Sony HDC-4300 4K/3G-SDI HD System Cameras Used To Broadcast Men's Clay Court Championship Tournament

The Sony HDC-4300 camera system is being extensively adopted for professional sports coverage since its 2015 introduction.  Sports leagues including the NFL, MLB, PGA golf and NASCAR originally evaluated the camera system for its ability to shoot high frame rate video (slow motion).  However, the camera system's unique ability to simultaneously capture 4K and 3G-SDI HD video and produce multiple HD video cut-out windows enable it to deliver multiple video streams from a single camera and lens. 

"When Wagner Media first showed us this camera, I knew we had to use on the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships," stated Jef Kethley, President  at LiveSports, LLC, the video production company broadcasting  the tournament.  "The flexibility of the camera sold us immediately, because we can get multiple shots from the same camera, we are able to cover the event using less cameras and still delivery an outstanding production.  The clarity of image and ability of the 4K lens to zoom and focus from 3 foot to 300 plus feet is amazing.  This camera system sets a new standard for live event coverage in the future." 

"Though Wagner Media bought the Sony HDC-4300 camera system to use in the rental/staging environment, Sony has done a great job of establishing it as the new sports broadcast standard," stated Wayne Wagner, Founder and CEO of Wagner Media.  "Though it will still be some time before the entertainment industry fully adopts 4K as a content standard, we can leverage this amazing camera's abilities to provide the best 3G-SDI HD content while that transition takes place.   Because of the advanced processing ability of the HDC-4300, it blows away standard HD cameras for image quality and provides an imperceptible loss of quality when using the 2X lens extender in a side-by-side comparison.  That enables our rental and production customers to provide better video service to their own customers at a very attractive price." 

"This package also gives us the flexibility to switch between HD and UHD 4K formats and get 4K advantages even when the camera is being used in HD capture modes," continued Wagner.  "For example, when using the HD cutout function in conjunction with Fujifilm's flagship Fujinon UA22x8 4K lens, you have up to doubled zoom in full HD resolution. Add in the optical extender and you have an effective zoom of 88x in full HD 1080p from a 22x lens.  That presents a huge lens cost savings for our customers.  In the past, extenders were not used much because of the loss of light and picture quality.  However, the improved native 4K processors and 4K lenses make the 3G-SDI output sharper than an HD camera with a 42X HD lens." 

The Sony HDC-4300 is the most versatile camera system on the market.  In addition to supporting various resolution rates, it works with existing Sony HDC-2000 series accessories such as lenses, viewfinders, camera control units and remote control panels.  It also supports ultra-high frame rates including full HD at up to 3x frame rates.  With available software, they can be expanded to up to 8x frame rates – perfect for sports or live events.  The HDC-4300 also uses B4 mount 2/3-inch lenses which are standard in the rental/staging markets. 

The camera's 4K resolution is captured by the world's first three sensor 2/3-inch native 4K CMOS imagers and an advance optical system.  This enables a very wide color gamut and exquisite color reproduction.  The versatility of the HDC-4300 is expanded by the ability to pan and zoom with an HD cutout.  By using a 4K image canvas that is in perfect focus from edge-to-edge, the operator can zoom into the image and carve out up to two cutouts that can be used as full HD images.   This feature will enable live events operators to dynamically switch from full-stage to image magnification of a performer with the same camera and lens.

Wagner Media has been serving the AV industry as a wholesale supplier since 1998.  It has warehouse locations in Houston, Texas, Orlando, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada.  Primary vendor suppliers include Analog Way, Barco, Canon, Chief Mounts, Da-Lite, Draper, Eiki, FARO, Gefen, Onkyo, Samsung, Sony, Peerless, Premier Mounts, Shure, Stewart Film Screens and Tomcat.

LiveSports, LLC is a Texas based broadcast firm that produces events all over North America.  Specializing in live sporting events, LiveSports has carved a niche into the professional Tennis market by delivering big truck quality out of small truck flexibility.  In 2015 LiveSports broadcasted more hours of tennis than any other production company in North America.  

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160406/352277

SOURCE Wagner Media, Inc.