BIRMINGHAM, AL - Alabama Public Television recently took delivery of three Hitachi SK-3010P HDTV (www.hitachikokusai.us) cameras. The station began using the units in March for a multitude of high-quality, local broadcasts, including several live, in-studio programs in Montgomery, nightly live news and public affairs programs, a 30-minute weekly legislative show and on-air membership pledge drives. APT’s network operations are based in Birmingham, with nine local PBS stations throughout the state.
“Our purchase of Hitachi’s SK-3010P HDTV cameras allows us to easily continue our digital upgrade and eventual transition to full HD integration by next year,” says Harvey Wilson, assistant director of broadcast services at APT. “Our goal is to produce more local programs in HD, and the new Hitachi cameras start us on our way. We’ve been very pleased with the service from Hitachi. Richard Melton, a local Hitachi representative, has been working closely with us to put the cameras into our network’s production system.”
APT’s transition to HD will also include selecting an HD production switcher and other peripheral equipment for production control. APT currently has an HD nonlinear editing system, enabling efficient field production, and is also using three HD cameras in the field.
Hitachi’s SK-3010p series cameras now offer 720p and 1080/24p native scan video output formats. For its 1080i/60 cameras, optional down-converted 720p and 480i video outputs are provided from its camera control unit (CCU). The SK-3010P ranges in price from $85,000 to $105,000, depending on the configuration.