WOODBURY, NY, — For outside broadcast (OB) and mobile production companies, the ultimate quality of their projects starts with the cameras they use. With a goal of cost-effectively producing first-class results for a diverse international clientele, television service provider FlipTV Mobile is using six SK-HD1300 cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai) to provide pristine video acquisition with exceptional price/performance value.
More details from Hitachi (www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp/global/en/index.html):
Based in the Washington, D.C. area, FlipTV Mobile was created as a division of creative services company FlipTV to fill a market need for smaller trucks that could deliver the same premium production quality as large trucks, but at pricing more economical for regional networks and lower-division college sports. When selecting equipment for its first truck, the 30-foot ‘Captain’, quality was FlipTV Mobile’s top priority.
“At the end of the day, our clients want great pictures and great sound,” said Marcelo Capuchinho, managing partner at FlipTV. “Once we found solutions that met our uncompromising quality standards, our next consideration was cost-effectiveness, as our goals required building the truck without breaking the bank. Having worked with HITACHI cameras at one of our clients’ studios, we knew they would meet our objectives perfectly.”
The SK-HD1300’s 2/3”, 2.6 megapixel MOS sensors and advanced digital signal processing have delivered on FlipTV Mobile’s high expectations for image fidelity. “The HITACHI cameras give us a fantastic-looking picture,” Capuchinho continued. “While their tremendous value can’t be stated enough, the quality isn’t just great for their price point — it’s great quality, period, at any price. At a recent event, my counterpart at a larger OB company could not see a difference between the video acquired by the SK-HD1300s and that from cameras many times more expensive.”
The native 1080p/60 signal handling of the SK-HD1300 gives FlipTV Mobile the format flexibility to shoot in 1080p, 1080i or 720p as determined by its clients’ needs for any particular production. The cameras’ design and form factor similarly give FlipTV Mobile the operational versatility it needs for a wide variety of projects, from handheld shooting of sporting events to studio applications with robotics. “The cameras adapt easily to each project and are extremely reliable,” Capuchinho explained. “It’s a great feeling when you always know that you just connect the cameras, and everything works.”
Hitachi Kokusai’s customer service also earned Capuchinho’s praise. “While the cameras haven’t required any service, their support team has always been easily accessible when we’ve had any questions. That responsiveness is particularly valuable when we’re out in the field.”
Capuchinho credits the SK-HD1300 cameras for contributing to the growth of FlipTV Mobile’s business. “The high caliber of our work all starts with the HITACHI cameras, and has enabled us to take on an increasing range of top-tier projects. Our small-but-powerful truck is now used to broadcast sporting events from college basketball to professional and international soccer matches, as well as concerts, corporate events and more, often parked right next to the big trucks from longer-known mobile production and OB companies.
“For small companies like FlipTV Mobile to be competitive against larger, incumbent competitors, we need equipment that delivers results equivalent or superior to the highest-end solutions, but is more affordable,” Capuchinho concluded. “HITACHI SK-HD1300 cameras give us exactly that, with stellar quality at a great price.”
