameras and MOBox devices will be able to deliver excellent HD pictures in any venue with equal ease.
Pricing for the MOBox, with one complete channel, starts at $35,600 and it is scheduled to be available in Q2 of 2006.